Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-09-Speech-3-194"
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"en.20080409.23.3-194"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, a Europe of results is a priority for the Commission. Our environmental policy has been – and is – a very successful EU policy, since it has offered its citizens clear and tangible benefits.
We are also preparing a proposal to prohibit trade in the skins of seals that have been inhumanely hunted.
Improved implementation of Community legislation is a major priority; it is the key to creating a better environment. Only by ensuring the correct implementation of the
in its entirety can the goals of the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme possibly be achieved. Effective implementation is connected with better legislation. I can now express my satisfaction because in the last two years the Commission has been able to disassociate better legislation from lower environmental standards. The truth is that the older and simpler legislation is one of the better ways of improving the implementation of the new rules and can thus contribute to better environmental protection.
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am especially pleased that in your report there are constructive conclusions on the way in which Europe can successfully create a better environment and genuine sustainable development. I assure you that the Commission will examine these conclusions with great care when analysing areas where it can see policy gaps and when setting out priorities for the coming years.
Let me thank the rapporteur, Mrs Myller, for her efforts and likewise Mr Karim, Mrs Jeleva and Mr Navarro from the Committee on International Trade, the Committee on Regional Development and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for their excellent recommendations.
It is obvious that there is broad agreement as regards the way forward. It now remains for us to transform this support policy into concrete action to ensure a better environment from 2012 onwards.
Around 80% of the Member States’ environmental legislation is based on corresponding EU legislation. The latter has made a vital contribution to major improvements in air and water quality, as well as to the protection and maintenance of Europe’s natural resources. The EU is thus able to play a leading international role in issues such as climate change, biodiversity and legislation on chemical products.
Nearly a year has passed since the Commission published its Communication on the Mid-term review of the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme. Last year was particularly important, since environmental issues were constantly to at the top of the EU’s list of political priorities. Over this period we have wholly fulfilled our political commitments. Let me give you three examples of this.
At the Bali Summit last December, a procedure was launched to achieve a new agreement on global climate until the end of 2009. The EU’s ‘green diplomacy’ was largely instrumental in achieving this positive result. The package of proposals on climate and energy produced by the Commission in January was ambitious and demonstrated the EU’s continuing commitment to setting a global example.
The proposed new directive on industrial emissions strengthens the provisions already in force and simplifies existing legislation merging seven different directives, on integrated pollution prevention and control. Thus our legislation has become easier to implement and we are contributing towards making it more environmentally effective.
In the past year important progress was made. One of the main messages of the mid-term review – that the long-term viability of the European economy needs to be based on sound environmental principles – was largely accepted by industry. The high standards set by EU environmental legislation encourage ecological innovation, which in turn boosts industrial productivity and creates new employment. In other words, the ambitious environmental goals are both improving European citizens’ quality of life and central to achieving our goals in economic development and employment.
These positive developments contradict scientific evidence that Europe has not yet entered a phase of sustainable development. In fact, we are only half-way through the time period covered by the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme, so there is obviously plenty more to be done in tackling the current and emerging threats to our environment.
In the coming months the Commission will produce new proposals, many of which are included in Parliament’s report. These initiatives include the review of the directive on national emissions ceilings, and a package of proposals in the area of sustainable consumption and production.
We are also preparing a legislative proposal on restricting timber trafficking from illegal logging. After the summer, communications will be ready concerning the European view on the issue of halting deforestation and on finding ways of recording companies’ results using criteria that go further than GDP."@en1
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