Council must back blue-tongue vaccination rules

Governments pay mere lip service to transparency, the issue at the heart of the dispute over blue-tongue disease in cattle.

In her article last week, Eniko Gyori, Hungary’s minister of state for EU affairs, misrepresented the European Parliament’s position on legislation to update the rules on blue-tongue vaccination (“The (many) battles of Lisbon”, 14-19 April).

She says that the Parliament “refused” the legislation. The Parliament wanted the legislation implemented immediately, which is why we fast-tracked it through the Parliament (and, in plenary, its members voted 587 votes in favour, with one against – one of the most convincing results I have ever seen).

The obstacle was the Council of Ministers’ indication that, in conciliation talks, it was prepared to block the proposal over the issue of correlation tables, which were drafted into the text by the European Commission.

Correlation tables are important to ensure effective and transparent transposition of EU law – something to which our governments often merely pay lip service.

The Council is the stumbling block. I urge its members to approve the Parliament’s and the Commission’s text immediately.

 

From:

Janusz Wojciechowski MEP

European Conservatives and Reformists

Brussels