madam president i too found this a particularly difficult decision
i felt that the report was in general very well-balanced and constructive and it was certainly designed to ensure a high level of protection for human health animal health and the environment
however i have concerns about the situation where we are making decisions for approval of a particular substance based on whether that substance is a hazard or not and we are not taking possible exposure into account
i think we need impact assessments conducted on a scientific basis
one of my concerns is that when i talk to citizens about the eu one of the issues they constantly raise with me is that at times the eu's legislation is not always proportionate
while i believe there is flexibility in this report i think we needed a little more but crucially we needed further scientific evidence to support the case
yes there is the precautionary principle and we need to be mindful of this but decisions also need to be evidence-based and i would have liked a little more evidence in this matter
