Guided by the European Green Deal and the UN agenda, the French Presidency of the EU Council has three priorities in the field of the environment: the strengthening of measures to preserve biodiversity, the promotion of a more circular and sustainable economy, and the transition to a healthier environment, by reducing the impact of pollution on nature and health.
Biodiversity. “The three Presidencies are committed to protecting nature and biodiversity by restoring degraded ecosystems, taking forward the implementation of the EU’s biodiversity strategy and the urgent upscaling of restoration efforts for damaged ecosystems at sea and on land”, reads the Trio Presidency programme (France, the Czech Republic and Sweden, from 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2023).
During its six-month term, the French Presidency intends to make maximum progress on the proposed regulation to minimise the risk of global deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the EU market.
The legislation, introduced last November, currently focuses on beef, soy, timber, palm oil, cocoa and coffee and will impose due diligence on all operators and traders throughout the supply chain to ensure that only deforestation-free products are allowed on the EU market (see EUROPE 12834/1).
The Presidency will organise a ministerial conference on nature and biodiversity in cities at the end of January in Strasbourg and will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Natura 2000 network at the end of February (also in Strasbourg).
It will also launch discussions on the proposal for a regulation to establish a new legal framework for the restoration of healthy ecosystems as part of the EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 (see EUROPE 12491/2).
The delayed proposal for binding EU nature restoration targets (see EUROPE 12839/25) is now scheduled for 23 March, according to the European Commission’s latest provisional timetable, dated 21 December 2021.
With regard to the UN negotiations, it will be up to the French Presidency to prepare EU Council conclusions “to define an ambitious EU position for the second segment of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity” (COP15) in Kunming (China), where a post-2020 framework for global diversity is expected to be adopted.
This second part of COP15, originally scheduled to take place from 25 April to 8 May 2022, is likely to be delayed by at least one month due to the coronavirus (see EUROPE 12859/30, 12812/7).
The Presidency will also work on preparations for the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CITES Convention (Costa Rica, November 2022) and the meeting of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (also at the end of 2022).
Circular economy. The French Presidency intends to accelerate negotiations between Member States on the proposed 2020 regulation on batteries and battery waste, which aims to develop a genuine European market for batteries for strategic autonomy and to promote the circular economy. This legislative text has already mobilised three EU Council Presidencies. The aim now is to reach a political agreement quickly so that negotiations with the European Parliament can begin, ideally in the spring (see EUROPE 12857/1).
The French Presidency will also examine the proposed revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation, presented in November to restrict waste exports (see EUROPE 12834/3).
It will start negotiations on the sustainable products package on the basis of the Commission’s proposals due on 30 March, according to the institution’s provisional timetable. This includes a proposal for a Sustainable Products Directive, the revision of the Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC), a proposal for a Regulation on the justification of environmental claims (‘Green Claims’) and the Sustainable Textiles Strategy.
All these proposals are part of the EU’s second action plan on the circular economy for a sustainable resource-efficient economy (see EUROPE 12444/1).
A healthier environment. As part of the implementation of the EU’s ‘zero pollution’ action plan for 2030, presented in May 2021 (see EUROPE 12719/4), the French Presidency will launch discussions on the initiatives to be presented by the European Commission in the field of chemicals, whether it be the fight against endocrine disruptors, pesticides, pollutant emissions, waste management or urban waste water.
It will start work on the revision of the Ozone Depleting Substances Regulation and the EU F-Gas Regulation.
The French Presidency will continue the work launched at the end of 2021 on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) “in order to allow the development of the circular economy while taking care to avoid the negative consequences on health and the environment of these dangerous substances of concern”.
In May, it will organise a ministerial meeting on chemicals management.
At international level, the French Presidency will coordinate the EU’s position for the Conferences of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (on mercury), the Basel Convention (on waste), the Rotterdam Convention (on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides) and the Stockholm Convention (on POPs).
See the French Presidency’s work programme (in French): https://bit.ly/3EOfJcZ (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)