Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-01-Speech-4-190"
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"en.20040401.4.4-190"2
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".
Mr President, firstly I would like to thank Mr Florenz for this important report; as usual he has done a thorough job. In the Sixth Environmental Action Programme the European Union set out a vision integrating resource, product and waste policies, and now with the development of the Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste we are designing the concrete policy which will take the next step towards turning this vision into reality.
Allow me to share with you some thoughts on the challenges we are facing. The first challenge ahead of us is for waste policy to adapt to enlargement and the increased diversity of the European Union. We must set common rules guaranteeing a high level of environmental protection for all facilities in the European waste recovery market. We must ensure that our legislation gives the right signals to Member States, whilst allowing them to adapt policies to national issues. This means waste legislation must take more of a framework approach.
The second challenge we are facing lies in defining the environmental objective of waste policy. We need to accurately target environmental impacts and look at how waste prevention, re-use and increased recycling can best reduce this impact.
Finally, the most concrete challenge will be to design cost-effective instruments. In the past we have focused on products with particular issues like end-of-life cars and computers. However, these wastes represent small fractions of total waste flows, and we have outlined in the communication ways to promote recycling more generally. We need to influence the economic attractiveness of recycling and set the scene for materials to re-enter the economy.
I would like to make a few comments on some key aspects of the report before you. It rightly stresses the general objective of reducing environmental impacts of waste and the primary role waste prevention should play. However, we must accept that there is no miraculous instrument that can stop waste at source. We will have to adopt a flexible approach, enabling Member States to use a wide range of measures.
I welcome the support given to developing common standards for waste management facilities and promoting the use of economic instruments such as landfill taxes. I believe these elements should play a key role. Landfill bans can also be useful, but only as part of an overall policy. I would like to stress that it will not be possible to increase indefinitely the number of product directives. The waste flows covered are too small, and implementation is complex.
In conclusion, if we are to move forward in the face of changing circumstances we need to get our strategy right. We need to focus on the most significant environmental impacts of waste, and adopt framework actions to tackle them."@en1
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