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Czwartek, 9 czerwca 2022 r. - Strasburg

9. Nielegalne pozyskiwanie drewna w UE (debata)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Anfrage zur mündlichen Beantwortung an die Kommission betreffend den illegalen Holzeinschlag in der EU von Dolors Montserrat im Namen des Petitionsausschusses (O‑000020/2022 – B9-0016/22) (2022/2523(RSP)).

Ich erinnere Sie daran, dass mit Ausnahme der ersten beiden Reihen, die für die Fraktionsvorsitzenden vorgesehen sind, freie Sitzplatzwahl besteht. Nachdem Sie Ihre Abstimmungskarte in das Abstimmungsgerät eingeschoben haben, können Sie dann über Ihr Abstimmungsgerät spontane Wortmeldungen und blaue Karten beantragen.

Ich weise Sie auch darauf hin, dass Wortmeldungen im Plenarsaal weiterhin vom zentralen Rednerpult aus erfolgen, außer spontane Wortmeldungen, blaue Karten und Bemerkungen zur Anwendung der Geschäftsordnung.

  Vlad Gheorghe, supleant al autorului. – Domnule președinte, peste două treimi din cetățenii europeni consideră că schimbările climatice afectează zilnic. Mai mult de jumătate dintre europeni consideră schimbările climatice principala provocare pentru viitorul Uniunii, iar 87 % sunt de acord că lupta împotriva schimbărilor climatice înseamnă îmbunătățirea proprii stări de sănătate și bunăstare. Nouă din zece tineri europeni sunt extrem de categorici în ceea ce privește protecția mediului înconjurător.

Poate credeți că 2024 e încă departe, că electoratul mai poate fi păcălit, că tema mediului este mai puțin importantă decât altele, că lumea va uita până atunci cine ce votează în Parlamentul European sau în parlamentele naționale. Ei bine, toate eurobarometrele, toate studiile realizate la cererea Comisiei, toate sondajele la nivel național arată clar că vă înșelați.

Oamenii vor mai mult de la partide și de la politicieni. Vor rezultate, nu promisiuni. Vor legi aplicate, nu discursuri. Vor schimbări reale, nu campanii electorale. Oamenii care trăiesc an de an secetă pronunțată, temperaturi record, inundații devastatoare, furtuni tropicale în zonele temperate, alunecări de teren și toate celelalte fenomene extreme care au luat între 90 și 140 de mii de vieți în Europa în ultimele decenii. Sute de jurnaliști, activiști, avertizori de integritate agresați și chiar uciși în timp ce încercau să protejeze păduri și arii Natura 2000 de hoții de lemne.

Ignorând problema tăierilor ilegale, votăm împotriva emisiilor de seră. Nu vrem să schimbăm nimic din ceea ce se întâmplă acum pe teritoriul Uniunii, nu doar în România, în Ungaria sau Austria. Nu îi apărăm pe acești oameni, pe familiile lor, pe copiii lor. Nu votăm cu gândul la cetățeni, pe care avem datoria să reprezentăm, ci cu gândul la negocieri individuale și de grup, la linii de partid, la convingeri sau interese personale.

Și de aceea, peste tot în Uniune cetățenii ne penalizează, ne penalizează prin absenteism, prin vot de blam, prin susținerea partidelor extremiste și a curentelor antieuropene. Despre tăierile ilegale de pădure știm cu toții că nu sunt doar infracțiuni de mediu. Gradul de distrugere și nivelurile la care ne afectează acest flagel reprezintă o crimă, iar victimele nu suntem doar noi, ci toate generațiile viitoare.

Cetățenii europeni au înțeles asta demult. Ne-o transmit prin numeroase petiții și inițiative pe care sunt sigur că le primiți cu toții. Dacă aveți impresia că în țara voastră tăierile ilegale nu există, vă înșelați. Ce se taie în alte țări europene ajunge pe piața unică, ce se fură într-un stat membru ne costă pe toți - miliarde și miliarde de euro anual. Dacă aveți impresia că în țara voastră acest flagel se pedepsește, Europol vă arată cu cifre că vă înșelați. Dacă aveți impresia că mediul poluat, biodiversitatea distrusă și toate schimbările climatice se opresc la granițele voastre, din nou, vă înșelați.

