Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-289"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20081118.29.2-289"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, it is indeed the task of the European Commission to guarantee transparency, better information and protection for our citizens and consumers, as Mr Barroso rightly said.
There is, however, one domain, Mr Barroso, in which your Commission has been particularly unsuccessful in that respect, namely the authorisation procedures for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These procedures have drawn criticism from all quarters. They ought to be reviewed at the next meeting of the Council of Environment Ministers on 4 and 5 November. There are 44 European regions that have declared themselves GM-free. Six Member States have invoked the safeguard clause for Monsanto maize. In the face of opposition from a large majority of Europeans, what are you doing, Mr Barroso? You are fast-tracking marketing licences. You are issuing approvals, meekly following the advice of the European Food Safety Authority, whose opinion is itself based on toxicity studies conducted by bio-engineering companies.
European procedures in their present form are a veritable sieve through which the commercial interests of agribusiness can percolate freely. People want to know about the toxic effects of GMOs, and they must be told. Do you yourself know how toxic they are, Mr Barroso? Do you know? What effects does the toxicity of GMOs have on public health and the environment? Why is there no requirement to publish the raw data on which the findings of studies are based? Why are tests not compulsory after three months? Why make do with studies conducted by the companies themselves?
The public are entitled to transparency, to information, to discussion. These should be the aims of the Commission when it comes to approving GMOs. What we want, Mr Barroso, is the publication of raw data. We want to see dissenting studies, we want public debate, and we want long-term testing. We want to know the health impact of GMOs.
Your initiative, Mr Barroso, to create a group of sherpas from the 27 Member States to bypass the Presidency’s
group and to bypass your own Commissioners who are competent in these matters sows confusion and obscurity in an area where it is your responsibility to guarantee the clarity and reliability of procedures.
You want the public to have confidence in Europe, do you not, Mr Barroso? Then prove it!"@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples