A report by ALDE MEP, Mrs Frédérique Ries (MR, Belgium) was adopted unanimously today by the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.  This report  on the mid-term review of the European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010,  pointed out that the precautionary principle should remain the cornerstone of the EU's policies on environmental health.

It is worth noting that the European Commission, now at the forefront in the climate change battle and promoting the Kyoto protocol, appears to drop any ambitions to make the the polluter pay. Two of these principles are dealt with by the Treaties of the Union and are fundamental for the protection of human health and a reduction in the early sources of pollution.

Where we delay in our reaction, prevention is the answer   

Frédérique Ries

Mrs Ries underlines that "Through this vote the European Parliament is relaying the concerns of its citizens vis-à-vis the cocktail of environmental pollutants: endocrine-disruptors, nanoparticles, carcinogenic, mutagenic substances, indoor and outdoor air quality, electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones and WiFi  equipment,  which we are exposed to on a daily basis and which independent research on their effects is lacking.  Where we delay in our reaction, prevention is the answer".

Take the example of  low frequency electromagnetic waves which are emitted from all types of wireless telephony systems such as mobile phones, blue-tooth and Wifi  equipment whose exposure limits for the general public date from 1999 and have not kept pace with developments in technology.

A growing number of studies have shown that repeated exposure to electromagnetic waves can result in the risk of cancer (leukemia in children especially), Alzheimer's, problems affecting sleep or psychological problems.

The sensible solution would be that the European Union and the Member States decide as a matter of urgency to limit the levels of exposure.. Point 12 of the report "Notes that the limits on exposure to electromagnetic fields which have been set for the general public are obsolete, and have not been adjusted since 1999, and thus take no account of developments in information and communication technologies, of the recommendations issued by the European Environment Agency or of the stricter emission standards adopted for example by Belgium, Italy and Austria".