Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-09-Speech-3-392"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030409.8.3-392"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, politicians are often told of the old actor's advice that you should never go on stage with children or animals. I fear, Commissioner, that you and I one way or another are on a stage with animals the whole time! This, however, has been a variant on the kind of health concerns and maladies with which we are only too familiar, and on behalf of my group I want to thank Ms Evans very warmly for the skilful way in which she has negotiated the process of codecision. She very modestly says that this was straightforward. No codecision that gets to that stage is ever entirely straightforward. You need to know when to advance, when to yield a little, and when to see that there may be further room for compromise.
I cannot say that I was entirely happy about the way every part of this procedure went. I was not entirely happy about the secure position of the ferrets. I have been very insecure in the presence of ferrets. I was not entirely happy about the provisions with regard to animals under three months old. One has some misgivings there about the rationale for what we have done; but equally the Commission was probably uneasy to some degree about the fact that we have extended into the codecision procedure any further consideration of the exemptions for the UK, Sweden and Ireland, which will follow after five years. In other words, a standard piece of give and take, the kind of thing that until a few years ago, until we had the present Commission and the present Parliament, was not possible. It still only works when you have skilled rapporteurs who can go through these shoals.
It has added modestly to the sum total of human happiness as well. There are many people, lonely people in particular, who are very dependent on the animals with which they share their lives. If we dare to believe that animals are sentient beings, it is also the case that we have added to the sum of animal happiness as well. That certainly is the view of my dog, which is the proud owner of two human beings!"@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples