Brussels, 29/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission defined an action plan for allowing the Union to improve the development and wider use of environmental technologies on the market with a view to protecting the environment, and fostering innovation, growth and employment in accordance with the aims of sustainable development.
Due to the many obstacles standing in the way of development and wider use of such technologies, the vast potential of eco-technologies, defined as "all technologies whose use is less environmentally harmful than relevant alternatives", is broadly untapped, the Commission says. Just a few examples are: systems for recycling waste water in industrial processes, less polluting products and services and those which use up fewer resources, and "white" biotechnologies (techniques for soil rehabilitation by using live organisms).
The action plan, set out in a communication to Parliament and Council, lists twenty-five actions of which eleven are priorities for the Commission, governments, regional authorities and the industrial sector. These priorities include:
the launch of 3 technology platforms bringing together researchers, industry, financial institutions, decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders, to build a long term vision on the research needs in this area and future market developments. The technology platforms on hydrogen and fuel cells and on photovoltaics are already planned to start in early 2004. A similar platform on water supply and sanitation technologies will be launched in early 2005;
the creation of a network for the validation of ecotechnology effectiveness to promote confidence;
optimal use of public procurement to promote environmental technologies;
the fixing of ambitious environmental performance targets for products, processes and services to encourage business and consumers to take up more sustainable consumption and production methods;
the mobilisation of financial instruments both inside and outside the EU to share the risks of investing in environmental technologies (EBRD, EIB and funding mechanisms for implementation of flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol to be mobilised to this end).
Speaking before the press, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström stressed the need to lift the many obstacles to the development of environmental technologies such as the lack of incentive, non-integration of the cost of pollution in product and service prices, regulation and standards that can hamper innovation when they are obscure or over-detailed, insufficient research efforts, the lack of venture capital to allow one to go from the drawing board to the production chain, uncertainty about the way new technologies work and about their effectiveness, reticence on the part of SMEs, etc. "We shall work hand in hand with Member States. Every two years, this multiannual action plan will be reviewed on the basis of a progress report", Ms Wallström said, convinced that there are advantages to be drawn from this collaboration for the Lisbon and sustainable development strategy.
Philippe Busquin, Research Commissioner, said the action plan incorporates research as a key element for economic and social development in Europe. "Europe is among the world leaders in the development of environmental technologies such as photovoltaics, wind energy and hydroelectric power, and pollution control through better waste management. We have to foster the development of other key environmental technologies as well. The bear a strong potential for growth and employment", he said (the proof of this being that wind power, cofinanced up to EUR 200 million by the R&D framework programme, meets 90% of world market needs and has created 80,000 jobs). In his view, it is appropriate therefore to step up EU R&D efforts by increasing R&D spending to 3% of EU GDP and by diffusing best practices. Mr Busquin also stressed the need to optimalise spending for sustainable development in the 6th Research and Development Framework Programme, to provide a "reference framework" for SMEs and to no longer disseminate results of research programmes without a coherent political vision.