Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-10-Speech-2-680-000"
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"en.20110510.67.2-680-000"2
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"Mr President, I want to thank everyone and, in particular, all the shadow rapporteurs for the excellent cooperation we have experienced. I want to thank the Commission for the way in which we have worked together. I also want to thank the Council, because I believe that, thanks to the Hungarian Presidency, we have broken the impasse on this particular issue. What I am particularly happy about is the fact that this is a regulation and not a directive. I take the view that regulations are the right tool for completing the Internal Market, which is, incidentally, what Professor Monti also clearly demonstrated in his research.
We are producing too much legislation that is implemented at various levels, and because of that the Internal Market is failing to function as it should. I am happy that this issue is being discussed in this case and I note that we have, indeed, improved a number of things on that score. The proposal was dealt with by the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. In the original proposal, there was, in fact, hardly any mention of the consumer; we, as politicians, understood that we also have to protect the interests of the consumer in this report, as, indeed, we have done.
There are several important considerations and here I am thinking, in particular, of research into allergic reactions. The Commission has indicated that it is prepared to carry out a study of these important issues. It will present the study by 30 September 2013 at the latest and incorporate the positive results from the study into additional legislation. The Council has stated that it would be willing to help think things through, if the result is positive and attainable.
Let us consider allergic reactions and chemical substances – we are witnessing increasing numbers of consumers developing allergic reactions when wearing certain clothes or eating, smelling or inhaling certain products. We believe it is necessary to examine the possibility of warning consumers of such potential allergic reactions. Very often, deceptive trade practices are also going on. In fact, they have been prohibited in the European Union since 2005, but we can see that there is too little clarity about the country of manufacture when it comes to made-in labels.
There is too little legislation available, which means that it is quite often abused. We have also asked the Commission to examine the possibility of laying down clear laws and conditions, in order to ensure that manufacturers who claim a particular product was manufactured in, say, the Netherlands, Italy or Germany can guarantee that that really is the case. We do not want situations where 99% of a product is made in China and only the finishing jobs are carried out in one of the Member States of the European Union, but the lovely ‘Made in Europe’ label is still attached to it.
This would also cover counterfeiting, for example. What I am particularly pleased about is the fact that we are opening the door to modern technologies, that we are not sticking with simple old-fashioned textile labels in textile products and that we are actually going to look into the possibility of using modern technologies in order to provide the consumer with the best possible information. The Council has already directly agreed to labels indicating whether garments contain animal products, because it is becoming more and more difficult to work out whether a piece of fur is real or fake, and there are a great number of consumers for whom that kind of information is important.
The upcoming study by the European Commission is particularly intended to eliminate barriers to the proper functioning of the Internal Market and to anticipate developments in the area of electronic commerce. Because, if we want there to be more e-commerce, then we have to ensure there are European standards for labelling. I hope this study will lead to clarity on this.
It also seems to me that, in the modern world, we no longer need to put 23 languages on a label, because modern technologies can provide improved solutions to this problem.
I hope that the Council’s statement tomorrow will be a positive one and that it will assure us of a positive result, and I wish to thank everyone who has contributed to that positive result."@en1
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