Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-24-Speech-5-034"
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"en.20090424.4.5-034"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we have produced a good report and we have succeeded in achieving a consensus on the regulation on animal by-products at first reading. For this, I owe my thanks to the French and Czech Presidencies, the Commission and the rapporteurs from the individual Groups.
The cooperation in drafting this report was characterised by a spirit of trust and we were able to finish the report quickly, although – and we must think of it like this – the report before us now has significantly changed the Commission’s proposal, less so in the way of content, but more in terms of structure. Many of the details have been reordered. The new proposal was necessary, because a few shortcomings emerged in the application of the 2002 regulation which led to problems in practice. Although the 2002 regulation controlled animal diseases such as BSE, dioxin contamination and the spread of other animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease or swine fever, in order to make further progress in this regard it was vital to lay down requirements with regard to the questions of responsibility, traceability and the end point for slaughter by-products.
It was also necessary to eliminate the legal uncertainty with regard to the scope of the regulation concerning by-products from wild game. In line with the previous regulations on hygiene issues, operators will in future also be responsible for their products. I have said this already in connection with the other regulations. However, this must not lead to a reduction in official control.
Through the new regulation we want to increase safety for citizens and not merely shift the responsibility. It is therefore important for operators handling by-products to be subject to approval. The particular operators that will require approval are clearly regulated. The fact that, in addition to a process of approval, there is also a process of registration is due to the desire to reduce bureaucracy. In future, we will certainly have to examine carefully whether the registration procedure will ensure a sufficient degree of safety. I also think that the uncertainty previously caused by the provisions on animal by-products from wild game has been eliminated. It is now clear that good hunting practice is crucial. Game gathered in the woods must not be used. I also think that we have complied with the wishes of many Members in allowing the appropriate feeding of necrophagous birds in certain regions.
The ability to establish the end point of the life-cycle of by-products is a significant step forward. This will eliminate legal uncertainty and resolve many shortcomings and difficulties. We will have to examine whether the setting of the end point by the European Commission complies with the aforementioned criterion, namely legal certainty. I realise, of course, that it can vary from product to product and for that reason flexibility is needed, but I will also say to the Commission now that transparency is also needed so that it is also clear to the user.
Then we come to the crucial point, which, for me, is always the issue of comitology. Too many rules in the new regulation are implemented using the comitology procedure. We must examine this carefully. We know, of course, that as MEPs we have the chance to play our part here, but we also know from practice that we are not at all in a position to monitor or examine all comitology procedures. For this reason, I welcome the fact that the Commission has said that it wishes to present its proposals to the Committee on the Environment prior to their adoption. That is a good approach, because there are very many forms of comitology. I believe that we are on the right path here.
I will make a couple of comments on other topics at the end of the debate."@en1
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