Luxembourg, 21/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 October at their meeting in Luxembourg, member state environment ministers officially confirmed their wish to see the EU speed up its transition towards an eco-efficient economy which is not only low carbon, efficient in the use of energy and natural resources, but also innovative. They are convinced this is a road that will allow the EU to raise the challenges of climate change as well as employment and competitiveness. The unanimous conclusions adopted on this priority theme of the Swedish EU Presidency confirm the discussion held this July by the Informal Energy/Environment Council in Åre (EUROPE 9948).
Addressing the press, Andreas Carlgren, President-in-Office of the Council, welcomed this breakthrough which opens up “new opportunities for Europe” especially in terms of new green jobs and green enterprise. Stavros Dimas, European Environment Commissioner, said he was convinced that successful and speedy transition to an eco-efficient economy will give the EU a competitive edge. “The road to this is green growth. I trust the next Commission will set out along this road with determination”, he said. Speaking on behalf of the future Spanish Presidency, Teresa Ribera Rodriguez welcomed the “Environment Council's contribution to reassessment of the Lisbon Strategy” for post-2010.
Environmental taxation has not made life easy for the Presidency, as several member states (especially Germany, Italy, Malta, Luxembourg and Romania) are touchy and jealous of their prerogatives in this area. In order to appease them and reach a unanimous agreement, the wording of the text has been made more flexible on the basis of a Presidency compromise. Council conclusions underline that an eco-efficiency economy can be promoted by shifting the revenue base for national budgets from taxing labour and enterprises towards taxing resource and energy use as well as negative environmental impacts. Member states are therefore encouraged to “consider reforms to facilitate such a shift”. Unlike what was set out in the initial draft conclusions, however, there is no further talk of taxation reform and no mention is made of the merit of integrating these reforms in national growth and employment strategies post-2010.
The conclusions acknowledge that some member states have achieved cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by using carbon taxation, and note that other member states are considering the introduction of such taxes in the near future, thereby contributing to the transition to an eco-efficient economy.
In its other recommendations, the Council invites member states to intensify discussion on how to make best use of cost-effective economic instruments, to better reflect true environmental costs and benefits, and assign a predictable price for carbon emissions. Member states are also invited to intensify discussions and information-sharing on how to best fulfil member states' greenhouse gas emissions reduction obligations in a cost-effective way, especially in sectors not covered by the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) Directive.
The European Commission, for its part, is invited to identify concrete measures and develop guidelines with a view to mainstreaming eco-efficiency in the new Lisbon strategy post-2010 and providing strategic orientation to all relevant EU policies.
The Council conclusions also invite the Commission to: - present an integrated strategy for the promotion of eco-innovation as soon as possible in 2010 and to envisage an action plan on eco-innovation; - further develop proposals on market based instruments, where appropriate, and establish an open forum for exchange of experience between member states; - promote green public procurement procedures; - undertake a full review of the European energy efficiency action plan to identify measures towards additional energy savings and the objective of saving 20% of energy consumption in the EU as compared to projections for 2020; - present a progress report in 2010 on the raw materials initiative, and review the thematic strategies on natural resources and on waste, with a view to identifying additional concrete measures for significantly improving resource efficiency; - and promote sustainable consumption patterns. This must be done by ensuring implementation of the EU action plan for sustainable production and consumption and sustainable industrial policy, and by extending the scope of the eco-design directive to non energy-using products when reviewing the directive in 2012. (A.N./transl.jl)