Și atunci, de ce unii colegi și unele grupuri parlamentare încă refuză să pedepsească tăierile ilegale la nivel european? Asta mă întreb și eu. Se întreabă și cetățenii. Asta ne întreabă și presa după fiecare vot în comisii și în plen. De ce în 2022 pentru o infracțiune de așa amploare încă nu avem un regim european unitar și o instituție europeană specializată? De ce pe un domeniu unde Uniunea are competențe nu vrem să legiferăm, deși acesta este mandatul nostru primit prin vot de la cetățenii europeni care ne plătesc?

Am cerut și insist asupra înființării procurorului verde european pentru că tăierile ilegale dintr-o țară afectează întreaga Uniune. Vă rog să susțineți această propunere de rezoluție și întrebarea asociată, ca pași în plus cu care să ne apropiem de obiectivele planului verde și să combatem infracțiunile de mediu care ucid cetățeni europeni. Ne afectează tuturor sănătatea și pun în pericol viitorul copiilor noștri.

  Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable members, first I would like to thank the Petitions Committee for adding this oral question to this week’s plenary agenda and for giving us the opportunity to discuss today this highly important topic.

Let me start by stressing the Commission is strongly committed to protecting and restoring existing forests worldwide and that the protection of forests features very highly on our political agenda. This EU forest strategy, which we adopted last year, which is anchored in both the European Green Deal and the EU diversity strategy, builds on the multiple roles played by forests for the climate, biodiversity, society and the economy. It strives to ensure that our forests deliver on all those fronts. Our goal is to overcome the challenges related to climate change and biodiversity loss and at the same time to promote the bio—economy to unlock the potential of forests for our future.

If we want the European Union to succeed in its transition towards sustainability, we will need forests that are bigger, healthier and more resilient than today. In this spirit, the forest strategy shows how increased climate and biodiversity ambitions can go hand-in-hand with economic prosperity. It is a realistic strategy, which also acknowledges that our forests are under threat. We have seen how, during the pandemic, illegal logging actually increased in the European Union. The EU forest strategy for 2030 states explicitly that the implementation and enforcement of our relevant acquis to protect forests needs to be stepped up, and the Commission is determined to play its role as guardian of the Treaties. Over the past years, where we concluded that EU legislation was not properly implemented, we have launched infringement procedures against the Member States concerned, for example, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Estonia.

In your oral question, you ask how the Commission plans to assess the extent of illegal logging and the economic losses it causes within the European Union. In relation to the economic losses linked to illegal logging, we do not have official recent estimates, but we can see from various data sources that it could be substantial. A study of the World Bank gives estimates of foregone tax revenue due to illegal logging for 2017 Europe without Russia. It estimates that between USD 19 million and USD 380 million in tax income was lost.

The EU Timber Regulation remains the EU’s primary tool for preventing illegally logged timber entering EU markets. The Commission assesses the correct enforcement of EU Timber Regulation by Member States on the basis of their annual reporting of relevant, substantiated concerns and trade data. In addition, the Commission relies on satellite images available to evaluate illegal logging in protected Natura 2000 sites, and on reports from civil society on the ground.

We will continue to work closely with Member States to develop other relevant initiatives and tools, including under the framework of the regulation of deforestation, which the Commission proposed in November 2021. The regulation of deforestation will eventually replace the Timber Regulation and expand reporting obligations by Member States. It proposes reporting on the content of checks, their follow up, country of origin and production of timber. This will allow the Commission to better assess the quality of Member States’ enforcement activities.

Let me now turn to the second part of your oral question concerning the compliance of Member States with their commitments to restore areas deteriorated by illegal logging. The Commission has opened several infringements against Member States to address illegal logging that has taken place in Natura 2000 sites in breach of the Habitats Directive. In these cases, the Commission has asked Member States to restore deteriorated areas and to present a restoration plan. On this basis, the Commission will carefully assess the delivery of such commitments using both satellite intelligence and field evidence as appropriate.

