Madam President, as you have mentioned, in 1998, the Committee on Pensions received two extremely important petitions. The first was submitted by a Belgian national, on behalf of the Self-help Group for Women damaged by Silicone bearing about 1 000 signatures, and the second was submitted by a British citizen requesting a ban on silicone breast implants. At the beginning of 1999, following a study, the Committee responsible sent a reply to these petitions which could be summed up as follows: the results of currently available scientific evidence do not seem to justify a ban of silicone implants. Attached was information on the position of third countries and European Union Member States on this issue. In March 2000, the European Parliament Directorate-General on Research, sent the Committee on Petitions a working document on silicone breast implants. This information on the status of research, along with international references from medical institutes, scientific organisations, universities and the medical press etc. lead to the following conclusion: there is currently no definite answer to the question of whether silicone implants are the cause of inflammatory reactions which indirectly cause an auto-immune response. In other words, there is currently no scientific evidence that women who have received breast implants are more susceptible than others to serious diseases, connective tissue diseases, and that they have an abnormal lymphatic response. Given the complexity of the problem and without wishing to end the investigation into such distressing petitions, Parliament requested STOA to carry out an independent scientific study and, in May 2000, Doctor Moreno presented his conclusions, giving three options. The first option was for a status quo and no ban. The second option was an outright ban on silicone breast implants. The third option was not for a complete ban, but the adoption and implementation of critical specific measures to develop and improve information for patients, tracking and surveillance, quality control and assurance and fundamental research. The European Commission, the Committee on the Environment and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities were asked for their opinion and they chose the third approach. In March 2001, Mr Liikanen, the Commissioner, confirmed that the Commission was preparing a communication on silicone implants, with a particular view to strengthening European standards and surveillance, to introducing a system of patient consent and to undertaking research and development. Lastly, on 29 May 2001, the Committee on Petitions, having taken into account the complaints by the petitioners and the opinions of the committees consulted, who I would also like to thank for their thorough work and for their help, adopted unanimously, on the basis of STOA’s third option, a resolution which will be voted on tomorrow in Parliament. Its main recommendations are that all patients should have access to information free of charge, any advertising for breast implants should carry a health warning, surgical operations should be very strictly monitored, a database on implants should to be set up, research and development should be undertaken and there should be a ban on breast implants carried out for aesthetic reasons in patients under 18 years of age. Madam President, this is the first time that the Committee on Petitions has presented a resolution to the House which is a direct result of requests from the citizens of the European Union. The Committee on Petitions is pleased to have thus fulfilled its role of an active listening post for its citizens.

Political group: PPE-DE