Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-25-Speech-4-130"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030925.10.4-130"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, we all know that Mrs Lulling is not only the European Parliament's queen of wine but also its queen bee. I should like to thank her very warmly for this commitment, because we should be aware that this has been a matter of concern to the European Parliament for decades. Back in the 1980s, the Bavarian Member of Parliament and pan-European, Heinrich Aigner, who sadly is no longer with us, brought together hundreds of Bavarian beekeepers to inject some impetus into this issue. We have been working on it for 30 years, and unfortunately we have not made a great deal of progress. I have to say quite clearly, Commissioner, that I am grateful to you for your precise answers and for taking this important issue so seriously, because an ecological crisis is slowly developing in this sector. In Bavaria and Austria huge numbers of bee colonies died in the spring frosts, but also of course because of insecticides and diseases, and we are feeling the ecological effects very keenly, for example with our fruit. That is why I really believe that now is the time to promote something that is under serious threat, namely passing on beekeeping to the next generation. A very high proportion of beekeepers are old, because fewer and fewer people from the younger generation are prepared to take on this arduous, but ecologically necessary, task, not least because the financial rewards are ever more meagre. That is why I should like to say quite clearly that I – like Mrs Lulling – call for all measures to be taken to support the marketing of natural European honey ahead of cheap, undeclared artificial honey, with which we have repeatedly had to contend, or honey from abroad. I would also call for something that is always the subject of some ridicule, but which is ecologically important, namely the pollination premium for colonies of bees, so that we promote this activity by giving beekeepers more support.
I should particularly like to thank you, Commissioner, for your examples from France, which plays a leading role in this sector. Your country also has a former agriculture minister for president and it is a country, which, thank God, takes healthy eating and delicious food very seriously. I actually believe that we in Europe should finally see this issue, which is regarded by some perhaps as a bit of a joke, for what it is, namely a health issue and a prerequisite for a functioning environment and ecological system."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples