Madam President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, High Representative, I am delighted that this debate is taking place at last. We tried – unsuccessfully – to have this debate during the last parliamentary term in April 1999, when the NATO bombing was starting. A few days after that, on 5 May to be exact, because we were convinced that this type of weapon was being used, I together with 11 fellow Members sent a letter to Mr Solana, the then NATO Secretary General, to request that a stop be put to the use of such weapons which were likely to cause health problems at a later date for the local population and the military forces involved, not to mention irreversible contamination of the environment. We did not receive any answer at that time. I think that is worth pointing out. NATO drip-fed us with a series of information bulletins. In support of this, I would refer you to the comment made by the United Nations Environment Programme assessment group, at the end of 1999, that it did not have sufficient data to assess the state of depleted uranium contamination on the territory of Kosovo. What Mr Solana has just told us, a few moments ago, namely that the action taken would be completely transparent, is novel and it is good news, but I feel rather doubtful regarding this commitment to transparency considering the attitude adopted by NATO over the last year. I feel even more doubtful when I hear the statements of the current NATO representatives. There are a number of points which I should like to clarify. I think this is necessary. When we are told that a link must be established between the state of health of the military forces and the presence, or absence, of depleted uranium, we have to be careful, as this is no simple matter, and there are several parameters which must be taken into consideration in order to explain the poor state of health of a number of members of the military: chemical pollution, a whole range of aspects of environmental damage, living conditions. It is known, moreover, that the effects of radioactive contamination do not become apparent until after a relatively long period of time. It would not, therefore, be proper to say at this stage, as some scientists have done, rather thoughtlessly in my opinion, that there is no connection. It is too early to say. Perhaps it is true for some military personnel, but I would be astonished if it were possible to generalise. My second point is that depleted uranium is not a naturally occurring substance, as people would have us believe, or a less radioactive one. It is approximately 20% less radioactive than natural uranium. It is a by-product of nuclear processing and must accordingly be treated as waste. I would point out that we have a European directive adopted in 1996, which should have been transposed by the Member States, stipulating that, where the radioactivity of such waste exceeds a concentration of 10,000 Becquerels per kilo, its radioactive contamination must be prevented from spreading. In this instance we are talking about a concentration that is 4,000 time greater. It is therefore quite absurd to use arms of this type to spread it in the environment, creating insoluble particles which collect in the respiratory and digestive system and then to claim that the existence of a problem remains to be proven. Either there is a problem here, of necessity, or I have failed to understand this European directive. Why should the conditions applicable to the people of Europe not be applicable to the people of Kosovo or Bosnia or to military personnel? (Applause) I should like to end with one last comment. Please excuse me for going on a little too long. Mr Solana, I must tell you that the end does not justify the means. (Applause). There is no one in this House that supported the Milosevic regime. Yet it is not Mr Milosevic and his allies who are the victims of the radiation, who have ingested depleted uranium, but the local population, the military forces and the representatives of NGOs. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE