Kære
venner
Tusind
tak for jeres henvendelser omkring sælafstemningen i går. Det var meget spændende,
og som I måske allerede har hørt, gik det faktisk rigtig godt. Vi fik
opbakning til vores linje om at forbyde handel med sælprodukter - med den nødvendige
undtagelse for oprindelige befolkninger (inuitter) - mens ordførerens
linje med en mærkningsordning blev underkendt.
Næste
skridt i processen er, at vi skal stemme i hele Parlamentet i april. Her satser
vi stærkt på, at flertallet støtter den linje, vi har lagt i indre marked og
forbrugerbeskyttelsesudvalget.
Det
er glædeligt med så mange mails fra borgere, som er opmærksomme på, hvad vi
laver i Europa-Parlamentet. Bliv ved med at kæmpe for dyrenes bedste og læg
endelig pres på Parlamentet i alle de sager, I overhovedet kan. Det nytter -
det viser gårsdagens afstemning med al tydelighed.
Jeg
vedhæfter nedenfor den pressemeddelelse, som socialistgruppen har sendt ud i
dag.
Christel
Schaldemose
Medlem af Europa-Parlamentet
ASP
11G150
60 Rue Wiertz,
1047
Bruxelles
A
Europe-wide ban on trade in seal products was agreed by the European
Parliament's Internal Market Committee yesterday night (Monday) following
the lead from Socialist MEPs.
Danish
Social Democrat MEP, Christel Schaldemose, said: "Other parties followed
our lead when we held firm on our views on this. We have banned the use of
products made from killing seals, but we have defended an exemption for
the Inuit
communities of Northern Europe.
"The
Inuits have used seal products for subsistence in their culture for generations
and I also fought to ensure they were given an exemption.
"They
have relied on seals for subsistence for a thousand years. Their traditional
way of life will not be disturbed, and they will still be able to trade in the
EU," she added.
After
the successful vote in the committee, it is expected that the plenary session of
the European Parliament as a whole will agree to the ban.
British
Labour MEP, Arlene McCarthy, who chairs the Parliament's Internal Market
Committee (IMCO) said: "The committee voted down by three to one the
Commission's proposal for a limited ban and a proposal for an unworkable
labelling scheme, because these wouldn't protect seals from being clubbed
to death.
"Socialist MEPs
demonstrated with the law banning cat and dog fur, in force from the end of
2008, that we don't just listen to public concerns but we act. With this vote
for a ban on seal products we have shown again that people power can win through
and change the law.
"This
vote is a clear mandate to persuade the 27 Member States and the Commission to
back a tough ban. All the Members of the IMCO Committee - myself included-
have been contacted by hundreds of our constituents and by animal welfare
organisations that represent millions of EU citizens, who wanted a tough ban on
the cruel trade in seal products.
"A
clear majority of citizens across the European Union are horrified by the cruel
clubbing to death of thousands of seals every year. They don't want these
products on sale in the EU. Today the IMCO Committee backed citizens' demands
for a ban."
Seals
are killed when their heads are smashed by a "hakapik", a club with a
metal point for dragging the animals onto the ice. In their 2006
declaration MEPs said that over a million and a half baby harp seals were
slaughtered in the north west Atlantic over the last four years, and the
overwhelming majority were less than three months old. Forty two per cent of
the carcasses had been skinned alive, said the declaration.