Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-09-Speech-3-193"
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"en.20080409.23.3-193"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner Dimas, the targets under the Sixth Environment Action Programme are not going to be achieved as a result of the sort of environmental policy being implemented in the EU.
The thematic strategies planned as the cornerstone of the Environment Action Programme and the legislation passed and largely now adopted based on them are insufficient to achieve the environmental targets. The decline in biodiversity is unlikely to be halted and legislation on the protection of the seas will not have any effect until 2012. Soil protection, as we know, has run into problems, not just in the Council but also here in Parliament. Legislation on waste is now on the home run, and it does not look good. We need to achieve satisfactory targets in the reduction in the volume of waste. Nor are the targets agreed in the air quality directive at the level agreed in the Sixth Environment Action Programme.
The targets in the Environment Programme are, however, being achieved in one area, and that is climate policy. That is the case especially when the measures which have now been agreed are actually implemented. We have to remember that the implementation of climate policy also helps when it comes to air quality and partly also waste, so in that respect it is very important.
What then can we still do to get back on the road to achieving the targets in the Sixth Environment Action Programme? First of all, Member States have to step up national implementation of EU legislation. The Commission must be given the necessary resources for it to be able to ensure that all Member States are attending to their obligations.
Another big issue, and one which is perhaps the most important of them all, is how we manage to integrate the environment within all European Union legislation. We have spoken about this for years, but as yet nothing has been done in practice.
We still have areas where we subsidise activity which is environmentally harmful. We must now do away with environmentally damaging subsidies, and Parliament should propose a timetable for this.
Any policy that is environmentally favourable is to be recommended, including taxation measures. Unless legislation at European level can be used to develop eco-taxation, we will have to employ the means available to us, for example, flexible cooperation, using that to take tax matters forward. If the state of the environment is to be improved, binding legislation still needs to be a priority.
I would like to thank all the groups who took part in this work, and I wish to say that I have tabled a few amendments solely with the purpose of clarifying the text and make its tone more balanced."@en1
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