Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-14-Speech-2-339"
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"en.20041214.18.2-339"2
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"Mr President, I should like to begin by thanking Mr Sturdy. I think that our cooperation has been constructive and has proceeded in a pleasant and open atmosphere. I should like to thank the other ‘shadow rapporteurs’, and I should also like to thank the Commission and the Council for the sound guidance and advice we have received. I am pleased that I have been allowed to deliver my first speech here in plenary on a matter as important as this. In actual fact, I see this draft Act or legislation as an example of the EU at its best. We shall secure a number of things with this draft Act if it is adopted in the form in which we should like to have it adopted.
Firstly, cross-border trade is of course ensured. A variety of foods is guaranteed, as is their presence on the shelves at lower prices. Other, still more important, things are, however, also ensured, namely consumers’ health, safety and security in connection with the foods they buy.
I come from a very cold country up in the north, so I am pleased to be able to buy fruit and vegetables in the winter too. I am only pleased, however, if I can be sure that the apple I eat is also healthy, and this is something that this legislation can help ensure. I shall mention a couple of the areas it has been especially important for us Social Democrats to see successfully dealt with and in which I think we have achieved compromises with which everyone can be satisfied.
Firstly, I want to mention the consideration given to especially vulnerable groups. It is one thing to devise legislation with a view to robust, healthy and vigorous men such as Mr Sturdy and myself. That is fine, of course. There also needs, however, to be legislation with a view to more vulnerable groups such as children, born and as yet unborn. That too is something, I am pleased to say, that we have obtained.
Another thing I would emphasise – and I would now apologise to the interpreters for they are about to be confronted by difficult expressions again – is that we have incorporated cumulative effects that are the result of synergy. That is extremely important. It sounds a little technical, but in reality it is quite simple. The fact is, it is not enough only to take account of how poisonous or non-poisonous a pesticide is. We must also take account of how poisonous or non-poisonous two or three or four pesticides are when they interact, that is to say when they react to each other in a particular food. That is something it is incredibly important to take account of. It is an area about which we do not know much at present, but one about which we need to know more in the future and of which we must take more account. Otherwise, there may be major consequences in terms of health. I fear that that is already now the case.
My third point is that it is all well and good to have controls and legislation, but we also need to ensure that there are sanctions. I think that naming and shaming is a sensible idea. I think it is sensible of us now to oblige the Member States to publish their control results on the Internet. It also brings about openness, which in turn produces security. The consumer must have peace of mind, and that is something we are in this way guaranteeing.
Fourthly and finally, I think it encouraging that we have obtained some clear and constructive definitions, including definitions of good agricultural practice and an actual definition of maximum limit values. These were not easy things to negotiate successfully but, especially through sound guidance from the Council and the Commission, we obtained a compromise with which everyone can be pleased and which will help secure our objectives. I would say that, all in all, this is a proposal that may make a positive difference to the everyday life of Europeans, and that is something I am pleased about and proud to be associated with."@en1
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