Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-28-Speech-4-035"
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"en.20050428.5.4-035"2
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"Mr President, just a few days after April 22, Earth Day, it is perhaps no exaggeration to claim that water, which covers most of our planet, and is the largest component of all living organisms, and which can also be found in solid form in the polar regions and in gaseous form in air, is the most important component of our life and our greatest resource. This directive is aimed at protecting one of the most important treasuries of this resource, groundwater, and although we have a common goal, our solutions differ.
It is my belief that norms need to be established at a Community level, as the good quality of continuous bodies of water, that reach beyond state borders, can only be guaranteed if neighbouring countries are all bound by strict provisions. Of course, when we talk of qualitative norms, the different natural characteristics of the soil and bodies of water must be taken into consideration. Naturally occurring substances in water must be examined when setting limit values; the high arsenic content of groundwater in the Southern Plains region in Hungary is a good example. The proposal for a directive continues to prohibit direct discharge of pollutants into groundwater. In the case of permitting indirect discharge, I find it crucial that the presence of other pollutants encumbering the given environment is taken into consideration. I was glad to find that my relevant proposal for amendment was welcomed by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
Another valuable part of the report is that it promotes the definition of protection areas for aquifers which supply medicinal water sources. In order to improve the quality of groundwater, current agricultural practice must be changed, contamination from disused waste disposal plants, for instance, must be dealt with, and action plans and resources are needed. Let us clearly define now how vital these issues are so that Member States will take this important environmental task seriously. Finally, let me congratulate Commissioner Klaß on this excellent report on the proposal for a directive, that after its adoption, will play a crucial part in the protection of groundwater after 2003."@en1
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