Brussels, 03/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The two most politically important issues to be dealt with by EU environment ministers when they meet in Brussels on Friday 4 March are implementation of the Paris Accord, in preparation for the spring European Council (17-18 March), and endocrine disruptors, to bring pressure to bear on the Commission which has recently fallen foul of the General Court.
The meeting will be chaired by Sharon Dijksma, Dutch Environment Minister.
Climate. The Council will discuss how the EU can translate, both domestically and externally, the undertakings stemming from the Paris Accord into reality. The goal is to reach agreement on the best way to go, using the communication and the proposal for signing presented by the Commission on 2 March as the basis for discussion (see other article). “Signing does not present any problems but ratification of the Accord requires the member states to be aware of how effort is to be shared out among them all”, said a high-ranking official on Thursday. For that reason, lunch will be devoted to an exchange of views on “what is necessary to be able to move on to ratification”. The Dutch Presidency will submit a summary of the debate in a letter to Council President Donald Tusk.
Endocrine disruptors. The Council will exchange views following the judgment by the General Court of the EU which, in December 2015, ruled against the Commission for failure to act (see EUROPE 11455). Ministers will adopt a statement pressing the Commission to bring forward scientific criteria as quickly as possible defining endocrine disruptors - something it had been required to do by December 2013 to amend the regulations on the marketing of plant health products (Regulation EC 1107/2009) and on the marketing and use of biocides (Regulation EU 528/2012). Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis, who will take part in the session, was in Paris on Thursday to discuss this issue with French Environment Minister Ségolène Royal. Getting in ahead of the call, the commissioner tweeted on Thursday that the Commission would bring forward “a list of criteria between now and summer” (see EUROPE 11482). Renewal for 15 more years of the authorisation of the endocrine disruptor glyphosate, on which member state experts are due to vote on 7 March, is not on the agenda (see EUROPE 11503).
Circular economy. The Council will hold a policy debate on the action plan for a circular economy (see EUROPE 11444). The Dutch Presidency, keen for there to be clarity on this issue, wants the member states to indicate their priorities. The Competitiveness Council produced its contribution to the debate on 1 March (see EUROPE 11502). Conclusions will be adopted at the Environment Council in June.
European semester. Ministers will discuss how to integrate the universal sustainable development programme and the transition to a low-carbon circular economy into national and EU macro-economic policies. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)