European Parliament
Ebner (PPE-DE ).
(DE)
Mr President, I would like to warmly thank Commissioner Nielson for his statement, which was both informative and extensive. The idea of establishing a water fund strikes me as very positive and, I believe, highly conducive to enabling the developing countries to be helped in a very special way, as this is direct, on-the-spot aid for specific projects, some of which give vast stretches of land the prospect of a future.
As regards the situation in the industrialised countries here in the European Union, I believe it to be an absolute necessity that, along with this new Water Framework Directive, we give priority to stepping up the monitoring, so that, when involving all the decision-makers and – as you said – coordinating policies on the environment, research, and the regions, not only will all the stakeholders be brought together, but the benefits will also be checked as they need to be.

