Strasbourg Diary
February 2004
by John Purvis MEP
EUROPE CHICKENS OUT?
We need a full-scale public hearing on avian flu and the risk which it presents to human and animal health in Europe. I and a group of fellow MEPs have demanded this hearing in the European Parliament following the very limited ban on fresh chicken imports fromThailand announced by the Commission this month to prevent the possible spread of the disease. The fact is that the EU is still importing 75% chicken products from Thailand in the form of cooked and canned meat. It seems that the Thai authorities covered up the existence of the virus for weeks. While the European Commission has now banned the imports of fresh chicken, 75% of poultry imports from Thailand are cooked and canned and these are still being sold in the EU. The Commission assures us these products are safe because they are heat-treated but Scottish consumers and farmers have every right to be sceptical. Our labelling system indicating country of origin is also exposing people to risk as manufacturers of composite products containing chicken are not required to indicate where the meat has come from. A consumer would not know that some of the meat in the pie made in the EU is chicken from Thailand. That is why we need a thorough investigation – and quickly.

FIGHTING THREATS TO HEALTH
Major threats to health, from avian flu to bio-terrorism, will be combated in future by a new European Centre for disease prevention and control. MEPs have voted to set up the centre to co-ordinate activity between EU countries to ensure a rapid response to health threats. It will provide national bodies with independent technical assistance and research. It will also support, but not replace, the efforts of individual state health systems. The present arrangement for health bodies to rely on an informal set-up between EU countries to exchange information and practice needs strengthening. As the recent global experience of the SARS virus shows, we cannot afford to be complacent in Europe about health matters. The new centre will help us to work with other EU countries to prevent, control and defeat health threats from within and outwith the EU.

SINGLE SKY IS WINNING IDEA
For every winner there have to be some losers. But the recent decision to create a “single sky” policy which will unify air traffic control across the EU looks as if all sides will benefit. The present system of each country managing its own air space costs airlines and passengers a total of £ 2.5£ 2.5 billion a year in wasted time and inefficient use of aircraft and staff. The new management system which is expected to come into effect by the end of next year is designed to benefit passengers, operators and the environment by improving safety, reducing flight times and delays and decreasing fuel consumption. It will mean aircraft will no longer be forced to keep changing course as they fly across EU airspace to accommodate 41 different air traffic control systems. It is estimated the “single sky” policy will reduce fuel consumption costs and gas emissions by five per cent. Pilots will no longer have to speak to each air traffic control centre as they pass over but instead will receive instructions on height and direction via a screen in the cockpit and there will be compatible computers between centres to give smooth transition. Too good to be true? Possibly. A major crow in the airspace might have been redundancies among air traffic controllers because of economies of scale and there have been strikes by the French workers in protest. But, in factamazingly, the number of jobs is likely to increase because of present shortages among the existing 13,000 air traffic controllers.

PINGING THE DOLPHIN
More dolphin-friendly fishing is needed, the European Parliament has agreed, particularly around the UK waters where the creature and its porpoise cousin are being wiped out at a rate of 5 per cent of their entire global population every year. This is because they are accidentally caught in trawlers'and nets. The proposed suggested solution includes phasingis to phase out the use of drift nets and introducingto use acoustic deterrents known as `pingers’.

John Purvis is a member of the Committee on Industry, External Trade Research and Energy and Vice Chairman of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. He can be contacted by e-mail at jpurvis@europarl.eu.int or visit his website on www.scottishtorymeps.org.uk.

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