“The role model for the fight against Covid-19 is Ireland, not the UK”, this stated the health spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr med Peter Liese. Liese expressed that a slightly earlier start of the vaccination campaign in the UK will not really make a difference in the fight against the pandemic.
In the next two months, no country in the world will have enough vaccine to really make a difference. It is important to prioritize the high-risk group but because the vaccine is short globally, there will not be enough to vaccinate the high-risk group until February or March and definitely not in the UK (see below). That is why it is important to use the existing measures against the virus, which means to reduce risky contacts. A good example is that London went to a lockdown Tuesday this week even though Britain started to vaccinate some people the week before”, says the MEP and medical doctor.
Read more: The role model for fighting Covid is Ireland not the UK
"The European Parliament adopted the revised Drinking Water Directive with a large majority. Agreement on the text had previously been reached with the Council of Ministers. The agreed text provides for strict thresholds for possible contamination and at the same time improves access to tap water for vulnerable people," explained the health spokesperson for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr Peter Liese.
"Water is the very basic need for all our lives. 20 years after the first Drinking Water Directive came into force, it was time to update and tighten the limits for certain pollutants. For the European Parliament, it is of utmost importance that the new directive makes our drinking water even safer and takes into account newly emerging pollutants. Thus, I welcome that we have included new rules for microplastics and endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A. The latter can pose a real threat to human health. However, it is important that bureaucracy and requirements for measurements do not become too much of a burden," said the MEP.
Read more: European Parliament adopts revised Drinking Water Directive with large majority
After the decision of the environment Council on the climate law in the European Union, the environmental spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr Peter Liese said: "Thanks to the German Presidency, especially of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a decision on the climate law including the 2030 target has been made today. Consequently, the EU can also report this ambitious target to the UN Secretariat. It is the most ambitious target that any major economy has presented so far. I hope that we will reach an agreement in the trialogue between Parliament, Council and Commission as soon as possible. In my view, the Council's target of net 55% is very ambitious and more realistic, than the 60% target adopted by a very narrow majority of the European Parliament. I hope that in this aspect the decision of the environmental Council will be adopted in the end. However, in many other areas, the Parliament has presented better proposals and the Council will still have to move in the upcoming trilogue negotiations under the Portuguese Presidency".
The environment spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr Peter Liese calls the agreement at the EU summit on an ambitious climate target for 2030 a “huge success” for the German Presidency and also a personal success for Angela Merkel. "At the beginning of the week, hardly anyone believed that the EU summit would decide upon both the dispute over finances and the rule of law mechanism as well as the dispute over the climate target. Nonetheless, for both issues, an agreement was found. This is really good news and I am very happy about it. Europe must raise its ambitions with regards to climate so that our children and grandchildren do not live in a world where they can no longer control climate change. The adopted target is ambitious and in line with the Paris Agreement.
The Commission has convincingly demonstrated this in its impact assessment. That is why I welcome it very much that the Council has agreed to the Commission's proposal. I believe that the Council has been more responsible than the European Parliament. I hope that we can now quickly agree on a common legislative text. From the point of view of the EU Parliament, it will be particularly important that indeed every member state is climate neutral. This is, however, not what the heads of state and government have decided," said MEP.
Liese disagreed that a net 55% target is not ambitious and not in line with the Paris climate agreement. "We have been working on climate protection policy in the EU since 1990. Since then, we have cut 25% emissions which was often a huge challenge," Liese said.