Lastly, on the publishing of the detailed assessment of all forest management plans in Member States, we plan to do this through the new legislative instrument on EU forest monitoring plans for 2023. Furthermore, the assessment will consider how to support and advice foresters in setting up those plans. In parallel, the Commission is using geospatial intelligence to assess individual cases where there might be a risk to compliance. For example, geospatial intelligence is increasingly being used by the Commission to assess complaints about natural forest habitat deterioration in special areas of conservation.

Finally, the Commission is also developing the EU observatory on deforestation and forest degradation, which investigates changes in the world’s forest cover and associated drivers.

Honourable Members, thank you for your attention, and I look forward to your questions and comments.

  Valter Flego, u ime kluba Renew. – Poštovana potpredsjednice Komisije, poštovane kolegice i kolege, živimo u teškim vremenima i to svi znamo. Cijene energenata, nevažno pričamo li o nafti, o plinu ili o električnoj energiji, rastu, cijene dobara rastu, cijene hrane rastu. Samim time, naravno, rastu troškovi života i poslovanja.

Imamo nikad veću inflaciju i logično je da se trgovačka društva, obrti, ljudi, građani snalaze na svakakve načine, ali to nikako nije i ne smije biti opravdanje za nepoštivanje zakona i za nezakonitu sječu, za uništavanje šuma. Profit i kratkoročna rješenja, odnosno zarada ne smije nikad biti iznad održivosti i zakona, ali na žalost u mnogim slučajevima danas je samo profit postao važan.

Zato predlažem Komisiji da zajedno s državama članicama, zajedno s regijama, ali i gradovima uvedemo svi zajedno reda u prostor. Nevažno, govorimo li o nezakonitoj sječi ili, na primjer, o bespravnoj gradnji, pogotovo u mediteranskim zemljama, koja opet nepovratno uništava najvažniji resurs, a to je, naravno, prostor. Dakle, princip je isti. Zakon se mora poštivati, a države članice i regije, uvjeren sam, žele zajedno s Komisijom riješiti taj problem.

I ponavljam, treba sinergijski djelovati bilo da govorimo o nezakonitoj sječi, bilo da govorimo o bespravnoj gradnji. I zato predlažem da se koriste resursi država, regija i grada, a to su prije svega ljudi, to su prije svega mehanizmi i njihovo poznavanje stanja na terenu kako bi poštivali i provodili zakone.

U tom partnerskom, odnosno sinergijskim efektu lakše će se detektirati ta mjesta nepoštivanja zakona. Lakše će se isto tako sankcionirati prekršitelji, a što je najvažnije, na taj način dugoročno sačuvati i priroda i okoliš za buduće generacije.

  Eleonora Evi, a nome del gruppo Verts/ALE. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, noi membri della commissione per le petizioni abbiamo ricevuto tantissime petizioni che denunciano come il disboscamento illegale sia un fenomeno in crescita in Europa. I cittadini, in particolare, lamentano che le leggi europee, che presentano già diverse lacune, abbiano forti carenze proprio nell'applicazione a livello territoriale.

Io credo che abbiamo quindi bisogno di un migliore controllo e di migliore armonizzazione. L'Unione dovrebbe infatti promuovere l'uso di metodi scientifici per monitorare la deforestazione e verificare l'origine legale del legname in commercio e valutare l'efficacia della gestione forestale.

E poi, sono d'accordo con il collega Gheorghe, serve una figura di procuratore ambientale nell'Unione europea contro i crimini ambientali transnazionali, tra cui appunto il disboscamento illegale. Un procuratore ambientale a livello europeo faciliterebbe le indagini transfrontaliere e l'armonizzazione dei procedimenti giudiziari in tutta l'Unione.

Infine, è necessaria però anche una chiara definizione del reato di disboscamento illegale, perché gli Stati membri, le organizzazioni e gli stakeholder hanno delle interpretazioni ad oggi molto diverse.

