Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-09-Speech-1-083"
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"en.20050509.15.1-083"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the rapporteur deserves a great deal of thanks, particularly for raising the question as to whether a European directive of this kind is needed at all. As Montesquieu said a few centuries ago, ‘If it is not necessary to make a law, then it is necessary to refrain from making a law’. I regard the Bathing Water Directive as a good example of the sort of directive that Europe can well do without. Europe’s constant urge to harmonise results in an excess of regulation, which means that the European Union becomes more and more distant from the public. The other side of that coin is that more and more members of the public become disenchanted with a European Union the most visible aspect of which is the way it decks itself in an array of bureaucratic rules and regulations.
Let me come to the point with which we are concerned in this instance. Every region possessing stretches of water for bathing or leisure activities has an intrinsic interest in maintaining them to a high standard; if it does not, the penalty it pays is that visitors and tourists stay away. The creation of a legal framework in this area should remain a matter for the Member States, for I certainly cannot see it having any effect on the internal market. Again, I do not think I need to discuss how badly many environmental regulations are transposed in the EU, as there are enough infringement proceedings in progress – a plethora of them, in fact – to demonstrate that.
If Europe wants to become more transparent to its citizens, then, where the protection of the environment and of health is concerned, we have to concentrate on what must – and can – be done at European level. What this means is that, if we have doubts as to whether or not a function should be performed at the European level, we should leave the responsibility for it with the Member States. I do not regard the Bathing Water Directive as a vitally necessary component of European integration."@en1
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