Brussels, 17/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, John Hontelez, Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), has called upon the Environment Council of 2 March to "galvanise the Spring Summit into action, in order to reinforce the environmental dimension of sustainable development". Mr Hontelez, who criticises the Commission for having "mutilated" the concept of sustainable development, states that the "chemicals policy and REACH are still a battleground". The EEB calls on the Environment Council to resist the temptation laid by industry to postpone the debate on REACH, and instead to work to strengthen this legislation. Along the EEB's other requests to the Environment Council are to follow the lead of the European Parliament's environment committee on ceilings for arsenic, cadmium and nickel and to extend the LIFE programme until 2006, with a substantial increase in the budget and simplified rules of application. The Environment Council should also submit guidelines on "sectorial policies with an impact on the use of resources, with clear objectives and timescales", and to propose "the abolition or reform of policies or subsidies which may go against the efficiency of resources".