Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2016-01-19-Speech-2-882-000"
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"en.20160119.35.2-882-000"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank the shadows, the Commission and the Council for their cooperation on this gas appliances file.
For those of us across the EU who have turned on their gas fire tonight or cooked their dinner on a gas cooker this evening, this proposal will ensure that these day—to—day household products we all take for granted are safe, do what they say they will do, and can be bought or sold across the European Union. Therefore, these new proposals set an example that, by cooperating together to create one set of rules affecting gas ovens, gas cookers and gas central heating systems, we can ensure the greatest safety of these products, which cover 500 million EU citizens. The mandatory essential requirements and the conformity assessment procedures to be followed by manufacturers must be identical in all Member States.
Tomorrow’s vote in plenary will be on the final text agreed upon in the trialogues. I hope everyone will be able to endorse the agreement, as I believe we have managed to find a good compromise between all parties involved. Subject to a positive vote in plenary tomorrow, the regulation will be transposed into national law by all Member States by January 2018.
The gas appliances sector covers a wide range of products, from simple portable cookers to boilers in big buildings. The current EU stock of gas appliances is at 470 million and growing, with more than 30 million units being sold annually. The annual sales for installed gas appliances account for around EUR 40 billion, and the annual turnover for fittings alone is around EUR 1.7 billion. With the scale of this market, it is absolutely imperative to set the highest manufacturing standards possible when producing and placing gas appliances on the EU market, in order to ensure the health and safety of persons and domestic animals.
When talking about health and safety, I would like to highlight this evening the issue of carbon monoxide. When a fuel burns, it generally reacts with the surrounding oxygen and produces carbon dioxide. However, when fuels are unable to burn fully, they produce the dangerous gas known as carbon monoxide, which is poisonous. I have insisted on certain references to carbon monoxide poisoning in this regulation, and I am happy to see this language reflected in the final text. However, not enough is being done by national governments and the EU in this respect and its importance seems to be downplayed despite statistics. In the UK carbon monoxide – often referred to as a silent killer – injures around 200 people per annum, and around 40 of such injuries are fatal. These deaths are all avoidable.
The case of British children Bobby and Christi Shepherd, who died in 2006 of carbon monoxide poisoning at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in Corfu as a result of a faulty boiler, has provoked widespread anger and calls for change. The coroner in the case, David Hinchliff, has called for the tightening of EU—wide regulations in this area in order to prevent future deaths. The travel guidance group, Holiday Travel Watch, has estimated that half a million UK holidaymakers are at risk of CO poisoning every year. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), CO kills more people annually than HIV-Aids or skin cancer.
Currently there are no EU laws setting out minimum safety standards for hotels in Europe to comply with, meaning there exist varying levels of safety in hotels across Europe. Labour MEPs certainly feel this is clearly a cross—border issue deserving legislative action. Consumers deserve to be properly protected, no matter where they choose to stay. In the absence of further proposals for legislation on hotel safety, Labour MEPs support the review of the 1986 Council recommendation and want to see a firm provision for carbon monoxide safety within this revision. This is the only current EU legislative tool containing guidelines for hotels and fire and gas safety.
Without any new regulation, we want to see specific research provisions on carbon monoxide safety and the use of carbon monoxide detectors. There is currently also no body which collects pan-European data on carbon monoxide. If the effectiveness of EU measures taken in this area is to be assessed, this must be remedied.
I hope that you will agree with me that it is essential to deal with the importance of gas safety and carbon monoxide and that we must take further action. Thank you very much, Madam President, for your discretion on this subject."@en1
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