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If you have ever tasted a
glass Ribena, the popular household drink rich in Vitamin C, then you have
sampled the high quality produce of blackcurrant growers in Norfolk. One
third of the 12000 tons of British blackcurrants used in the production of
Ribena (Glaxo Smith Kline) is grown in Norfolk, a constituency I represent
in the European Parliament.
Unfortunately, the Big Bud
Mite, a microscopic creature, acts as a vector for transmission of
Reversion Virus that can devastate blackcurrant plantations and bankrupt
farmers. Meothrin (Fenpropathrine)
is a safe insecticide that kills the Big Bud Mite without causing
environmental damage.
The EU, under Council
Directive 91/414/EEC, evaluates pesticides and produces
a positive list of those products that have been demonstrated to be
safe for the environment, the user and the consumer. The European
Commission is proposing to withdraw Meothrin from this list from July 2003
because, it alleges, no industry has indicated an interest in
demonstrating the safety of the substance!
Meothrin could not have been
authorised for use by the UK Pesticides Safety Directorate (UK PSD) in
York without proof of environmental safety. Therefore, why should the EU
challenge this decision years later and allow extension of use to July
2003?
There is no evidence to
suggest that the application of Meothrin has precipitated environmental
damage or toxic residues in the fruit. Ribena, produced from fruit treated
with Meothrin, has been on the market for many years.
Therefore, is this ban on
Meothrin yet another example of unnecessary interference of the European
Commission - a dictat that results in higher costs for industry and
business?
The EU bureaucracy has its
full share of incompetent and ill-trained staff. They waste resources and
generate a mountain of paperwork that yield no added value! The “civil
service culture” – overpaid, under worked and a job for life -
guarantees sub-standard performance. Recruitment in the civil service, as
in the private sector, should be based on merit – professional
competence as well as a minimum work experience of 5 years in the private
sector. Employees should be contracted for no more than 5 years and be
subject to annual assessment of performance. Such selection of personnel
will ensure work discipline as well as a higher quality of output. There
should be no fast track for friends or national quota in recruitment.
The EU recruitment reform
should also apply to Commissioners! Politicians rejected in national
elections should not be rewarded with appointments as EU Commissioners.
They should be chosen on professional competence and preference given to
those with a distinguished private sector working experience. They should
be appointed for only one term of 5 years. Furthermore, the European
Commission President should not be a politician but someone with
experience of successfully managing one of Europe’s largest companies.
European taxpayers and
electors are eager to assess the cost and relevance of EU institutions.
They should have easy access on the internet to details of expenditure of
the European Commissioners, EU Foreign Country Delegations, and President
of the European Parliament as well as European Parliament and European
Commission offices. Similarly, details of allocations of EU subsidies e.g.
CAP, Structural Funds, Cohesion Funds etc for each Member State should be
readily accessible on the internet long before payments are made to
facilitate public scrutiny.
Only 23% of the British
electorate voted in the last European Elections in June 1999. British
electors will have confidence and trust in the EU only if the EU is
transparent, accountable and relevant in improving their lives. This is
the challenge that elected MEPs face!
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