Brussels, 05/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The draft 6th action programme regarding the environment will be at the centre of work of the Environment Council in Brussels on 8 March. The topic will be the subject of a public debate, after the Environment Ministers of the Fifteen have heard, the previous day, the positions of their colleagues in the candidate countries on the approach and options recommended by the Commission. According to the spokesperson for the Swedish Presidency, the Council could, moreover, reach a political agreement on the reduction of polluting emissions for motorbikes. This will most likely be the only "legislative advance" of the session. For the remainder, the Fifteen should limit themselves to exchanging views on progress made in the integration process of environmental aspects in other policies and preparations for the World Summit on sustainable development, scheduled for 2002. Climate change will nevertheless be the subject of Council conclusions. Finally, ministers will have a first reading of recent Commission initiatives on policies for bathing water, chemical products and the integrated policy for products.
According to the spokesperson of the Swedish Presidency, the draft directive aimed at tightening emission standards for two and three-wheeled motorbikes could be the subject of a political agreement if ministers reach agreement on two aspects still in suspence, which are emission limit values and the possibility of providing for tax incentives for motorbikes that respect standards before they are rendered compulsory.
The public debate on the 6th action programme will begin towards 11.00 hrs.. So as to structure the whole thing, the Presidency has drawn up a five-point questionnaire: 1) choice of priorities and strategic goals: is there agreement on the fields and objectives chosen? Which are the most important? Are the objectives sufficiently concrete? Should they be accompanied by a schedule? 2) integration of the environmental dimension in other policies: does the fact of establishing a link between the 6th programme and the setting of sectoral goals facilitate the integration process? What are the interactions between the programme and the Community strategy for sustainable development? 3) are the instruments proposed appropriate to achieve the strategic objectives? 4) control measures for implementing environmental legislation: are they adequate? 5 ) assessment: is the draft 6th programme satisfactory when it comes to monitoring? (ex-post evaluation process, monitoring, indicators)? As we mentioned, the previous day EU environment ministers will have had an opportunity for an exchange of views with their counterparts from candidate countries, who are greatly concerned by this programme the first period of application of which (2001-2010) will cover a certain number of accessions. In this perspective, the Swedish Presidency considered it important to hear their points of views.
The Council will then hear statements from the Commission and Swedish Presidency on progress achieved by the different Council formations regarding integrating the environmental dimension in other policies in view of the likely adoption, at the Summit of Gothenburg in June, of a "strategy for sustainable development", reconciling economic, social and environmental policies. The Council will also adopt conclusions on the Union's preparations for the World Summit on sustainable development to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, mid-2002.
Then, the Fifteen will have a debate on the "strategy for a future policy for chemical products" which the Commission presented on 13 February (see EUROPE of 12/13 February, p.9). Among the main issues to be broached will be: the responsibility of producers and resources. In the wake, the new policy relating to bathing waters, presented by the Commission early-January, and the Green Paper on the integrated policy for products, made public on 7 February, will be the subject of a first series of round the table talks.
Finally, the Council will hear the Commission brief them on the state of work that is to lead to a draft regulation on the traceability and labelling of GMOs, proposal which the Council has been expecting for several months and which it considers to be a "very important complement to the new directive relating to the voluntary dissemination of GMOs in the environment".
The Presidency will then conclude the work by reporting on progress made in a certain number of issues currently being examined by Council bodies, and of which some could be the subject of an agreement at the Environment Council in June. These are: - public access to environmental information and preparation; - proposals relating to waste of electric and electronic equipment; - list of priority substances in the field of water policy; - strengthening of standards for emissions by non-road vehicles; - implementation of an integrated management system for coastal areas in Europe and the introduction of standards aimed at reducing polluting and noise emissions of leisure craft.