Strasbourg, 17/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The report by Mariealiese Flemming (EPP-ED, Austria) approved by parliament on 10 February in Strasbourg points out that respect for the obligations imposed in the 1996 directive on the integrated prevention and reduction of pollution is one of the main conditions required from the European industry for obtaining good results in the environment. It also indicated that European industry found the directive presented difficulties but was also a great opportunity. Parliament points out the delays with the transposing of the directive into national law in some Member States and requests that for the instant national provisions in force are not extended s that the national authorities have sufficient time for getting used to the existing legal framework. Parliament also recognises that it is necessary to await the implementation of the directive in candidate countries to see what level of difficulties arise (eight of them have fully transposed the directive into national law) and underlines that ambiguities revealed by the Commission regarding interpretation of the directive risked creating significant uncertainty in relation to implementation. In order to ensure greater respect for the directive's provisions, parliament considers that it is necessary to strengthen the means for supporting companies affected, particularly those that do not have the expertise or human and financial resources for moving towards the required adaptation, given that they represent a sizeable part number of installations targeted.