Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-24-Speech-2-264"
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"en.20070424.46.2-264"2
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".
Madam President, the UK is one of the few countries that have signed the Athens Protocol, and it therefore has no need for the EU to do this on its behalf. More importantly, the UK’s consent explicitly protected small domestic and inland boats from the onerous compliance costs. Brussels, however, is not satisfied with this and wishes Europe to re-sign. This time it will include those craft least able to afford the regulations.
Moreover, its contention that domestic and inland waterways are essentially the same as international travel may indeed reflect the situation in most of continental Europe, but it does not reflect the reality in the UK. To us, going abroad actually means that: we have to cross water. It is what being an island means.
Mr Costa himself admits that this extension will create an unnecessary burden for operators in this sector. The British Government calls this problematic, but it is simply telling these small businesses, ‘It is bad, but tough luck. We are going to do it anyway!’ It is obvious to me that this report has had no serious impact assessment.
When my office contacted the British Government about whether the regulation would affect cable and chain ferries, such as the Sandbanks Ferry near Poole in my constituency, the answer came back with the casual phrase ‘as far as we know’. Well, they should know! The British Government and this regulation are at odds. One says that it covers seagoing craft, the other that it covers inland waterways.
This Assembly must remember that these are real businesses, real jobs, real people and real families, which could be blighted with all this ill-thought-out and proscriptive legislation. That is simply not good enough. In terms of the security and peace of mind of those who work in this sector, this shows contempt for their interests. Overall, it is apparent that this report is an excessively large hammer that will not just crack the nut but could completely destroy it."@en1
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