The Green Deal, the central instrument of the 2019-2024 legislature, will be a top priority at the Environment Council meeting on Thursday 19 December in Brussels - the last one to be chaired by the Finnish Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Krista Mikkonen.
This will provide the first opportunity for the Lead Ministers for Environment and Climate to express their views on the priorities of the new legislature and on their own priorities, i.e. what they would like to see addressed as a priority by the Commission. The adoption of conclusions on biodiversity is the only formal decision expected - a subject also closely linked to the Green Deal, for which the European Commission presented the roadmap on 11 December (see EUROPE 12388/1).
For Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the Green Deal and responsible for Climate at the Commission, and the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, it will also be the first opportunity to discuss with the Ministers.
Priorities of the legislature and the European Green Deal. Ministers will have an open exchange of views with the public on the necessary measures and the way forward for EU environmental and climate policy. The Finnish Presidency has requested this exchange, taking into account the emphasis that the EU Council's strategic programme places on interinstitutional cooperation and with a view of meeting and contributing to the commitments already announced under the European Green Deal, as well as to anticipating other actions. “The objective of this platform for reflection is to feed into the work of the new College of Commissioners”, commented a diplomatic source on Monday 16 December.
To this end, Ministers will be asked to answer the following two questions: 1) What commitments would you prioritise at EU level in 2019-2024, in order to catalyse the necessary transformative change to reverse climate and environmental degradation and ensure the sustainability of our society and economy? 2) How could we best capture the synergies between the European Green Deal and other EU goals, and ensure other EU policies and actions do not counteract the objectives of the European Green Deal?
The Strategic Agenda for the EU for 2019-2024 establishes the transition to climate neutrality, fighting against biodiversity loss, improving the environment and ensuring the sustainability of the economy as cross-cutting priorities of the work of the EU Member States and institutions. “The Strategic Agenda calls on us to urgently step up our action to manage the existential threat of climate change and its effects”, emphasises the Finnish Presidency in a background note for Ministers.
Biodiversity. Ministers will discuss and adopt conclusions proposing policy orientations for the ongoing preparations for the UN Conference on Biological Diversity (COP15, October 2020 in Kunming, China) where a post-2020 global framework on biodiversity must be adopted (see EUROPE 12382/7).
This will not yet be the EU's negotiating mandate for this conference. The conclusions should reflect the EU Council's deep concern about the rate of deterioration of biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide, as highlighted by the IPBES report. The EU Council should call for urgent action at all levels, everywhere in the world, to halt the loss of biodiversity and restore ecosystems. It should send a strong political message so that the EU can defend a strong position in the negotiations on the post-2020 framework and can serve as an example. The EU Council should ask the Commission to present in time an ambitious and realistic EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 in the framework of the Green Deal. The draft conclusions stress the urgent need for the EU and Member States to integrate biodiversity into all relevant sectoral policies, but also for effective integration into the EU's 2021-2027 budget and future policies, such as the 8th Environmental Action Programme, the CAP, the Action Plan for the Circular Economy, in particular. The draft conclusions, on which there is a broad consensus, will not be amended, assured a European source.
Over lunch, Ministers will be briefed on the latest alarming report on the state and outlook of Europe's environment, to be presented by the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, Hans Bruyninckx. This report shows that Europe faces unprecedented challenges: biodiversity is in the red and the EU's 2030 climate targets may not be met unless radical and far-reaching action is taken to turn the tide (see EUROPE 12383/8).
Miscellaneous items. Many other topics are included in the agenda under ‘miscellaneous items’. Among them are: - the presentation of the European Green Deal and the results of COP25 on climate change (Finnish EU Council Presidency and Commission); - a report on the second Clean Air Forum, which took place at the end of November in Bratislava (Slovak delegation); - an information presentation from several delegations requesting that the EU resolutely address the risks associated with PFAS, these extremely persistent pollutants that contaminate soil, drinking water and groundwater (Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden); - an information presentation on the management of large carnivores calling for a stricter and more effective European approach to protect these threatened species (Slovenian delegation). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)