Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-16-Speech-3-280"
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"en.20051116.20.3-280"2
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".
Mr President, my group supports Mrs Scheele’s proposal to reject the Commission proposal. I think that she has demonstrated beyond doubt that this is an example of bad legislation. For example, the drafting of standards which traps must meet has not been underpinned by sound scientific research. The criteria to be met by traps and tests for the same are arbitrary. It is, of course, difficult to measure the suffering of animals. Where does stress end and the battle for life begin?
Moreover, especially in the catch involving live traps, the proposal does not cover the humanity of alternative methods that might have to be used to kill the animals. Animals often drown in a different way, are clubbed to death or kill each other. There is inconsistency between this proposal and the Habitat Directive. Certain animal species that are protected under the Habitat Directive – I would particularly mention the ban on catching and killing such wild animals as the otter, beaver, wolf and lynx – are also listed in the annex to the proposal on humane trapping methods. What are we to make of this? Other animals too that fall within the scope of this proposal, including the marten and the badger, are protected or preserved in certain areas.
In connection with this directive, I too cannot help but briefly mention a typically Dutch safety issue, namely the protection of its low lands from flooding by dike breaches. On account of its way of life, the muskrat undermines dikes, which forms a real threat to safety and public health in the Netherlands. While that animal is a foreign species and should, of course, be controlled in the most humane way possible, there is at the moment no useable and more humane method of control that is as effective as the drowning set. A ban on the drowning set – and I can imagine that the proposal will at some point return to such a ban – makes the effective control of muskrats impossible. Dutch safety and public health would be at risk as a result.
On behalf of the muskrat, we must also find more humane trapping methods that can be used, but until such time as suitable alternatives are found, I think a clear exemption position for the Netherlands or for a situation in which safety is at risk, would be welcomed.
I would like to finish off with a comment of a more general nature. In the European Union, we are indulging in animal protection
. A great deal is happening in the area of, for example, cutting down on animal tests. The cosmetics directive or REACH is a case in point. We also do something about international animal transports. This is all very important but also highly arbitrary. We have to ask ourselves what Europe would like to do, or indeed has to do, in the area of animal protection.
Do we want a ban on collecting lapwings’ eggs in the Netherlands, or bull fighting in Spain or the fattening of French geese for
because those customs are animal-unfriendly or are they national matters to which Europe’s interference does not add any value? It would not be a bad idea for us in this House and in the EU to think about what we do and do not want to do in the area of animal protection, rather than indulging in protection
at random."@en1
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