Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-16-Speech-4-037"
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"en.20060316.5.4-037"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr Trakatellis for the excellent cooperation and his excellent report.
The three common core EU policy objectives in the fields of health and consumer protection are clearly brought out: to protect the public from risks and hazards over which the individual has no control and which cannot be effectively or completely dealt with by individual Member States. The focus is quite clear. Strengthening people’s ability to make decisions affecting their health – in this connection, a Commission initiative aimed at reducing the restrictions in the pharmaceutical industry’s information policy is also commendable. Thirdly, the incorporation of health policy into the other areas of Community policy.
In the field of health, this report introduces three new core subjects that relate to the new challenges of our time: the response to threats – taking as an example the epidemics that are at present very much in our minds with bird flu. Secondly, the prevention of diseases and patterns of behaviour – citing here only smoking, obesity, addictions and lack of exercise as examples. Thirdly, the necessary cooperation between national health authorities, where there is surely still room for improvement at many levels. I see no undermining of subsidiarity here, but on the contrary greater cooperation, effects of synergy and a strengthening of subsidiarity.
I believe the separation into consumer protection and health protection to be important and correct, since they are two fields of policy with different bases in law, which means they also entail different EU powers within the Community. Personally, I find all that we are wanting to do with 1.5 billion in seven years astonishing. I hope that a lot of it will be achieved. Let us only bear in mind that statutory social insurance has a turnover of EUR 180 billion a year in the Federal Republic of Germany alone.
I support Amendment 64 on expanding the financial framework. I believe it is the minimum if we are to do any meaningful work at all. Compared to what the Community spends in seven years on subsidising the cultivation of tobacco, this amount is still vanishingly small. It amounts to only about one fifth of tobacco subsidies.
We certainly cannot satisfy every desire of Europe’s citizens and institutions in a framework programme. We have tried to be as fair and balanced as possible. I see this as a great opportunity to take Europe a bit further into the midst of the citizens again through joint public relations work."@en1
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