Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-13-Speech-2-114"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000613.10.2-114"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we have had heated discussions about this directive in the committees. The question remains as to whether this proposal should be viewed as a health policy initiative. For the fact is that it will mean a massive tightening up of provisions, not based on internal market criteria. Obstacles to trade will not be dismantled, which is what the main aim of the legal act should be, rather they will actually be preordained for when the directive comes into force. The directive would weaken the position of EU manufacturers on third country markets. That would lead to manufacturers pulling out of the European Union. We must make a clear assessment of the consequences. We cannot afford to lose jobs and tax revenue. The small and medium-sized companies acting as suppliers would also experience considerable difficulties.
However, I would also like to raise the issue of tobacco cultivation in the EU. The subsidies for this are part of structural aid. They should be cancelled without offering the farmers an alternative. Even now, 80% of the tobacco requirement is imported. Therefore, if we are talking about scrapping subsidies then we are going to have to think in global terms, otherwise our tobacco farmers in the EU will be the only ones to suffer. Jobs will be lost and cultural landscapes will decline. Yet this will not mean a decrease in smoking. We must strive for international regulations here.
The consumers are not innocents abroad. They are aware of the risks of smoking. Even reducing the maximum tar content will not give us healthy cigarettes. Putting health warnings resembling obituary notices on the packet instead of factual information – which I am emphatically in favour of – is intended to have an impact on people’s emotions. Consumers will have no truck with that, for that is not far short of discriminatory authoritarian control.
Public health is an issue of major concern to us all. That is why we need unambiguous and reasonable conditions and laws that tie in with the objectives of the health authorities and create stable framework conditions at the same time. When I think of the science fiction film ‘The Year 2036’ that was shown on Sunday evening – cigarettes are prohibited, as are meat, chocolate, sweets and wine of course – I ask myself if this is the shape of things to come."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples