Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-08-Speech-3-264"
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"en.20081008.25.3-264"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, many of us here have just had the pleasure of hearing you announce a number of positive developments that have never been mentioned before, and which will no doubt appear in the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council, which we look forward to receiving. However, your response gave the impression that there was no complete recognition of the fact that events are snowballing.
First of all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with a scientific consensus which is now shared, has told us that the Arctic faces greater threats than those imagined only four or five years ago. The living conditions of the Inuit people are under threat, and biological diversity is in danger. Many species, including polar bears, are also threatened.
Secondly, this summer, for the first time in several millennia, the Arctic sea route was navigable from the east and west. That has never happened before. We have also had the recent announcement of oil slicks, degasification and oil damage in the Arctic.
Thirdly, my fellow member from the PPE has just this instant reminded us that a Russian submarine planted a Russian flag at the North Pole. What was this supposed to mean? Russia is claiming the expansion of its maritime zone to include its entire continental shelf. That represents 38% of the entire surface of the Arctic. It is a terrible situation because it is the prelude to the militarisation of the Arctic. The only way, Commissioner, of blocking this procedure, which is being examined by the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, is to commence negotiations for an international protection treaty. This has never been mentioned before.
With Greenland and Denmark, the European Union has one country that borders the Arctic region and two other countries that are situated in Arctic territory. We have close ties with Iceland. The European Union has the power to ask it – and I believe that there is an urgent need for this, both in the interests of security and in the interests of the policing of shipping and climate preservation – to continue initiatives which could produce surplus energy.
We need to begin negotiations now for an Arctic protection treaty, as there is for Antarctica. I know this because I was one of the sponsors of those negotiations. It is with this in mind that I propose swift action. There is no time for delay. This has to happen before the UN committee finishes examining Russia’s claim."@en1
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