Brussels, 26/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Resource efficiency, whatever the nature of these less and less plentiful materials or common goods, is the new European Commission credo, the sure and certain way to sustainable growth. The communication, A Resource Efficient Europe, adopted by the college of commissioners on Wednesday, is the seventh and last of the EUROPE 2020 flagship initiatives which aim at building smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for Europe. José Manuel Barroso himself will be in charge of the initiative.
“This strategy seeks to move us towards a low-carbon economy which makes better use of resources”, Environment Commissioner Janez Potoènik told press. The term “resources” has to be understood in its broadest sense - raw materials, food, fuels, metals, water, soil, air, the biomass and ecosystems - all essential to our economy and our quality of life but all subjected to ever stronger pressure globally. “In the 20th century, the world's population grew by four times, fish catches 45 times, CO2 emissions 19 times, energy consumption 16 times. From its current level of 6.9 billion, the world population will grow to 9 billion by 2050. Consumption by the middle classes in the emerging economies will shoot up. We cannot continue like this. We can save the banks but not the planet. Economic growth is needed but what kind of growth do we want?” asked the commissioner, arguing that quality should win the day over quantity.
The proposed strategy, which “provides a general conceptual framework for bringing about the transformation of the economy”, casts the net wide: it establishes resource efficiency as the guiding principle of energy, transport, fisheries, biodiversity and regional development policies. Among the concrete initiatives to be presented in the course of this year are: a roadmap for a low-carbon economy for 2050; an energy efficiency plan for 2020; a White Paper on the future of transport; an energy roadmap 2050; a roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe; reforms of the common agricultural policy, the common fisheries policy, cohesion policy, the energy infrastructure and the trans-European transport networks; a new EU biodiversity strategy for 2020; and measures on commodity markets and on raw materials.
There is nothing new in all this. Potoènik agrees. “The important thing is that the initiatives will be built on a commitment from the whole Commission to make this its watchword”, he said. For the moment, there are no quantified objectives, but they are planned, the commissioner stated.
Therein, for the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament, lies the rub. While welcoming the general discourse of the document, they wanted more. “It is praiseworthy that the Commission wants to make resource efficiency an absolute priority of EU policy, but we regret that this flagship communication does not set any objectives”, they stated immediately. (A.N./transl.rt)