Strasbourg, 18/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - Last Thursday, the European Parliament adopted by a wide majority on first reading (370 to 8 with 14 abstentions) the report by Marie Anne Isler Béguin (Greens/EFA, France) on the European Commission Communication on Action Plans to protect biological diversity in the domains of protecting natural resources, agriculture, fisheries, development aid and economic co-operation.
Biodiversity covers the whole of life, nature in all its forms, from human beings to living macro-organisms in the animal and plant kingdoms. Taken together, they make up the earth's ecosystem which is currently being weakened by modern lifestyles and the considerable development of human activity. The research carried out by the European Environment Agency bear witness to constant and accelerating deterioration in biodiversity, the disappearance of entire ecosystems and the loss of parts of the European gene pool. Pointing out the potential danger to the environment and biodiversity of spreading GMOs in the environment, the European Parliament highlights the importance of the precautionary principle and calls on the EU to ensure that all Community legislation and instruments are used to help preserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable development across the whole of the EU. It also calls for sufficient financial means to be made available in the current budgetary framework for funding Natura 2000. In terms of fisheries, Parliament insists that safeguarding biodiversity and the marine ecosystem should be a top level priority in the framework of the upcoming reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. Warning against the destruction of fish stocks, it stresses the urgent need to develop fishing mechanisms and techniques that allow greater selection of both species and fish size. Agriculture and forestry play a central role in preserving biodiversity and Parliament feels that the CAP as set out in Agenda 2000 would not meet the final targets set out for biodiversity and the sustainable development strategy. It therefore calls for a reformed CAP to encourage ecologically sustainable agriculture to help protect biodiversity. The EP calls on the EU to support developing countries in their efforts to implement the biodiversity convention, given that a number of EU policies (trade, agriculture and fisheries) can have a significant impact on biodiversity in developing countries.