Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-12-Speech-3-250"
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"en.20030212.8.3-250"2
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"Mr President, I agree with most Members in believing that forest management is essentially a local and national matter, since forests throughout Europe are different and consist of individual types of forest. On the other hand, I do not think it odd that Europe should be concerned about the health of the whole of its forest heritage, because air pollution, plant diseases and even natural or accidental disasters do not recognise borders. Consequently, the best formula is no doubt the one referred to by Mrs Grossetête, in other words codecision, or development towards codecision, in matters concerning forests.
Having said that, apart from any approval that might be given to this Forest Focus programme, I believe that it has a harmful effect on a policy which was much appreciated and which was working very well, in other words Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92, which has been mentioned by a number of Members. I live in a region in the south of France, in which great efforts are being made, in terms of investment, to prevent forest fires. What is happening at the moment is highly regrettable, a sort of conjuring trick whereby Forest Focus first of all abolishes a source of funding which was managed under the codecision procedure, and renationalises it under the heading of rural development, even though, as Mrs Figueiredo said just now, we do not all have the same legal basis, we probably do not have the same funding, and we are also unable to finance the same types of investment. I am sorry that a policy which works is being changed. Moreover, it was a safety policy. Despite the fact that efforts are being made everywhere else in Europe with regard to maritime safety, air safety, rail safety or even health safety, the Commission is now proposing to simply do away with a policy of prevention and safety in the area of forests, which is an extremely sensitive area for all the countries in southern Europe. I believe that this is a deplorable step backwards. I am afraid that if, one day, we have disasters in the south of our continent, the public will blame us.
We are always saying that we want to be closer to the people, that Europe should have solidarity, that Europe should be on the side of Europeans. Yet in this extremely sensitive area, for which there was a procedure which worked well and was particularly well appreciated, Europe is now becoming invisible. It is removing this procedure from its policies and is renationalising it under the heading of a particularly risky policy of rural development. This is why I shall be supporting the remarkable work done by Mrs Redondo Jiménez and, in particular, the amendments which she has proposed, Amendments Nos 17 and 21, as well as Amendment No 47, proposed by the European Socialist Party. I hope, Commissioner, that you will reconsider your initial proposals, explaining that they will not be supported by the Commission."@en1
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