Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) largely approved (64 votes in favour, 15 against and 0 abstentions), on Monday 4 May, a draft opinion on the recommendations for negotiations for a new partnership between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Drafted by Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France), this text stresses in particular that “any agreement reached with the United Kingdom should be fully conditional on respect for the Paris Agreement” as well as with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
“The respect of these international agreements should be binding and enforceable”, the draft opinion adds, while calling for major environmental and health issues to be made an essential part of the envisaged partnership.
While the draft opinion was welcomed by the EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups, the ECR and ID groups, on the other hand, opposed it. Justifying this opposition, Czech MEP Alexandr Vondra (ECR) said the text reflected the unacceptable idea that the United Kingdom should adopt the EU Green Deal.
To consult the draft opinion: https://bit.ly/3fhHzCT (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)