Madam President, the fact is that we would not have needed today's debate at all if all the Member States had immediately and fully implemented the requirements of the BSE Temporary Committee of Inquiry into BSE and the BSE follow-up committee of February and November 1997. I am also willing to concede that the Commission, no doubt because of enormous pressure from the European Parliament, has made great progress in recent years in gaining acceptance for the principle of precautionary consumer protection. But implementation by the Member States has still been too slow. Surely it is possible both to act quickly and to do the job properly. The public cannot understand why our legislative process is so slow in times of crisis. That is also why I wish to say here that the Commission must have powers at such times of crisis to take more rapid decisions in relation to infringements of Community law or when there is an imminent risk of such infringement, and that it should be in a position to take action in the public interest or if public health is threatened. (Applause) I also wish to say that there must be solid grounds for bans within the single market. The measures that have been agreed for animal identification and meat labelling will provide an important basis for consumer safety and confidence. It is always better to tackle the root of a problem than to indulge in populism. It is time we all finally escaped from this vicious cycle of speculation and mutual recrimination, in which BSE now seems to stand for 'Blame Somebody Else'! That is why I specifically support the joint motion for a resolution calling on us to leave behind this atmosphere of suspicion and universally introduce rapid testing methods for BSE not only for animals affected, not only for animals over 18 months, but for all animals involved in the food chain, if at all possible. (Applause) This will give us a basis for more extensive and objective criteria for assessing the risk of BSE or the absence of BSE in Member States and allow us to take new and more far-reaching decisions. Mr President-in-Office, I specifically call on the Council to make known its opinion on the TSE regulation. (Applause) We completed the first reading in May. It is a scandal, if BSE is causally related with scrapie, that there is still no joint preventative legislation. Indeed, France has the right to ban animal meal for reasons of domestic policy. But what may be right for France in this situation is not necessarily right for all Member States. It is good that in this respect we are adhering to the joint decisions adopted in 1997, as Mr Byrne explained. A recycling system that functions well in part has been ruined because safety factors have been disregarded. I shall be quite open about this: what we will be calling for in the motion for a resolution tomorrow – a temporary general ban on the production and use of animal meal in feedingstuffs until all criteria relating to standards and safe origins have been met, together with the implementation of the Commission proposal to eliminate affected animals for good – is hard for many Member States, but we are going along with it because without society's backing we will have problems in the long run. However, it must also be possible to use animal parts approved for human consumption in animal feed as well in the future. We also need to think about the budget. A BSE test for all animals cofinanced by the Community would cost EUR 130 million. Reserves also need to be earmarked in case redevelopment measures should be necessary. With that in mind we will also use the trialogue and the budget concertation process with the Commission and the Council to ensure that the Commission's rectifying letter for the 2001 budget is also amended with a view to making the necessary provisions. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE