The environment is the area above all others where citizens call for more EU-wide action, note the ten leading environmental NGOs, the “Green 10” on Wednesday 31 August, calling on EU leaders to take this into account when they meet for their informal summit in Bratislava on 16 September (EUROPE 11610).
“Instead of focusing on promoting globalisation, the EU (should) direct its efforts towards managing its impacts on our planet and ensuring that all its citizens can live a good life, well within the planetary boundaries”, the NGOs state in an open letter to the presidents of the European Council, Donald Tusk, the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, as well as to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Taking this new path is, they argue, the right choice, turning away from “the current path of deregulation and ‘less Europe’ – a path which has clearly failed to convince citizens both in the UK and across the Union”. They say that the outcome of the UK referendum which was won by those supporting Brexit “should give added impetus for the EU to increase its efforts to address environmental challenges” whereas moving in the direction of “less Europe” in the area of environmental policy “could actually undermine one of the EU’s recognised success stories”.
The NGOs call, then, on the EU to put the health and interests of people and planet first in everything that it does and to put in place an overarching EU implementation strategy for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris climate deal. The EU budget should be reoriented accordingly and the EU set itself more ambitious greenhouse gas, renewable energy and energy saving targets for 2030, the NGOs say.
Climate change, the depletion of natural resources, the collapse of ecosystems and disappearance of wildlife and the protection of people’s health are priority areas for action in which the EU can do more than the member states working individually, they argue.
The NGOs are of the view that, in the future relationship with the UK, the EU must insist on full respect for and participation in the EU’s environmental acquis, both existing and future, as a condition for Britain’s full access to the single market.
The open letter was signed by the directors of the EEB, BirdLife Europe, CEE Bankwatch Network, Climate Action Network Europe (CAN Europe), Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace European Unit, Health & Environment Alliance, Naturefriends International, Transport & Environment (T&E) and WWF European Policy Office. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)