EU Environmental policy priorities for the period till 2010

1. EU Environmental policy priorities for the period till 2010 Based on the 6th Environment Action Programme By Nikos Sakkas, LEI Crete, 2002

2. The context • A person in the westernworld consumes up to 50 times more resources in a lifetimethan the average person in adeveloping country • Continued economic growth in the industriali-sed countries coupled withpopulation growth and the natural desire of developing countries to catch up in terms ofmaterial welfare could lead to a huge growth in demand for resources

3. The success stories • Industrial emissions to the atmosphere of toxic substances such as lead and mercuryhave been cut significantly • Acidification of our forests and rivers, caused by emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2)has been greatly reduced • Sewage and water treatment have improved the health of many of our lakes andrivers

4. The four priority actions- 1 • To tackle climate change • to stabilise the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a level that willnot cause unnatural variations of the earth's climate • To protect nature and bio-diversity • to protect and restore the functioning of natural systems and halt the loss of bio-diversityin the European Union and globally &to protect soils against erosion and pollution

5. The four priority actions- 2 • To control health risks • to achieve a quality of the environment where the levels of man – made contaminants, including different types of radiation, do not give rise to significant impacts on or risks to human health • To promote sustainable use of natural resources and management of wastes • to ensure the consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources does notexceed the carrying capacity of the environment. To achieve a de-coupling of resource usefrom economic growth through significantly improved resource efficiency, dematerialisationof the economy, and waste prevention

6. Innovative approaches now required • Improve the implementation of existing environmental legislation • Deepen the integration of environmental concerns into other policies • Work with the market by taking account of business and consumer interests • Provide best practice for critical land use planning and management decisions • Provide information to individuals whose decisions may influence the Environment

7. Improve the implementation of existing legislation • Support the IMPEL network of exchanging best practice onimplementation between Member States, and extend IMPEL to the CandidateCountries • Reporton implementation by way of both the annual Commission report onmonitoring the application of EC law and the annual survey on implementing ECenvironmental law, and present this information in the form of animplementation scoreboard • Organize a ‘Name, shame and fame’ strategybased on individualdirectives • Promote improved standards of inspection by Member States • Launch initiatives to combat environmental crime • As necessary, pursue action in the European Court to ensure implementation

8. Integrate environmental concerns into other policies • Establish where necessary additional internal ‘integration’ mechanisms within theCommission that ensure, among other things, that environmental protectionrequirements are fully assessed in the preparation of all Commission policyinitiatives • Continue to stimulate commitments to implement the Treaty requirements onenvironmental integration, such as the initiative started at the Cardiff summit, andensure that the strategies produced are translated into effective action • Further develop indicators to monitor and report on the process of sectoralintegration

9. Encourage the market to work for the environment- 1 • Business targeting activities: • Encourage a wider uptake of the EMAS Schemeand, in addition, develop measures to encourage a much greater proportionof companies to publish rigorous and independently verified environmental orsustainable development performance reports • Establish a compliance assistance programme, with specific help for SMEs • Introducecompany environmental performance reward schemes • Encourage voluntary commitments and agreements to achieve clear environmentalobjectives • Launch specific actions under an Integrated Product Policy approach to promote thegreening of products and processes

10. Encourage the market to work for the environment- 2 • Consumer targeting activities: • Assess progress and effectiveness of Community Eco-Label scheme • Take measures, including the use of fiscal incentives where appropriate, to encourage theuptake of eco-labels that allow consumers to compare environmental performance(e.g. energy efficiency) between products of the same type • Promote green procurement, with guidelines and a review of green procurementwithin the Community Institutions who will 'lead by example'

11. Encourage the market to work for the environment- 3 • Financial sector targeting activities: • Promote exchange of best policy practice between Member States • Consider a voluntary initiative with the financial sector which could cover, for example, exchange of best practice, agreement to meet harmonised standards for reporting by companies in the financial sector, for issuing loans, for ‘green investment funds etc. • Strengthening the integration of environmental objectives and considerations into lending by the European Investment Bank

12. Empower citizens and changebehaviour • Enforce measures to improve accessibility and quality of information to citizens onenvironment (e.g. polluting emission levels at the local level) • Prepare practical toolkits aimed at regional or local level to allow citizens tobenchmark their individual or household environmentalperformance and to giveinformation on howtoimproveit

13. GreenLand-Use Planning and Management Decisions • Raise attention by a communication on Planning and Environment – the territorialdimension • Take measures to improve the implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessmentdirective and the full and correct introduction of strategic environmental assessmentsafter adoption at Community level • Enforce a Commission work programme aimed at spreading best practice with respect tosustainable planning which will include the development of a website and relatedtools • Support programmes and networks fostering the exchange ofexperience and the development of good practice on sustainable urban development