Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-23-Speech-3-222-000"
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"en.20110323.21.3-222-000"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Schwab, honourable Members, it is a great pleasure for me that we were finally able to include the debate on this proposal in the agenda.
As you know, the Council came to an agreement on the subject in December last year, and on 24 January 2011, already during the Hungarian Presidency, the Council officially adopted its preliminary position, that is, the general approach.
In order to reach an agreement, we had to negotiate for over two years in the Council about what the ideal balance between EU and Member State legislation granting consumers’ rights would be, and which aspects of consumer rights could be harmonised accordingly. Nothing illustrates the difficulties surrounding this proposal better than the fact that the Council working party needed more than sixty meetings to create a text that the qualified majority of the Member States could support. Additionally, it has proven impossible to reach an agreement on chapters four and five of the Commission proposal, which concern the sale of goods and unfair contract terms, respectively. Due to the prevailing difficulties, the Council finally decided to omit these two chapters from the text and to focus instead on off-premises and distance contracts. This approach was also supported by the Commission, since the Council’s text creates added value with regard to such contracts at EU level.
The Presidency believes that the European Parliament could give further impetus to the debate. This is why tomorrow’s vote on the proposed draft amendments will be so important. If the European Parliament decides in tomorrow’s plenary sitting to refer the dossier back to the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the Hungarian Presidency will endeavour to ensure with great commitment that an agreement is reached at first reading. We are prepared to make every effort necessary to this end. Naturally, a very great deal will depend on what kind of amendments Parliament proposes.
As I have already mentioned, there is a significant difference of opinion between Member States concerning the contents of chapters four and five, that is, the issue of whether certain aspects of sales terms and warranties, as well as unfair contract terms, need to be fully harmonised. The Presidency believes that the reason why it would be necessary for us to focus on other provisions of the directive, that is, chapters one and three, is that this is where we can create true European added value. As regards these points, the Council’s general approach does not differ significantly from Parliament’s draft amendments, which were carried by the Committee on Legal Affairs and the IMCO on 20 January and 1 February, respectively.
Mr President, Commissioner, honourable Members, we are ready to cooperate fully with Parliament and the Commission in order to achieve success. I would also like to use this opportunity to thank the rapporteur and Chair of the IMCO Committee, Mr Harbour, and all members of the IMCO Committee for their full cooperation which they have so far provided to the Hungarian Presidency. I do not know what the final outcome will be, and whether we will be entirely satisfied with the results of our negotiations, but I am convinced that we must not waste the opportunity to grant EU citizens consumer rights that have a far broader scope than before."@en1
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