Management and prevention measures for waste, air quality and biodiversity are among the main challenges faced by all member states of the EU, but there is now a bespoke new tool in place to improve their implementation of EU environmental legislation, with the first country-by-country implementation report or 'EIR' (Environmental Implementation Review), which was published by the European Commission on Monday 6 February (see EUROPE 11701).
The EIR process was announced in May 2016 to identify implementation shortcomings and tackle their root causes at an early stage in order to save the not inconsiderable sum of €50 billion a year in health care and direct costs to the environment (see EUROPE 11560). It has now been launched.
The EIR package adopted by the Commission consists of 28 reports – one for each member state – mapping national strengths, opportunities and weaknesses in implementing the European directives concerning the environment. The communication accompanying them sums up the political conclusions of the reports for each country and examines common trends in different areas such as air quality, waste management and the circular economy, water quality, nature protection and biodiversity. The Commission has also made recommendations to all member states, such as improved coordination and the presentation of financing plans.
"Improving how environmental laws are applied benefits citizens, public administrations and the economy. Full compliance with EU waste policy by 2020 could create an additional 400,000 jobs; if existing EU water legislation were to be fully implemented, the combined annual benefits could reach at least €2.8 billion a year. Three out of four citizens consider European laws necessary to protect the environment and four out of five agree that the European institutions should be able to check whether the laws are being correctly applied. The Commission is committed to helping member states make sure that the quality of their citizens' air, water and waste management is of the highest standard", the European Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella, told the press on Monday.
Carrying out dialogue and rolling out best practice. By no means a scoreboard of the member states on the basis of their performance, the EIR aims to create a framework to share solutions, mutual assistance and the rolling out of best practice, the European Commission stresses. The Commissioner explains that it is a tool to be used between peers, with the support of the Commission. The process, for which the member states are responsible, aims to reinforce cooperation and dialogue and attract the attention of the political decision-makers, he went on to stress. He is to present a report to the European environment ministers on 28 February.
Vella went on to say that "two countries – Belgium and Slovakia – have already asked us to open dialogue with them".
In the field of waste management, preventing waste is still a considerable difficulty for all member states and six of them have not managed to limit the amount of biodegradable municipal waste ending up in landfill. This bodes ill for the transition to the circular economy the Commission is aiming for, by means of its revision of the waste directives, amongst other things (see EUROPE 11713).
Despite many successes at local level in the field of nature and biodiversity, the health check of the 'Birds' and 'Habitats' directives has highlighted the need to reinforce the implementation of EU legislation, finally convincing the Commission not to amend the directives, but to announce an action plan (see EUROPE 11684).
As regards air quality, 23 out of the 28 member states have exceeded the quality standards in more than 130 towns and cities altogether, which is largely down to transport.
There is also room for improvement in the quality and management of water: most of the member states are struggling to comply in full with the rules on collection and treatment of urban wastewater, and 13 are facing legal action before the Court of Justice of the EU. Nitrate concentrations and eutrophication levels are a serious problem in nearly all member states.
The reports are available online at the following address:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/country-reports/index_en.htm (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)