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Verbatim report of proceedings
Tuesday, 21 October 2003 - Strasbourg OJ edition

German deposit system
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  Breyer (Verts/ALE). (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, Parliament made it quite clear when we debated the Sixth Environmental Action Programme that our advocacy of reusable packaging is based on considerations of environmental policy. Our experience in Germany shows that this system has demonstrated its ecological steering function, in that fewer cans are spoiling the environment.

So, when you say on the one hand, that you are not against cans, I agree with you, but I cannot quite understand why, on the other hand, you apply double standards. I am no more satisfied than you are with these individual solutions; we would all have preferred a standardised system. You will be aware, though, that it is not policymakers who bear responsibility in this instance; massive pressure was exerted by industry, especially by traders.

Now we see individual solutions in Spain and Portugal too. I would like to ask you, Commissioner, why you allow individual solutions in two Member States but not in another. When you tell us how you are not opposed to deposits on cans, and how the environmental action programme has shown you to be a firm advocate of reusability, I really do ask myself why we in the European Union do not do what has just been referred to, and introduce harmonisation, thereby making a statement about our desire to improve the environment and also to increase the reuse of packaging, firstly, because it really does play an ecological role, and, secondly, because reusability – as we know – makes jobs safer.

Why, for the sake of preventing waste, do we not go ahead and make reusable packaging mandatory throughout the European Union? That would make your arguments consistent with each other. If we do not, then many will get the impression that we really are applying double standards, with individual solutions being permitted in some Member States but not in Germany. That is something on which I would like an answer from you. You must not, of course, give the impression that what the current state of affairs is primarily about is mounting a campaign against Germany’s environmental policy decisions; on the contrary, the Commission, too, must demonstrate that it wants environmental integration. If you, Commissioner, are a supporter of the internal market, then it is your duty as much as anyone else’s to have an integrated approach to environmental policy. Avoiding the piling-up of rubbish means backing reusability, for that is what we have decided in the environmental action programme and on many occasions in Parliament.

 
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