Brussels, 15/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - Following on from the huge step forward taken at COP 21, EU environment ministers will gather briefly in Brussels on Wednesday 16 December for the last meeting under the Luxembourg presidency.
On the legislative front, this Council meeting, to be chaired by Carole Dieschbourg, will look mainly to reach a general approach on the key legislation of the “Clean air for Europe” package, which delegations are finding highly problematic, and will adopt conclusions on revision of biodiversity strategy - two issues on which the baton will be passed to the incoming Dutch Presidency. European Commissioners Karmenu Vella (Environment) and Miguel Arias Canete (Climate Action and Energy) will take part in the discussions.
National ceilings for emissions of pollutants. Ministers will, for the second time, debate the proposal revising the European directive on national emissions ceilings (Directive 2001/81/EC, known as the NEC directive) to further reduce emissions of certain air pollutants to help public health and the environment. The text sets new limit values for 2020 and 2030 for sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and ammonia (NH3), which are already covered by the NEC directive, and for two further pollutants: fine particles (PM2.5) and methane (CH4).
The aim, this time, is to agree a general approach on the text so that negotiations can begin with Parliament. The level of ambition shown by Parliament is very high for all these pollutants, including for methane (except from ruminants), which the Presidency took off the table to help the member states (see EUROPE 11420). The task will not be an easy one as the new objectives proposed for 2030 will be difficult to achieve for most member states - it was for this reason that ministers called in June of this year for a sense of realism and for flexibility (see EUROPE 11335). And the Luxembourg Presidency is calling for flexibility from the delegations so compromise can be reached.
Biodiversity strategy. Ministers will adopt conclusions on the mid-term review of the EU strategy in October 2011, which does not give very much to crow about (see EUROPE 11403). The strategy seeks to halt biodiversity loss and reverse the decline in ecosystem services, restoring them to as great an extent as possible by 2020. In light of the shortcomings in implementation, the conclusions will lay stress on the areas where greater effort is needed.
Over lunch, which will conclude the meeting, ministers will exchange views on the new real driving emission (RDE) tests and the Volkswagen scandal over the use of cheat devices to falsify NOx emission levels in performance testing.
COP 21. Ministers will be briefed by the outgoing Presidency on the results of COP 21 and will have the opportunity to express their initial thoughts. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)