Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-05-Speech-2-408"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20090505.28.2-408"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, our civilisation is a civilisation which uses animals. We kill billions of animals for meat, for skins and for a variety of economic needs. Sometimes we also kill them where there is no economic reason — for sport, such as hunting, or for entertainment, such as in bullfighting. For me killing animals is neither sport, nor entertainment, nor culture, but we will not go into that here, because the subject of our debate is the killing of animals for economic reasons.
Protection of animals at the time of killing. Is it possible? Is it possible to protect an animal which we are going to kill? Yes, it is possible, mainly by sparing it unnecessary suffering. By protecting animals from inhuman treatment we protect our own humanity. The proposed regulation improves standards of protecting animals at the time of killing, and introduces higher, better technical norms and fosters better monitoring of their use. It introduces greater personal responsibility for the proper handling of animals, and also introduces a requirement to appoint a special officer responsible for animal protection in facilities which carry out slaughter. The new regulation, in place of the old 1993 directive, means obvious progress in realisation of the idea of animal protection, and therefore as rapporteur I endorse the regulation.
There were several areas of controversy. A conspicuous example is the question of ritual slaughter. The basic principle is to kill animals after they have been stunned and rendered unconscious, but an exception is allowed for religious reasons — killing without prior stunning, if this is required for religious reasons. This concerns adherents of Islam and Judaism, who kill animals without stunning them first. Amendments which were aimed at introducing a comprehensive ban on ritual slaughter in the European Union have been rejected by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The Committee members were of the opinion that such a ban would be unworkable.
The Committee has also rejected a proposal that would have given each Member State the right to ban ritual slaughter through its own legislation. This is contained in Amendment 28. I would like to point out that a vote in favour of this amendment means that Member States will not be able to ban ritual slaughter on their territory. A vote against the amendment means a return to the position of the European Commission, which allows imposition of a ban on ritual slaughter under domestic law.
Another controversial matter is the appointment of national reference centres, which were to be appointed by each Member State. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development rejected this idea in Amendment 64. Personally, I think that such reference centres should be established, and that they could also play a role in monitoring the handling of animals at the time of killing.
I would like to draw attention to the suggestions of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development which are contained in my report. Firstly, measures to introduce higher standards of animal protection at the time of killing should obtain financial support from the European Union. The noble ends of animal protection cannot be achieved without financial layout and without creating material incentives to introduce increased standards.
Secondly, the report proposes that the improved standards should apply not only to producers within the European Union, but also to importers of meat products to Europe. We want to be sure that the EU market will be supplied only with animal products which come from animals killed in the way required by EU law.
Ladies and gentlemen, the last sitting of the European Parliament is largely devoted to the protection of animals. Today we have resolved to ban the import of products from seals which have been killed with cruelty, we have resolved to impose higher standards for the protection of experimental animals, and now we are debating higher standards of animal protection at the time of killing. I am glad that Parliament is doing so much for animal protection, and I am glad that I can be part of it. The spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi is present in this Chamber. May he also be present in the next parliamentary term."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples