Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-04-Speech-4-010"
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"en.20011004.1.4-010"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the operation of the internal market is only guaranteed if, in an area without internal borders, appropriate and sensible measures are put in place and consumer safety is safeguarded. We need uniform safety standards, not a range of different standards. The proposal before us is intended to create these uniform standards. In recent years, consumer confidence has been badly dented, firstly by various acts of fraud against consumers, and secondly by the very welcome research in this area. This has repeatedly revealed that some consumer goods on the market no longer complied with current safety criteria. It is therefore even more important and necessary that this report is before us today. Our thanks are due to the rapporteur, whose efforts have made this possible.
It is very important that this general product safety directive should apply irrespective of the type of marketing undertaken, and that a decision is taken which reflects developments in the market place and therefore also includes distance marketing and electronic commerce.
As regards the issue of consumer safety, the task is not only to protect children and older persons as the weaker groups in our societies, which is always emphasised; safety standards must apply to everyone. It is therefore only right and proper that we should seek to ensure that goods which no longer meet our safety standards and have to be withdrawn from sale do not end up by circuitous routes in third countries where they could pose a risk to health.
I think that one of the most important points arising in this context is the involvement of the trade. Ensuring compliance with these current safety criteria cannot take place solely via the public authorities; the dealers themselves must play their part in ensuring that this relationship of trust between dealer and consumer is enhanced and improved in future. However, this will still require appropriate controls, and the directive is only as good as its regulation. Monitoring measures will therefore be very important. This network of regulatory bodies in the Member States is essential, and we hope that it will come into operation as quickly as possible.
Let me add one final point, namely the speed of response by the European Parliament and the European institutions to this type of emergency and the consumer protection which had become necessary in the wake of the BSE crisis, foot and mouth disease, and other types of consumer fraud. We have been discussing this issue for nearly a year now, and I think we should consider how we can respond to emergencies more quickly and introduce urgently-needed measures, and perhaps also how we can improve and, above all, speed up our internal processes and inter-institutional processes in this context."@en1
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