Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-03-Speech-4-056-000"
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"en.20110203.5.4-056-000"2
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".
Madam President, Mr Potočnik, firstly I would like to thank all the kind people in this House and in the Commission who have helped me during this phase. The process has not been exactly straightforward. The cooperation with the Commission was excellent and I would like once again to give my sincere thanks to the team in my office who worked around the clock on this report.
The issue of electronic waste is not about implementing exaggerated environmental standards. On the one hand, it is true that these are environmental standards, but on the other hand, this also concerns the question of safeguarding our supplies of raw materials in Europe. We all know that in the foreseeable future raw materials will be in short supply. What use are advanced technologies if we no longer have any raw materials?
Therefore, we also need to look at this report from an economic perspective and then it unfortunately becomes clear that we are weak in a number of areas. The European countries have varying collection rates. The countries in the north are the best, with a rate of 16 kg per head of population. The worst performer is the country where my name comes from, where only 1 kg per year is collected. With rates of 16 kg and 1 kg, it is important not to keep quiet about those countries with a good record, but we also need to name and shame the poor performers and I intend to do that.
We must finally introduce uniform criteria in this directive, because these have been lacking until now. Every country is doing what it wants and using its own definitions. This is why it is not really possible to bring the countries with such poor collection rates before a court, because they are acting correctly according to their own standards. The situation in the European Union must change, because we are living in an internal market. Sometimes we seem to have forgotten that.
We must not give up the huge benefits that the European Union can bring. This is why it is right that this piece of Swiss cheese which is full of holes is finally being transformed into something consisting of more cheese and fewer holes. The Commission is now on the right track, but unfortunately it has neglected to carry out checks in recent years. I would have liked to have seen greater commitment from the Commission in this respect. However, that is in the past and we hope that the future will be better. It really is not easy when the Member States go their own way and even my own country is not exactly biddable.
We are right to define the collection targets more clearly. We are right to put a stop to illegal exports. The examples I can give would make your hair stand on end. In a large port in one country, 420 containers containing high-quality electronic waste were checked and 360 of them were illegal. Our children will be asking us very uncomfortable questions, if we cannot finally bring this situation under control. One tonne of circuit boards contains 200 grams of gold, while one tonne of ore contains only 2 grams of gold. We cannot afford to go on in this way in future and I hope that the citizens of Europe will become more aware of these economic issues.
This is why we want a more dedicated collection system. Specifically, we want it to be possible for small appliances, which can easily be thrown into the dustbin, to be handed in free of charge. We can put in place exceptions for very small businesses, but as a general rule we must make it easier to hand in electronic devices, rather than putting them in the dustbin, because we need the valuable raw materials. That is our main goal.
We must also stop illegal shipments and change the scope of the directive. Today, if you manufacture a lamp, you have to register it in all 27 Member States in order to be able to sell it, simply because of the waste directive. The system must be brought up-to-date and made more attractive. We are on the way to achieving this."@en1
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