- PARIS -- France is proposing
to make a historic change to its constitution by giving environmental issues
as much weight as human and social rights.
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- The controversial Environment Charter, initiated by President
Jacques Chirac, will enshrine the right of all French people to "live
in an environment which is balanced and respects their health."
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- The proposal, which is being debated by parliament, has
divided Mr Chirac's own centre-right UMP party, some of whom have called
for fundamental parts of the bill to be scrapped. While most agree with
the basic principle, many doubt whether it is a constitutional issue as
opposed to a matter for a change in the ordinary laws.
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- Fierce disagreement centres on an article which states
that if an action is deemed to pose a "serious and irreversible"
threat to the environment, then the state can intervene and stop it. Critics
say that its sweeping clauses could stifle scientific research and lead
to long and complicated legal disputes.
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- Professor Maurice Tubiana, president of the Academy of
Medicine, which, along with the Academy of Sciences, is opposed to the
amendment to the constitution, said: "All modern technologies carry
a risk, whether it's the car, electricity or nuclear power."
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- Others claim it does not go far enough in making polluters
pay for the damage they cause, as stated in the declaration of the 1992
Earth summit in Rio.
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- Mr Chirac called on MPs to support a "superior interest
... which was more important than ordinary laws".
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- The prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, agreed: "It
is very important that France shows itself to be the conscience of the
planet," he said.
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- The justice minister, Dominique Perben, who opened the
parliamentary debate, said the critics were wrong about the controversial
article: "It doesn't stop scientific research or economic activities,"
he said.
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- "It's time politicians responded to the concerns
of our citizens about the protection of the environment. It's not a case
of giving up economic and social development, but of making this compatible
with preserving the environment."
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- The Green party said it was "very disappointed"
with the new text, which it described as a trompe l'oeil ; however, supporters
say it will make the scientific world more responsible.
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- "Science can do things for the good and for ill,"
said a leading astrophysicist, Hubert Reeves.
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- "It's necessary to be vigilant and reflect on the
implication of research.
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- "Awareness of the risks that human activities could
cause to humanity and nature means we have to adopt a principle of precaution.
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- "That principle has its place in the Environment
Charter and the charter has its place in the constitution.
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- "To take this principle out of the charter would
be to refuse to confront the risks with responsibility."
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- The text will put put the environment on an equal constitutional
footing with the "rights of citizens established in 1789" and
economic and social rights introduced in 1946.
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- Legal experts say enshrining it in the constitution means
an ordinary citizen could bring legal action if he or she believed the
state or authorities were not taking measures to preemptively protect the
environment over, for example, genetically modified food and pesticides.
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- A Socialist party MP, Christophe Caresche, said his group
wanted to be positive but dismissed the charter as a "false good idea".
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- "The initial idea was ambitious and wide reaching,"
he said, but it could backfire on environmentalists because it was "not
precise enough and leaves a lot open to interpretation."
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- The charter will have to be finally passed by a national
referendum or by a vote by both houses of parliament.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1225404,00.html
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