  Joachim Kuhs, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, Frau Kommissarin, werte Kollegen! Diese Entschließung über illegalen Holzeinschlag ist ein weiterer Versuch der EU, Kompetenzen im Bereich Naturschutz, Umweltschutz und Forstwirtschaft an sich zu reißen. Unter dem Vorwand großflächiger Holzeinschläge, die hauptsächlich in Staaten wie Rumänien, Griechenland und der Slowakei stattfinden, sollen Tracking- und Tracing‑Systeme sowie Zertifizierungssysteme für Holz implementiert werden, um die Holzentnahme und den Holzexport besser kontrollieren zu können. Wie Landwirte und private kleine Waldbesitzer diesen bürokratischen Wahnsinn stemmen sollen, das ist schwer vorstellbar.

Hinzu kommt: Zwischen den Begriffen Holzeinschlag und Entwaldung wird nicht klar unterschieden; die Begriffe sind schwammig. Nebenbei bemerkt: Hauptursache für die Entwaldung dürften gelegte Waldbrände sein, nicht illegaler Holzeinschlag.

Die EU-Forststrategie für 2030 begegnet weiteren grundsätzlichen Bedenken. Sie ist nicht nur ein Bürokratiemonster, sie ist vor allem ein gravierender Eingriff in nationalstaatliche Kompetenzen, und sie widerspricht dem Subsidiaritätsprinzip. Oder glauben Sie wirklich, dass die Wälder Finnlands genauso zu bewirtschaften sind wie die wenigen Bäume auf Malta oder in Zypern?

Und so geht es weiter: Mit den Totschlagbegriffen Klima oder Biodiversität sollen noch mehr Waldflächen unter Schutz gestellt werden und so der seit Generationen erfolgreichen nachhaltigen Bewirtschaftung entzogen werden. Der Holzeinschlag müsse reduziert werden, wird gesagt, um Klimaschutzziele und den Green Deal zu erfüllen. Dabei wird komplett ausgeblendet, dass die Ersetzung der fossilen Energieträger mit Onshore-Windkraft zu erheblichem Waldverbrauch führt. So besteht zum Beispiel in Deutschland die Gefahr, dass ein jahrhundertealter Wald wie der Reinhardswald der Installation von Windkraftanlagen geopfert wird. Das kann so nicht funktionieren.

Aber was können wir tun? Wir müssen wieder verstehen, was Nachhaltigkeit ist. Der Begriff der Nachhaltigkeit wurde ja bereits vor über 200 Jahren in der Forstwirtschaft erfunden. Damals fuhr man noch nicht mit dem harvester in den Wald, um zu ernten. Da ging man kleinteilig und mit Rücksicht auf den Baumbestand vor. So haben wir in Mitteleuropa eine wirklich diversifizierte und nachhaltige Forstwirtschaft erhalten. Die dürfen wir uns nun nicht mit diesem neuen Bürokratiemonster und mit neuen Auflagen kaputtmachen lassen.

Weiter gilt: Naturschutz, Umweltschutz und Forstwirtschaft müssen Zuständigkeit der Mitgliedstaaten bleiben. Wir sollten alles tun, um dem Subsidiaritätsprinzip wieder Rechnung zu tragen.

  Ryszard Czarnecki, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Panie Przewodniczący! Pani Komisarz! To jest temat ważny. On oczywiście tak naprawdę w jednych krajach jest większym problemem, w innych krajach jest mniejszym problemem. Akurat mój kraj – Polska –prowadzi bardzo rozsądną, zrównoważoną politykę leśną. Przynajmniej od siedmiu lat inwestujemy w lasy, ale też nie będziemy nikomu tego modelu narzucać. Traktujemy lasy jako dobro narodowe. Ale też podkreślam, na pewno jest to jakiś problem w skali Unii Europejskiej.

