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| Liechtenstein wants to impose a strict emission threshold | |
| Liechtenstein | Created: 24 May 2009 |
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35 000 inhabitants wedged between Switzerland and Austria, best known for the hospitality of its financial industry, the Principality has decided to dictate its law to mobile operators. By adopting, on 29 May 2008, a law on environmental protection, the Parliament of Vaduz gave four years to manufacturers to comply with new regulations particularly restrictive: an emission rate of relay antennas limited to 0 , 6 volts per meter (V / m). Since then, nothing is more between the ages of mobile telephony - including Swisscom and Orange - and Liechtenstein. A test of force is committed, the first round will be played between May 27 and 30 at the next parliamentary session. To this date, twenty-five members of the parliament will examine the reports submitted their operators - in accordance with the law - on the implementation of this threshold. And their conclusions are not in the sense intended by the principality. "In these circumstances, it will not be possible to operate a mobile network," explains Christian Neuhaus, spokesman for Swisscom, which the firm has "stopped investing in the country for a good year." "Economically and technically, this threshold of 0.6 V / m is" impossible, "says Mr. Neuhaus yet. The landscape - literally - would be disfigured, "It takes 150 to 200 more branches." This threshold, which nobody has yet experienced in the world, is claimed by the French associations who have asked, unsuccessfully, to be tested in several cities of France. THE "BIG BROTHER" SWITZERLAND What fly has stung therefore parliamentarians Liechtenstein? They decided to have, as the "big brother" of Switzerland, a new law on environmental protection. Waste management, protection against noise, air pollution, electromagnetic waves, use of fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs): all is past. But while the emission limits for relay antennas in Switzerland are already ten times more restrictive than the international level (6 V / m as against 40 to 60 V / m in Europe) and that no coastal requested, the Liechtenstein has decided, under the leadership of its three Greens members, "to go further," says the director of the Office for the Protection of the Environment of Liechtenstein, Helmut Kindle. The bill specifies that "the owners of a facility are required, using appropriate measures to lower the effective power of the field to the lowest technically feasible and, by late 2012, d achieve an average power of the field of 0.6 V / m ". The parliamentary session promises to be animated. Car Pepo Frick, only elected Green Landtag since the January elections, is sticking to his guns: "I'll fight. As a physician, I believe that the precautionary principle is more important for business operators." Their threats do not impress: "Those who have submitted their reports to Parliament say it is impossible to reach an emission of 0.6 V / m. But there may be others who are able. " And public opinion? What people want is to continue to call. "This may not be possible in garages and cellars, but it is still possible," says he. Moved by the same spirit of resistance, both sides prefer not to prejudge the issue: "Everything is open," explains Mr. Pepo. "Everything is possible," adds Swisscom. |
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| Source: LE MONDE, 22 may 2009 | |
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