Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-28-Speech-4-016"
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"en.20050428.5.4-016"2
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".
Mr President, I agree with the Commission’s view that nitrates and pesticides, as listed in Annex I, should remain the two substances for which we have EU-wide standards. We then should allow Member States to establish threshold values for a range of other substances. In the longer term, in the light of experience and information as a result of implementing the framework Water Directive, we may then be in a much better position to translate threshold values at national level into EU-wide groundwater quality standards.
In my opinion this is a more reasonable and pragmatic way forward, but critically it is workable and achievable. And when do we amend legislation in this Parliament? It is essential that it is workable across 25 countries and it is essential that the subsidiarity principle is enshrined in our legislation so that we can achieve high standards that work at national level.
I am happy to agree with the opinion put forward by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, which suggests that the Commission should analyse whether the Nitrates Directive can be repealed from 2008. I agree with this in the context of what I have just said. Legislation should be adequate and workable, but most importantly it should achieve its stated objectives. The Nitrates Directive is certainly not doing this with 12 of the 15 Member States being taken to court over wrong or inadequate implementation. But the essential points are that it does not take soil or climatic conditions into consideration and, most critically, that the goal of the Nitrates Directive should be defined at Community level but not the mechanism to achieve that goal.
Yesterday evening I went to see the exhibition hosted by the Joint Research Centre. One of the exhibits informed me that there are 28 different soil groups all over Europe and six of these soil groups are present in Ireland. How can a one-size-fits-all directive, like the Nitrates Directive, work efficiently in these circumstances? Moreover, it is not just soil that matters; it makes an important difference whether the area is grassland or ploughed land.
As to the issue of climate, all I can say is that in Ireland we do not have a climate, we have weather. And if Irish farmers were to follow the letter of the directive and spread slurry when allowed, they would cause pollution rather than prevent it. We all want clean water but the legislation we put in place must be adequate to achieve it."@en1
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