Chciałem podziękować Pani Komisarz za bardzo profesjonalne wystąpienie. Cieszę się, że nasza koleżanka z Europarlamentu przez 6 lat, dzisiaj tę funkcję sprawuje. Myślałem, że Pani Komisarz powie, czy nielegalnie pozyskuje się drewno w Dubrowniku, pięknym Dubrowniku, gdzie Pani była przez dwie kadencje burmistrzem. Tego nie słyszałem, ale może tego problemu tam nie ma.

Myślę, że w tej sprawie byłoby dobrze, abyśmy działali do pewnej granicy. Nie może to się stać pretekstem, aby zauważając ten problem tworzyć instrumenty, które by wychodziły poza obecne ramy działania Unii Europejskiej i pozwalały Unii wchodzić w kompetencje krajów członkowskich.

  Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Verts/ALE). – Herr Präsident, meine Damen und Herren! Wir verlieren täglich wertvolle Wälder in der EU durch rechtswidrigen Raubbau, und das sogar in stark geschützten Natura-2000-Gebieten. Dabei gehen kriminelle Netzwerke besonders brutal vor. Rücksichtslos werden hektarweise Wald kahlrasiert; wir kennen die Bilder. Das ist ein enormer ökologischer, aber auch wirtschaftlicher Schaden. Und es wirkt sich nicht nur fatal auf Böden, Artenvielfalt oder Klima aus, sondern erschüttert auch vor Ort das Vertrauen in den Rechtsstaat.

Ich habe zwei Fragen an die Kommission:

Warum ist die Kommission bisher nicht weiter in dem Verfahren gegen Rumänien vorgegangen? Warum sind wir nicht vor Gericht, obwohl nachweislich absolut nicht genug unternommen wird, um illegale Abholzung endlich zu verhindern?

Und die zweite Frage, vielleicht an Ihren Kollegen vom AGRI: Ist es nicht die Tatsache, dass wir es in der EU nicht schaffen, große Kahlschläge als legale Holzerntemethode zu regulieren, die uns daran hindert, zum Beispiel mit Satellitentechnologie illegale Kahlschläge eindeutig zu erkennen und die Akteure zu stellen? Wenn wir die Prinzipien einer nachhaltigen und schonenden Waldwirtschaft EU-weit verbindlich machen würden, könnten wir nicht illegale Kahlschläge viel besser eindämmen?

  Ангел Джамбазки (ECR). – Г-н Председател, г-жо Комисар, уважаеми колеги, горите са национално богатство. Зеленото е родолюбие. Горите са белият дроб на планетата – в това няма никакъв спор. И докладът на колегата е много навременен. Незаконната сеч и незаконното добиване на дървесина е кражба от бъдещите поколения и то трябва да бъде много строго санкционирано. Едновременно с това обаче трябва да се знае и да се посочи кой го прави. В България, в която имаме една от най-големите площи гора и в Европа и изобщо, горите се управляват от Българската социалистическа партия, която стои отляво. Член е на социалисти и демократи, на социалдемократи. А се добива незаконно от функционери на „Движението за права и свободи“ – хората, които са в групата „Обнови Европа“. Така че, когато говорим за унищожаването на горите, посочвайте тези, които го правят. А те са отляво и отляво – в тези редици. Това са хората, които секат незаконно гори. Продават ги, унищожават ги и по този начин застрашават не само нашия живот, но и на всички останали. Това, което искам да ви кажа е, че зеленото родолюбие и гората трябва да се пазят.

  Thomas Waitz (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, Commissioner, in many EU countries we are having a problem with illegal logging. I’ve witnessed it in Estonia, in Slovakia, in Poland, in Spain, in Romania and other countries. But let me focus on Romania. While the Environmental Commission is compiling an enormous amount of evidence towards an infringement procedure, there is ongoing illegal logging in Romania happening, concretely in the Făgăraş Mountains, in the Iaşi area. Every citizen can see on Google Maps how deforestation increased in Romania while we were compiling the information for the infringement procedure.

Did the Romanian Government really better the situation? I don’t know. An environmental impact assessment only being done after the forest has been logged, I think is not serving the purpose. To actually reduce transparency and reduce the amount of information that is provided to citizens in the public tracking system for wood trucks is actually not the direction that I think the Romanian Government should go in preventing illegal logging.

