Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-18-Speech-2-630-000"
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"en.20110118.23.2-630-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, last year, we visited Campania and Naples, together with the Committee on Petitions, in order to witness the waste crisis situation for ourselves, a situation which many petitioners had described as very grave. We, too, found the situation on the ground to be very grave. We saw a waste tip in a national park on top of Mount Vesuvius. We saw many illegal dumping sites and burning piles of rubbish. I even recovered industrial waste from a mountain which had been designated as a household waste tip and we also saw an out-of-order incinerator, or at least what appeared to be one.
One thing is clear: things are not working there at the moment and I agree with the previous speakers that there appears to be a great deal of political wrangling over who exactly is responsible for this situation. Actually, we have called on the politicians and citizens there to put aside all their political differences and to join hands, in order to resolve the situation.
However, since then, I have not seen any sign of a solution, nor have I seen any plan being drawn up here – at least not in public – and I hope that you will be able to clarify for us whether a plan actually exists. The people of Campania told us the following very clearly last year: ‘We have appealed to everyone for help and knocked on all manner of doors, here in our province and the region, across Italy and amongst the Italian Government, and everywhere, we came away empty-handed. The European Union is our last hope and, at a time when no one else was listening to us, the European Union came to hear what we had to say’.
They have pinned their hopes on you and us, in the hope that we will ultimately be able to help find a solution in their region, one way or another. Of course, they need to resolve the situation on the ground themselves. Although, unfortunately, we cannot go there to clean up the rubbish with our own hands, we have a key role to play in this. Could you clarify whether there is a plan, if so, whether it is a quality plan, and if not, what you are planning to do about it? What are the deadlines? When does it have to be implemented by and how long are you prepared to wait? When are you ultimately going to push for sanctions to be imposed by the European Court of Justice and what is happening with the structural funds which are currently still frozen?
This is not just a waste crisis; these things could also lead to situations which are hazardous to human health. Where does the European Commission stand on this? This may not be your domain, but perhaps you could tell us, anyway, whether you have begun tackling this or not.
Obviously, the mafia, too, clearly has a hand in this. It has to be said, though, that it is neither for the European Commission nor us to do anything directly about this; the only thing we can ultimately do is monitor the implementation of our directives in the European Union. In what way could we provide further support, perhaps by sharing best practice? How can Member States help each other here? Do you not agree that, in this case, waste should be seen, not so much as a problem, but as an opportunity? Campania could make a huge leap overnight towards becoming a recycling community. I am of the opinion that we should actually advocate a total ban, at European level, on the dumping of waste and a ban on waste tips."@en1
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