Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-12-Speech-1-145"
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"en.20011112.11.1-145"2
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". – Mr President, I am pleased to outline to you the Commission's position on Mr Maat’s excellent report. The subject matter of this report is animal welfare and animal transport in particular. We all know that this is a very sensitive issue.
But let me be clear: where efforts to find solutions through dialogue do not succeed, the Commission will initiate infringement proceedings against the Member States concerned. In fact, proceedings are under way against several Member States and are under consideration for several more.
Finally, in this respect, I would call on the House to assist the Commission’s efforts in encouraging Member States to take animal welfare more seriously. In particular I would call on Members to remind your political colleagues in your own Member States of the need to put more efforts and resources into ensuring that the Community provisions on animal welfare are complied with.
Mr Maat, ladies and gentlemen, I will be returning to you shortly with the Commission’s formal proposals. This will provide you with the opportunity to shape the hard legislation on animal welfare. I can assure you that Mr Maat’s report will be a major influence on this legislation.
I made clear when I presented the original Commission proposal that the views of the Council and Parliament would help shape the proposals which I intend to present early next year. The report under discussion here today shares most of the objectives of the Commission. However, there is one key building block missing in the construction of the Commission’s final proposals and that is the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, which is expected shortly.
This opinion will provide the Commission with the necessary scientific advice on key issues such as travelling times and loading densities. On such issues, our actions must be guided by good scientific advice on animal transport conditions. Let me nonetheless indicate some general impressions on some of the key issues raised in your report.
First of all on travelling time, I was very glad to note that some of the more extreme suggestions, such as a four-hour limit on animal transport, have not been supported in Mr Maat’s report. The consistent advice to the Commission is that the stress and risk to animals in transport arises primarily from three factors: travelling time, loading and unloading of animals and the conditions in which they are transported – ventilation, humidity, density and so on.
The Commission has already presented proposals for improvements in these areas or will be presenting them shortly. However there is too much emphasis in some quarters on travelling time. I consider that a reduction to four hours is simplistic and takes no account of the wider interests involved.
We cannot ignore the interests of the farmers and the meat and livestock industry. Such a reduction would be viewed as an attack on their livelihoods rather than a genuine contribution to animal welfare. If we wish to retain their support for improved animal welfare then we must also respect their interests. I wish to work with them rather than against them and hope that you share this view.
I would now like to turn to the issue of resources. Your report calls for the number of inspectors in the Food and Veterinary Office engaged on animal welfare to be increased to fourteen, compared with the current figure of four. The reality is that such an increase could only be achieved at the expense of other priorities, including BSE, foot-and-mouth disease, meat hygiene, residue levels and food safety generally, where the Commission is already over-stretched.
I have consistently refused to make promises on which I cannot deliver. It would be dishonest to do so, both to this House and to the European public. You stress the lack of enforcement of the current legislation in Member States. I fully agree. Member States must make the effort and provide the resources to ensure better implementation. It is a point which I have made repeatedly to the Member States in the Agriculture Council.
Judging from the correspondence I receive from Members of Parliament, the best way to achieve better enforcement is through legal proceedings against the Member States. However it should be pointed out that sometimes it is more effective to work with Member States than against them, so proceedings should be the last resort. They are, after all, responsible for the on-the-ground implementation of Community legislation."@en1
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