Brussels, 14/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the Barcelona Summit, the European Commission has presented a report explained how environmental technologies can contribute to sustainable development. This report only constitutes the first stage in the direction of a Community action for eco-technology developed with a number of other parties.
With an annual turnover of EUR 180 billion, more than half a million new jobs created over the last five years and almost a third of the global market (estimated at EUR 550 billion), the Community eco-industry is a sector undergoing full expansion and whose activities ensure better environmental protection. Environmental technologies are blocked by a specific obstacle: market prices do not reflect environmental impact. There is a subsequent under-investment in the sector. Few new solutions are developed and existing solutions are often neglected because they are not profitable in existing markets. This explains why the Commission believes it necessary to draw up an action plan to support eco-technology and promote potential technologies that are already available or being examined(hydrogen-powered cars, biotechnology's, renewable energy sources, etc.). This plan will be based on rigorous analysis of existing problems, as well as on massive consultation between the interested parties (business community, research, Egos and the public sector) within the EU and candidate countries. It will essentially consist of: a study of promising technologies; the inventory drawn up by the interested parties of trade and institutional obstacles that hinder the development and use of specific technologies; and the determination of a package of measures aimed to remove the said obstacles and which are based on existing instruments.