We have to see that while we are doing an infringement procedure, we see something like panic logging in the region – this increased access to the forests and increased deforestation. And I would urge you to start the court case as soon as possible to save as much as can still be saved, please. I coincide with the question of the public: please tell us what the next steps will be.

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  Seán Kelly (PPE). – A Uachtaráin, the Commissioner is absolutely correct when she says we need more forests in Europe. Obviously illegal logging has to be tackled and eliminated, if at all possible, and I support our endeavours in that regard.

Fortunately, in my country, it’s the opposite problem we have: we can’t get legal logging, because of rules by the department for planning permission, permitting, etc. – a whole backlog they tried to blame on the European Union, until, of course, that was disproved. And as a result, they have a target of setting 8 000 hectares per year, and they are only meeting 2 000. So I would ask the Commission to look at that and ensure that those who want to set forest in Ireland are facilitated, not what is happening at the minute.

Now a good news story is that there is a company in Ireland set up by Enda Keane, Treemetrics, which recently launched a climate—smart forest management platform with the support of the ESA, and I think that’s something that could be very helpful and I would ask the Commission to look into it.

  Juozas Olekas (S&D). – Gerbiamas Pirmininke. Gerbiama Komisijos vicepirmininke. Dėkoju už Jūsų pasisakymą ir pranešimą. Jūs labai gerai paminėjote, kad mes turime gerą įrankį – miškų strategiją – ir kad miškai yra mūsų planetos plaučiai. Iš tikrųjų išsaugant miškus ir užkertant kelią nelegaliai miško ruošai yra svarbūs labai du dalykai. Pirma, tai, kad legali miškų ruoša būtų prieinama nelabai subiurokratinta. Čia mano kolega minėjo apie trukdžius išduodant legalius leidimus. Bet, kita vertus, man atrodo, kad priežiūra miškų kirtimo taip pat yra labai svarbu. Jūs paminėjote palydovines sistemas, kurios yra naudojamos įvertinant miškų būklę. Galbūt galima būtų geriau pasidalinti su šalimis narėmis ir su vietiniais ekspertais, kad ta priežiūra miškų būtų geresnė, o tie, kurie kerta nelegaliai, kad jie būtų atitinkamai nubausti.

  Billy Kelleher (Renew). – Mr President, the European Union should move swiftly, and the Commission should move swiftly, to take infringement proceedings against countries who fail to implement the basic standards of protection in terms of forestry and illegal logging. And certainly with the technology and satellite observation and tracking systems in place, it should not be beyond the capabilities of Member States not only to observe but to prosecute those that are involved in illegal logging. And I would urge that the Commission would take infringement proceedings against countries who fail to act.

In terms of Ireland, as was already referenced, in Ireland the opposite is the case. We can’t plant forestry due to regulation, planning difficulties. And if we do plant it, we can’t harvest it – and I’m talking about commercial forestry – because of the inability of the public administration to deal with licensing for felling. So I would also invite the Commission to look at Ireland’s track record to try and meet our goals of increasing forestry, bearing in mind we have only 11% of our landmass under forestry, and we simply are not meeting any targets in terms of our ambition to increase the amount of forestry planted for commercial purposes.

  Joachim Stanisław Brudziński (ECR). – Panie Przewodniczący! Ponieważ w tej dyskusji została wymieniona Polska, chciałbym powiedzieć – jest takie polskie powiedzenie, przysłowie „Nie było nas, był las, nie będzie nas, będzie las”. To jest, wydaje się, rzecz oczywista, ale zanim będziecie Państwo próbowali krytykować Polskę, to parę danych.

Polska jest dzisiaj w europejskiej czołówce, jeśli chodzi o powierzchnię lasów. Obecnie powierzchnia lasów w Polsce wynosi ponad 9,2 mln hektarów, co odpowiada lesistości na poziomie 29,6 proc. Zdecydowana większość to lasy państwowe, z czego około 7,3 mln hektarów zarządzane jest przez Państwowe Gospodarstwo Leśne – Lasy Państwowe.

