Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-09-Speech-1-097"
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"en.20050509.15.1-097"2
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"Mr President, in my home country, Hungary, there is a saying we use to describe the situation when someone overshoots the mark in an act of good intention, and in the end does more harm than good: he throws the baby out with the bathwater.
Well, this is exactly what the EP will do, if it accepts Jules Maaten’s report in its present form. Lake Balaton is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Hungary and Europe, and it is the most valuable resource for Hungarian tourism. Millions of people use it for swimming or recreational activities every year, and accepting the recommendation would put an end to this, just as it would eliminate the workplaces of hundreds of thousands of people who work and make a living of tourism there.
I certainly agree that our goal is to ensure excellent bathing water quality in Europe. The health of those who visit the waters for sporting or recreational purposes as well as other environmental conditions make this necessary. This is why we cannot accept that this report conflates qualitative provisions for coastal and inland waters. Nor can I agree with Parliament’s report that suggests, without professional justification, a stricter threshold than the Council’s proposal.
At the same time, I am also anxious about the recommended management measures in the event that their water quality becomes poorer. If parameters exceed the limits, indicating that the water is detrimental to health, bathing should simply be prohibited. This has been the practice so far and there is no reason to alter it. It is simply unreasonable that complete information should only be provided in English and French in all the twenty-five Member States. Bathers should rather be informed in the languages most commonly spoken in the given area. Lake Balaton and Lake Fertő in Hungary are excellent examples for this, as they are mostly frequented by German, Austrian and Dutch tourists.
In the past days and hours, there have been a few proposals to amend the present Parliamentary report that provide positive contribution to the new legislation, and therefore, I do not recommend accepting the report unless these amendments are adopted. Thus, we can avoid passing legislation that ignores environmental conditions and may make it impossible for the tourist industry to flourish in many regions and also deprive millions of people from the joy of safe bathing and the pursuit of recreational activities. We must not throw the baby out with the bathwater."@en1
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