Luxembourg, 27/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Environment Council, Altero Matteoli, welcomed the results reached in Monday in Luxembourg. Speaking to the press, he particularly welcomed the adoption of conclusions on an integrated strategy on health and the environment in the EU, on an integrated policy on products and structural indicators on sustainable development which were proposed by the Commission. "Many countries are calling for many environmental indicators to be added. The compromise we have reached calls simply for an indicator on biodiversity and another on public health to be added as soon as possible and no later than 2004, when the EU's strategy is to be revised", he said. Margot Wallström stated that the Commission would ask the European Environment Agency to fine-tune the indicator currently in use (the implementation of the Habitats Directive). "We will use the EEA's work to propose a new indicator next year", she declared.
At the time of going to press, Minister were due to take up their discussion on climate change and the proposed legislation on chemicals. When quizzed by the press, Mr Matteoli said this about the Reach system: "discussions in the Competitiveness Council on 17 October should be our guide for competitiveness. But we are determined, as Environment Ministers, to make a significant contribution to the debate. This subject must be dealt with by the Environment Council. I am able to push forward the need to tackle this". Margot Wallström, for her part, was pleased that the Council had decided to set up an ad hoc working group which will allow each Member States to send representatives of several Ministers, on an equal footing, to move forward on the Reach system. This "will allow us to get out of the deadlock as to who are the competent Ministers on this dossier. Ministers of the Environment as well as for Competitiveness will be represented", she said, adding: "it is up to the Environment Minister to claim their role and put forward the health and environment arguments which nobody understands, even though they concern everyone". When asked about the possibility of delaying the Commission's proposal by an additional analysis of the sectorial impact, Ms Wallström replied: "the European Commission will present its proposal on Wednesday. There will be no extra deadline, believe me. The impact assessment requested by industry has been done. It will be annexed to our proposal. Industry has had years to get its point across".
As for the prospects of the Kyoto Protocol in the absence of ratification by Russia, Margot Wallström said that we must persevere and open the way by setting an example. "Russia will not have recourse to the joint implementation (a flexible mechanism of the Protocol) if it does not ratify it. We will continue our dialogue with the country in order to convince them".
EUROPE will come back tomorrow on the Council's conclusions on the integrated policy on products and structural indicators.