Horsens, 18/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - It will not be a Christmas tree, but a proper programme for the environment policy and a green Europe over the next eight years, with a long-term vision: between now and 2050. The EU27 environment ministers, meeting in Horsens for their informal Council, reached a consensus on the principles and priorities of the seventh environment action programme (seventh EAP). It will lay emphasis on the implementation of all of the existing legislation. “If the legislation on waste was implemented properly, it would make it possible to save 500 million Danish kroner and create 400,000 jobs”, stressed Ida Auken, who chaired the Council. But this programme will also allow the EU to move forward in the fields of adapting to climate change, the urban environment, the strategy for biodiversity and chemicals such as nanomaterials and chemical cocktails with potentially devastating effects on health. “We all agree on the need to recognise that despite the crisis, the green economy is the only way. This is a clear signal”, said Auken. Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, said that a proposal would be presented before the end of the year. “It will be more than just continuing where the sixth action programme left off, because we need to take account of the new knowledge acquired and plug the gaps of a programme adopted in 2002, when we did not understand the environmental challenges of the climate, biodiversity and resources.” (AN/transl.fl)