On Wednesday 17 March, the EU27 Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) will examine the final compromise on the General Union Environment Action Programme (8th EAP) to 2030, with a view to giving a mandate to the Portuguese Presidency of the Council to open trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament.
This 8th EAP was presented by the Commission in October 2020 to guide EU environmental policy over the decade and provide a framework for monitoring.
The EU27 Environment Ministers will be briefed on the progress of this dossier at their meeting by videoconference on Thursday 18 March. This will be the occasion for a public exchange of views with the European Commission.
The 8th EAP should accelerate the green transition to a climate-neutral, resource-efficient, clean and circular economy in a fair and inclusive way, protecting, preserving, sustainably using and restoring biodiversity and enhancing the EU’s natural capital, as well as protecting the health and well-being of citizens from environmental risks and impacts, says the finalised text of 12 March.
It confirms the main changes agreed in the EU Council working group (see EUROPE 12663/16, 12649/11).
It therefore maintains the Commission’s proposal for the long-term objective and the six thematic priority objectives. However it insists that the 8th EAP should accelerate the transition to a ‘wellbeing economy’ to complement the ‘regenerative economy’ concept. It also reinforces the monitoring framework for the 8th EAP suggested by the Commission in its consultative document of 17 February.
For the monitoring framework (Article 4), it adds an obligation for the Commission to take stock of progress annually and to list the actions it has undertaken and plans to undertake for each priority objective. The evaluations carried out under Article 4 will also be taken into account in the mid-term review in 2024.
Furthermore, the text specifies that the assessment of progress should take into account a systemic approach and aim to facilitate strategic policy communication.
Finally, the compromise provides specifications for the main indicators and data on which the assessment should be based.
For the rest, the compromise includes a new Article 4a according to which the current Commission will conduct a mid-term review and submit, by 31 March 2025, a legislative proposal to add an annex to the 8th EAP with actions for the period 2025-2030.
This is to ensure better coordination with the European Green Deal and to satisfy the Member States, who are concerned that this EAP, unusually, does not define specific actions to achieve its priority objectives.
In the Parliament, the draft report by Grace O'Sullivan (Greens/EFA, Ireland) is expected to be voted on 15 May (date to be confirmed) and the plenary vote is scheduled for June (see EUROPE 12666/14).
See the draft report: https://bit.ly/2OSC7xF (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)