Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-16-Speech-4-164"
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"Mr President, because we had so much to do this morning, this debate has been rather delayed, and it is unfortunate that the rapporteur and many others who have worked on this issue cannot be in the Chamber. However, that is the way it is. I was suddenly given a very great deal of speaking time by my group and declined to use the last five minutes, even though I was offered the chance to sing a song. That is not something I shall do, however.
The internal market has created millions of jobs, as well as increased prosperity. It has torn down borders and opened doors. We can do whatever we want: travel, study, work and set up house. Consumers have been given access to a host of new products. We must therefore go further and also create an internal market for consumers. That means common regulations and a high level of consumer protection throughout the EU. As border trade increases, so too does trade at an individual level, so people need to know what kind of goods they are buying, what to do if there is something wrong with them, how to complain and what kind of regulations exist. How are they to know that a particular product really does what it purports to do? What is available in terms of service, warranties and the resolution of disputes?
If we are to win back people’s confidence, there must be guarantees regarding these matters, for they are day-to-day issues concerning the conditions encountered by consumers every day. These are the matters we need to engage with at EU level. It is therefore really excellent that the Commission has put forward this proposal for a long-term multiannual programme in the field of consumer protection.
The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe does not, however, agree with the Commission about the need to combine consumer protection and public health. We share the rapporteur’s view that they should be kept separate. Even though there are naturally points of contact, they are two distinct policy areas requiring different approaches, and the two should be kept separate. We do not want to see any special authority or agency in this connection, either.
Other important elements we are delighted to see included in the proposal include the views that consumer policy needs to be integrated into all policy, that it is important to cooperate with the various consumer organisations in our Member States and that additional support and attention might be given to those states that have not yet managed to make much progress in the field of consumer protection. I am delighted that we have been able to agree on these matters and that there is a broad consensus among the groups regarding them. I wish to than Mrs Thyssen – hopefully, she will read the Minutes – for the far-sightedness and willingness to cooperate that she has shown. We are ambitious when it comes to consumer matters, whether what is at issue is cooperation, evaluation or the provision of information. There must, of course, be a proper budget, therefore.
I hope that, in the future too, there will be constructive cooperation when it comes to the consumer programmes that the Commission is to present this autumn. Perhaps we really should have proceeded the other way round and first dealt with the major policy guidelines and then this programme, but what is done is done. We back what has been proposed and shall support the report by a large majority – or, I in actual fact believe, unanimously -–when it is voted on during the next part-session."@en1
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