The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU has scheduled a debate at the Environment Council in Luxembourg on Wednesday 26 June on the subject of the EIR (Environmental Implementation Review), a tool that will help Member States improve their environmental performance so that they comply with the requirements of EU legislation.
The idea for a debate on this subject was approved by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 12 June. The outcome of the Coreper discussion will supplement the written contributions requested by the Presidency in preparation for the debate; the debate should enable Member States to outline what has and has not worked well during implementation of legislation, and to state their expectations for future environmental legislation.
On 5 April, the Commission presented a communication on the 2019 EIR, identifying common trends at EU level and making recommendations to improve implementation. The communication was accompanied by a country report analysing the position regarding implementation on 1 January 2019, progress made since 2017, examples of good practice and suggested priority actions (see EUROPE 12230/11).
According to a note from the Presidency, the Ministers from the Twenty-Eight have been invited to answer the following questions: - how can the gaps in implementation of environmental policies and legislation as identified in the Environmental Implementation Review be addressed? - what could be done at national and European level to make public administrations more effective and efficient in implementing environmental policies and legislation ? - how could environmental objectives be better integrated with policy areas that have a significant environmental footprint, such as energy, transport and agriculture?
The Romanian Presidency believes that this exchange of views will allow Member States to take greater ownership of the EIR process and will facilitate political dialogue on the main common challenges that need to be addressed with regard to improving implementation and priority actions. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)