“Shouldn’t we create a European authority responsible for implementation and compliance?” The suggestion came from Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (Renew Europe, Dutch), during an exchange with the European Commission on the state of implementation of EU environmental legislation on Monday 22 September.
At the beginning of July, the fourth report on the implementation of environmental policy put the cost to the EU of not applying its environmental legislation at €180 billion a year, due to air and water pollution, the degradation of nature and waste (see EUROPE 13675/10).
In addition, the European Commission has estimated the investment shortfall at €122 billion. This gap can be bridged by “a combination of public-private funds and private investment”, suggested the European Commission. To better implement environmental objectives, it recommends “better integration with other policies” and the use of digital data on the state of the environment to better target actions.
Apart from Peter Liese (EPP, German), the few MEPs present insisted on the responsibility of the European Commission. Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, German) and Martin Hausling (Greens/EFA, German) pointed to the paradox of the failure to meet environmental targets and the Commission’s desire to remove the bureaucratic burden from companies, when, according to Mrs Paulus, what is achieved in environmental legislation “is only achieved by the data collected”. The MEP also felt that the decline in infringement proceedings in the environmental field was at the root of “a certain laziness in implementation”.
Sebastian Everding (The Left, German) regretted the growing political pressure on the ‘European Green Deal’. Christophe Clergeau (S&D, French) deplored the lack of transparency on the part of the European Commissioner for the Environment, Jessika Roswall, who establishes priorities between delegated acts and implementing acts without explanation.
The European Commission has made competitiveness its new priority and, according to Martin Hausling, “nobody talks about the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy any more. We no longer talk about the pollution of waterways. We no longer talk about nitrate pollution due to the use of nitrogen fertilisers, mineral fertilisers, liquid manure...”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)