Ważny podkreślenia jest fakt, że w moim kraju lasy rosną na glebach najsłabszych. Odpowiedzialna polityka leśna to bardzo dobra okazja, aby nisko pokłonić się właśnie tu, w Parlamencie Europejskim, ludziom odpowiedzialnym za tę politykę. W pas się kłaniam polskim leśnikom, polskim przyrodnikom, pracownikom parków narodowych, parków krajobrazowych, polskim myśliwym. Szczęść Boże. Darzbór.

  Mick Wallace (The Left). – Mr President, the European Court of Auditors released a report recently linking logging rates to an increase in the consumption of solid biomass for energy purposes. Now, to meet renewable energy targets, burning biomass is the cheapest alternative, so many countries are effectively forced to do so to meet their targets.

Sixty per cent of the EU’s renewable energy is coming from biomass, which continues to rise. This leads to the burning of even more wood and the creation of more emissions in a vicious circle. How is this a sound environmental practice? Forest biomass should not be considered a renewable energy source: it actively harms forests by creating a cash—crop forestry plantation industry, which of course makes space for the illegal logging industry in Europe. We seriously need to reconsider the inclusion of forest biomass under the EU Renewable Energy Directive. It is damaging European forests.

  Eugen Tomac (PPE). – Domnule președinte, doamna comisară, cred și eu cu tărie că avem nevoie de o determinare mult mai puternică în a combate tăierile ilegale în Europa. Vin dintr-o țară care a fost expusă unor defrișări ilegale greu de înțeles și de explicat, pentru că mafia nu are culoare atunci când atacă pădurile. Însă ceea ce vreau să spun cât se poate de sincer este că în ultimii ani legislația în România a fost puternic modificată, mult îmbunătățită.

Dacă până recent tăierea a cinci metri cubi de lemn însemna contravenție, astăzi este infracțiune. Mulți pleacă în pușcărie tocmai pentru că se ating de păduri și cred că România poate și este obligată să își îmbunătățească instrumentele prin care combate defrișările ilegale și asta vom face în continuare.

  Андрей Слабаков  (ECR). – Г-н Председател, ще обърна внимание на нещо, което всички вие пропускате. Това се нарича така наречената „битова сеч“ – незаконна битова сеч. Това са хора, които не могат да се отопляват през зимата, и в някои населени места в България започнаха да секат парковете в населените места. Мисля, че това е резултат от енергийната политика на Европейския съюз. Мога да ви кажа, че цените на газа само за шест месеца миналата година преди войната в Украйна се вдигнаха с 300 процента в България. Разбирам, че тези хора ще секат. Може би трябва да има някаква обща енергийна политика и да има някаква защита за населението. Аз не ги оправдавам, че унищожават дърветата. Но започвам да ги разбирам. Скоро никой няма да може да си плати тока. Благодарение на зелената сделка.

  Clare Daly (The Left). – Mr President, thanks to colleagues for tabling the initiative. I mean, four days ago on every social media platform, the EU was celebrating World Environmental Day, and one of our key targets was to fight deforestation, recognising that forests play a vital role in mitigating the catastrophic impact of climate change. And yet the European Union’s forests only account for 5% of the world’s forests. And in countries like my own, which is twice the size of Switzerland, it is only half of the forestry. And I’m delighted that colleagues from the government parties in Ireland are present, so maybe their government might address this problem, but the forests that we have, we’ve got to protect. And in that context, illegal logging is important to address.

I agree with the colleague who spoke before me. There is a distinction between people, out of energy poverty, eking out some fuel to heat their homes and the industrial scale illegal logging which is going on very often cross-border and done through organised crime. There has to be stronger coordination at EU level, but also a holistic approach that allows forest planning with a stronger role for local communities.

