Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-28-Speech-4-029"
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"en.20050428.5.4-029"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, even though two thirds of the Earth is covered with water, we can still use no more than 1% of it for drinking – that we know. We find clean water from the tap the most obvious thing in the world, but elsewhere thousands of children are dying every day as a result of waterborne diseases.
What that clearly shows is that drinking water is first among all foodstuffs, and that we must, of course, protect our groundwater throughout Europe, so that we do not end up in future turning our own tap off and sentencing future generations to a similar fate.
Although the quantity of water in the world remains unchanged, the quality of groundwater is impaired by pollution from agriculture, building work, landfill sites, residual contamination and increased traffic. It follows that it makes a great deal of sense to lay down uniform standards and measuring procedures for groundwater quality throughout the EU, and, inadequate though this report is in my view, it is for that reason that I, too, will be voting in favour of it.
As the report itself observes, impurities can become apparent as long as decades later, and so it is absolutely vital to handle these living resources with care. The increased value attached to organic agriculture as a consequence of the reform of the CAP was a step in the right direction, but if we promote such things as transport or trans-European convoys or the intensive use of insecticides in the cultivation of maize or tobacco, for example, we are also making it more likely that groundwater will be polluted. In the light of this, we should therefore take a critical and penetrating look at our support schemes.
For me, as a Member from Austria, a country with large reserves of drinking water, which are vital and precious to us, careful handling of water, particularly of groundwater, throughout Europe is important. If we do not, it is inevitable that many more people will be casting covetous eyes in the direction of our water, and that is something we want to avoid."@en1
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