Mr President, the package of proposals for regulations we have before us aims to reformulate and simplify the entire body of EU food law. The draft regulation for which I am rapporteur lays down specific animal-health rules governing the production, placing on the market and importation from third countries of products of animal origin, with the objective of preventing the spread of animal diseases in connection with the marketing of these products. At present, this area is governed by seven different directives. The proposal for a regulation under consideration is intended to make the animal-health rules more transparent and encompass the existing directives within a single text. I particularly welcome the fact that the Commission has deliberately chosen a regulation as the legal instrument so as to ensure that the rules will in future be enforced in the same way in the EU as a whole and in third countries. Overall, I support the proposal, even if I have one fundamental criticism of it. In many places the Commission has used the procedure referred to in Article 11, that is to say the committee procedure. This is neither unusual nor anything special. Particularly in the field of animal disease prevention it is right and important for the Commission to be able to react more quickly and effectively to new scientific developments and unforeseen situations, without having to embark on a cumbersome legislative procedure every time. However, in this case I believe that rather too much use is made of the committee procedure. In some places I have therefore introduced either additions or refinements to the text of the regulation establishing certain criteria. The first of these is that exceptions should only be granted if the animal disease situation does not prevent it and if it would in no way adversely affect the level of protection against animal diseases. Secondly, unannounced checks should be carried out at irregular intervals. Thirdly, when lists of third countries are being drawn up, all additional factors such as the adequacy of staffing levels in the control authorities and the reliability of the information provided by authorities in third countries must be taken into account. In addition, I have included two new proposals in my report. Member States and the authorities of third countries shall, where so requested, submit a report to the Commission on the controls carried out, specifying in particular the frequency of controls, the nature of the failings and infringements found to exist, and the nature of the steps taken by the competent authorities to punish them. We all know that the effectiveness of the legal framework depends to a large extent on controls carried out, and detailed control reports of this kind are essential if the effective application of controls in Member States is to be guaranteed. They also allow the Commission to react immediately to any weak points identified. The Commission should also draw up a list of categories of possible infringements of this regulation, its implementing rules or safeguard measures and should determine in each instance whether the infringements are punishable by the competent national authorities under criminal or administrative law. If the provisions of the regulation are infringed, uniform sanctions should as far as possible be established for all Member States. It is not acceptable for the same act to have different consequences in Member State No 1 as compared with Member State No 2. This problem, which is certainly even more urgent in other areas than in the case before us today, needs to be fundamentally addressed. It was my intention to make a start here with my proposal, even if the Commission has indicated to the committee that this kind of approach may not be practicable at the moment for legal reasons. Nevertheless, I am convinced of the need for this and my fellow members of the committee supported me in this. I would lastly like to thank the Commission for its constructive cooperation and I hope that will continue.

Political group: PSE