(Ende der spontanen Wortmeldungen)

  Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for all your comments. You know, the European Union forest strategy refers to the need to better respond to new challenges and needs, in particular concerning climate and biodiversity objectives and the issue of forest health, which is of concern for all Member States. It specifically announces further work on indicators and thresholds and refers to the need to better address these challenges. We intend to work jointly with Member States and stakeholders and assess how these could best be used to demonstrate, communicate and further develop the forest sector’s sustainability.

With regard to the use of remote sensing to fight illegal logging, it is important to note that it is the competence of Member States to control the enforcement of the European Union Timber Regulation. It is generally not a sufficient tool to ensure its enforcement, and the planned legislative proposal on a forest monitoring framework will, however, ensure better access to data on forest logging and help fight illegal logging. I already mentioned that the Commission is determined to play its role as guardian of the Treaties. I said that over the past years when we concluded that EU legislation was not properly implemented, we have launched infringement procedures against the Member States concerned. I mentioned Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Estonia, and now a few words on Romania.

We are paying great attention to the illegal logging situation in Romania, as this puts into jeopardy human lives and the rich biodiversity of Romanian forests. We are following very closely this case as it strongly relates not only to compliance with Habitat Directive and the Timber Regulation, but also to the credibility of the EU forest strategy. We are cooperating closely with the Romanian authorities and are following up on the work that remains to be done, in particular the restoration of deteriorated forests.

Concerning the suggestions and remarks of the Irish MEPs, we have taken good note of your remarks.

Dear Members, in the past few years, several petitions have highlighted the extent to which illegal logging grew in the European Union during the pandemic. We have since opened an infringement procedure for breaches of EU environmental law. This shows that we take your pleas seriously.

I want to thank honourable Members for following this topic so closely. We are strongly committed to the protection of our forests and environmental defenders in the European Union, and we look forward to the plenary vote expected at the next plenary session this month.

And regarding Dubrovnik, there are no forests, only cypress trees and pine trees, and they are under conservation so nobody is doing illegal logging there! Thank you very much for mentioning this.

  Der Präsident. – Die Aussprache ist damit geschlossen.

Die Abstimmung findet während der nächsten Tagung statt.

Schriftliche Erklärungen (Artikel 171)

  Loránt Vincze (PPE), írásban. – Környezetünk, az élővilág védelme korunk egyik legnagyobb kihívása a rájuk nehezedő demográfiai nyomás és kapcsolódó következményeivel, mindez érinti az erdőket. A fenntarthatóság jegyében azon kell munkálkodnunk, hogy erdőink egészségesebbek legyenek, ugyanakkor az erdészet teljes értékű gazdasági ágazat maradjon, és ahogyan évszázadokon át tette, ezentúl is biztosítsa az ott élő közösségek megélhetését. Mindez nem egyszerű feladat, mióta a Petíciós Bizottság keretében foglalkozom a témával, sok kérdésről beszéltünk.

Polgárok petíciókkal fordultak a Parlamenthez - többek között Romániából is - segítségünket kérve az illegális fakitermelés okozta problémák megoldására. A témát a szakbizottságban megtárgyaltuk és állásfoglalást fogadtunk el. Támogatom az illegális fakitermelés elleni hatékonyabb fellépést, keresnünk kell az intenzívebb európai együttműködés lehetőségeit, hogy megállítsuk az erdők állapotát károsító bűnözői tevékenységet. Ez mindannyiunk közös érdeke.

Köszönöm a Bizottságnak az eddigi erőfeszítéseit és a határokon-átnyúló ügyekben lefolytatott vizsgálatokat az illetékes szerveknek. Meggyőződésem, hogy a tagállamok tudatában vannak felelősségüknek és érdekeltek a bűnözés visszaszorításában, ezért erősítik a jogszabályi keretet, erősítik a hatóságok hatásköreit és eszköztárát, új digitális eredetkövetési eszközöket vetnek be. Az európai belső piacon a fakitermelés és a rá épülő többi ágazat esetében is megfelelő szabályoknak kell érvényesülniük, amelyek tekintettel vannak a biodiverzitásra és garanciát jelentenek, hogy az EU-ban megjelenő faáru legális kitermelésből származik.