Brussels, 08/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The adoption, under the Lithuanian Presidency, of the seventh action programme for the environment establishing the broad thrust and priorities of the environmental policy of the EU between now and 2020 is a windfall for the Greek Presidency, which will base its own working programme in this area on these lines, with regard to the internal action of the EU. It will pay particular attention to furthering the inclusion of environmental concerns in the relevant sectoral policies of the EU and to pursuing policies which aim to preserve the quality of the environment on the basis of the principles of precaution and of polluter pays, and to protecting human health and guaranteeing the effective, in other words the “prudent and rational”, use of natural resources. At the legislative level, the Greek Presidency will take steps to conclude negotiations between the Council and the Parliament on modifications to the regulation on transfers of waste (Regulation 1013/2006) aiming to step up national inspections, the revision of the CITES regulation (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), the draft regulation aiming to prevent and manage the introduction and propagation within the EU of invasive exotic species (see EUROPE 10984), as well as the legislative proposal aiming to force the member states to take measures to prevent and reduce, on their territory, the consumption of disposable plastic bags (see EUROPE 10956). Its ambition is to reach an agreement at first reading, but if there is not enough time to do this, it intends to reach a political agreement on these dossiers in June 2014.
The Presidency will also seek to make progress on the legislative package presented on Wednesday 18 December by the Commission with a view to improving air quality throughout Europe, by means of the revision of the thematic strategy for the reduction in atmospheric pollution (see EUROPE 10987).
It will also fall to the lot of the Greek Presidency to move forward the work on a brand-new proposal of the Commission regarding the framework for assessing the risks related to the exploration and extraction of shale gas, which is scheduled for 22 January, but it is not yet known what form this will take (see EUROPE 10987).
Internationally, the Greek Presidency will be responsible for preparing the EU's position ahead of the meeting of the intergovernmental committee on the Nagoya Protocol (February 2014 in South Korea), for the UN conference of the parties to the UN convention on biodiversity (October 2014, South Korea), for the Kumamoto conference, where the Minamata Convention on mercury is to be signed, and for the global post-2015 framework including the eradication of poverty and promoting sustainable development. (AN/transl.fl)