Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner Byrne, I am sure that the Commission has done its best; I leave it to you to decide whether that, in a report, is always what we want to read. I also wonder whether what we do is always enough, and whether we really are thinking in terms of what is called preventative consumer protection. In saying this, Commissioner Byrne, it is not you alone that I have in mind, but all of us, as well as the governments and your fellow-Commissioners. I will come to that in a moment. As soon as we heard the first reports of avian influenza, we immediately stopped imports from Thailand into the European Union. Not much imagination would have been needed to announce on the same day that the whole of Asia would be sealed off, which would have been sensible. It is, perhaps, not very smart to use the domino approach by starting with Thailand and then moving on to Vietnam and then China. It would have made sense in view of what we know about how business is done in these countries and how birds and other animals, are traded and sold within them. What bothers me is the permanent state of re-action. We are always re-acting. Along comes avian influenza, we react to it, and then, for whatever reason, nothing happens for a long time. We discover that poultry meat contains dioxin – and we react. We discover the presence of prohibited, toxic, and carcinogenic pharmaceuticals in shrimps and other products – and we react. We react, though, always and only on the spur of the moment, and promptly forget all about it. That is so naive, so boundlessly naive, for we know that the conditions under which animals are kept in the countries under discussion, and the standards of hygiene in Asian countries, but in Brazil as well, are dire in comparison with our own. As this is something we keep asking about in this House, I really would like to know what happens when the Commissioners discuss this around their table. When we ask Commissioner Lamy to give priority, in discussions on the World Trade Organisation, to consumer protection and hygiene policy as matters to be negotiated with third countries, I know that the most we can expect by way of response is a warm smile. We can content ourselves with that, but if we do not change our own system too, we will keep on ending up in situations like this one, of having to react to a pandemic which frightens our people and – I say this quite seriously – will of course have an effect on the economy. As Mrs Jackson said, most chicken mince ends up in burgers or in Chinese ready meals of one sort or another. People are unsettled; they will stop buying these products for a period of time, and that, to a large extent, will of course have an effect on our economy. The reasons for all this are very simple, and are to be found not only in the hygiene conditions, but also – and let me make this quite clear – in our having been too soft. As you will recall, Commissioner Byrne, I called upon you some time ago, when we were discussing dioxin and other products, to announce a ban on imports from China and other countries, simply for disciplinary or educational effect. Then we are always kind and say that these countries must have our support. That is a mistake. We will have something to say later on about the European Centre on Communicable Diseases. You made reference to serious steps, that is, to serious measures and courses of action; I am sure they will all be marvellous, but only after a few years have passed. Right now, they are no use to us whatever; right now, the only thing that is any use is to announce that we will protect the people of the European Union, for it is for them that we are working in this House. Let us protect them! Are we certain that the viruses that transmit avian influenza among birds and poultry cannot be passed on to human beings? Have we done enough research? That brings me to my next point, and – Mr President – it will be my last. When we are discussing the European Union’s Budget and the financial perspective, I always hear a lot said about regional policy, and a lot about aid policy and other matters. Do I even once hear anything said about how we are stringently requiring the Member States to ensure that enough research is being done into ways of protecting human beings from disease? In that context, never; nor is it one of the European Union’s priorities. I would be grateful to you, Commissioner Byrne, if you could ensure that the financial perspective will include, as one of its priorities, an obligation on the Member States to spend money on research into vaccines capable of protecting people against the diseases that may come our way in the future.

Political group: PSE