Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-07-Speech-5-030"
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"en.20000707.3.5-030"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I must begin by highlighting the excellent work that Mr Di Lello Finuoli has carried out on this report, which received, as he has already said, the almost unanimous support of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. I also wish to praise this initiative by Denmark, which seeks to ensure that a Framework Decision on combating serious environmental crime is approved. We are all aware of the increasing scale and the frequent cross-border effects of this type of crime. I must also mention one of the recent surveys by Eurobarometer, which confirms that the environment, together with security, health and unemployment, is one of the concerns closest to the hearts of the European citizens. We therefore have an obligation to respond to these concerns, in a way that will guarantee the protection of the environment and public health, with a view to improving the quality of our citizens’ lives.
The truth requires us to recognise that the European Union has made considerable progress in the area of the environment over the last five years. Today, even from the point of view of the Treaties, we have already seen a balanced and sustained form of development taking place. Under the terms of the Tampere conclusions, environmental crime is one of the areas specifically mentioned, on which efforts must be concentrated in order to establish common definitions, charges and sanctions between the various national criminal laws.
There is therefore a crucial need for joint action by the Member States in order to protect the environment under criminal law. We in the Member States are facing a common problem, which, more and more, is having effects which go beyond the borders of the State in which the crimes are committed. This makes it crucial that we implement concerted measures for protecting the environment under criminal law, which are in force right across the territory of the European Union. Either through criminal laws or through severe sanctions – and I stress the adjective severe – which are commensurate with the offence and which act as an effective deterrent.
Furthermore, as Mrs Schörling pointed out, there must also be a global course of preventive action, under which Member States can guarantee that companies whose activities involve a greater risk to the environment and which might have harmful effects on public health are properly informed about the environmental consequences of their activities and that they adopt the appropriate safety measures and precautions. It is therefore imperative that the methods for combating serious environmental crimes are strengthened and coordinated between Member States.
To conclude, I wish to call on the Member States that have not yet signed up to the Council of Europe’s 1998 Convention on the protection of the environment, to adopt, under their national legislation, the necessary measures to do so as quickly as possible."@en1
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