Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-02-Speech-4-017"
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"en.20090402.6.4-017"2
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"Mr President, we have been waiting quite a long time for the Commission’s plan on sustainable production and consumption. We received the proposal a few months ago. Although it is comprehensive, unfortunately I have to say that the overall content is rather limited and poor. Having read some of the early drafts of the Commission proposals, I know that, in the Environment DG in particular, there were much more ambitious plans to start with. So it is obvious that work on these issues has to continue and be more in-depth in the future.
Today we are discussing the Ecolabel scheme. The revision offers a good opportunity for this label to move away from the margins of the market, to capture a much larger share of the market and to help push demand for eco-friendly products. The new rules represent a significant improvement. They are more dynamic, will apply a life-cycle approach and should be able to attract significantly more attention and interest among both companies and consumers. As Mr Dimas said, they will be able to help consolidate eco-labelling and do away with a number of voluntary schemes that are very often confusing to consumers.
However, we still have a problem, namely how to inform consumers and the markets about the label. Marketing support for this label has been very limited in the past. The resources allocated have been minuscule compared to the resources behind a lot of branding in the market in general. I hope this will change, first of all by businesses seeing the Ecolabel as an important instrument in the future. I also hope, as Mr Vakalis said, that public procurement will in the future expand in green areas and use the Ecolabel as a platform.
I also hope that the Commission will be more proactive in its support for the scheme. I thank all those who have been involved in the work. I think we have done quite a good job in a few weeks. We managed to clear up some of the confusion around food products, in particular fishery products, in the final hours.
Finally, I would like to refer back to Ms McAvan, who made a reference to the financial crisis and the meeting in London today. I think that reference is very relevant. We are facing at least three parallel crises today – the financial crisis, the climate crisis and what I would call the ecosystem crisis, or overuse of natural resources. It is only by tackling the root causes together – that is to say, unsustainable use of resources – through investing in low-carbon and eco-friendly production and products, that we will be able to build a better future. I think this Ecolabel scheme is one of many instruments that can help us to do that."@en1
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