Brussels, 24/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The second session of negotiations over the environment between the EU and Switzerland was held in Brussels on Tuesday, chaired by Beat Nobs, of the federal office of the environment, forests and countryside, for the Swiss, and David Grant Lawrence for the European Commission.
Negotiators progressed on the financial modalities of Switzerland's participation in the European Environmental Agency, set up in Copenhagen in 1995. The Swiss confederation proposed an initial contribution of 6% of the Agency's budget, then 4%, or 1.2 to 1.4 million euro, out of a budget of 24 million euro, say Swiss sources.
Switzerland's participation in the European Environmental Agency "would mean that Switzerland would henceforth be integrated in European environmental maps. Both parties would thus have comparable data on the environment and could, among other things, intensify their fight against the cross-border effects of harm to the environment (water, air, ground pollution etc.)," notes the Swiss Federal Environmental Office in a press release.