Natural gas vehicle technology is mature for the broad market, with close to million vehicles on the road in Europe and around 3 000 filling stations.

– (DE) Mr President, I regard this Framework Directive for Soil Protection as a serious mistake which jeopardises the competitiveness of European agriculture and food supplies in Europe.

In its statement accompanying Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe the Commission recognised the need to reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants if significant progress were to be made towards the objectives established in the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme and foresaw, in particular, new legislative proposals that would further reduce Member States’ permitted national emissions of key pollutants, reduce emissions associated with refuelling of p ...[+++]etrol cars at service stations and address the sulphur content of fuels, including marine fuels.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles are unlikely to be successful on the market unless adequate filling-station infrastructure is made available in Europe.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles are unlikely to be successful on the market unless adequate filling-station infrastructure is made available in Europe.

24. Welcomes the recent US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, which does not contain "Buy American" provisions for the procurement of refuelling tankers for the US Air Force; recognises, however, that it remains difficult for European defence firms to penetrate the United States defence market and to acquire United States defence-related technology due to the absence of a genuine transatlantic "two-way street" in the defence industrial sector; believes, therefore, that the European Defence Agency should recommend that national defence procurement agencies in the EU make more European purchases in order to strategi ...[+++]cally reinforce the European defence industrial and technological base in certain sectors and in order to rebalance transatlantic industrial cooperation in the defence sector;