Brussels,14/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - What with the draft Climate/Energy action framework for 2030 and the forthcoming international negotiations on the climate and the green economy for growth and employment on the agenda of their informal meeting, to be held in Milan this Wednesday 16 on Thursday 12 July, environment ministers will have plenty to keep them busy.
This informal Environment Council, which will be chaired by the Italian Minister Gian Luca Galletti, will devote 16 July to climate issues and the green economy by means of the greening of the European semester (the mechanism set in place in 2010 to improve the coordination of economic policies in the member states of the EU) and the strategy EUROPE 2020. A lot is at stake with this “greening”, as the inclusion of the environmental policies and resource-efficiency could stimulate growth and job opportunities and help to promote a sustainable, resource-efficient and low-carbon economy.
Connie Hedegaard, European Climate Action Commissioner, just back from the Major Economies Forum (11-12 July) and the Petersburg ministerial dialogue on climate change (Berlin, 13-15 July), and Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, will represent the Commission. Manuel Pulgar Vidal Otalora, President designate of the forthcoming UN climate conference (COP 20, Lima, Peru, December 2014) will be a guest at the session.
On Thursday 17 July, the Environment Council will give way to a joint Environment/Social Affairs Council. The raft of measures for the circular economy presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 2 July (see EUROPE 11113) and, in particular, the communication on green jobs, will give the environment ministers the opportunity to hold an initial exchange of views on green growth and jobs with their colleagues responsible for employment. They will continue their discussions alone on 18 July (EUROPE will return to this).
International climate negotiations. The informal exchange of views will allow the ministers to prepare a coordinated and consistent EU contribution to the climate summit convened by Ban Ki-moon and to be held in New York on 23 September of this year, in the hope of encouraging the various parties to make ambitious offers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Italian Presidency wants the EU to agree on a few key messages to put across, irrespective of the offers the various countries may make individually.
To this end, the ministers will be invited to answer the following questions: - what are the key points to be included in the EU's message to help the UN Secretary General to reach significant conclusions, and what, in particular, should be said about the question of funding the fight against climate change - a question close to the hearts of the developing countries? What commitments or announcements do the member states plan to make during this summit? Which fields of action do they intend to support and how can they guarantee the most effective possible participation of the EU and its member states during the various sessions of the summit?
Framework for action for climate and energy policies 2030. This will be the first discussion since the European Council of June, which confirmed the member states' willingness to work overtime to reach a final decision by October (see EUROPE 11110). The Italian Presidency, which wants this exchange to be as specific as possible and to provide a useful contribution to the debate, will ask the ministers to state: 1) what they feel the main elements in the legislative proposal to create a carbon stability market reserved by 2021 will be in order to guarantee an effective structural reform of the ETS to remove its shortcomings for good; 2) what options should be considered to give the 2030 framework the flexibility it needs.
Green growth, greening the European semester and the EUROPE 2020 strategy for smart and inclusive sustainable growth. The exchange of views will allow the environment ministers to sketch out their contributions to preparations for the annual growth review 2015 and the mid-term review of the EUROPE 2020 strategy.
On the basis of a questionnaire prepared by the Presidency, the ministers will be invited to state whether they acknowledge that environment and climate policies offer considerable opportunities in terms of growth and job creation, and whether they feel that more should be done to embed green policies in the European semester and reinforce the environmental dimension of the EUROPE 2020 strategy. And, if they do, which are the most promising fields which should be the focus. (AN)