Brussels, 28/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Environmental protection NGOs welcomed the Commission initiative to create the High Level Group (HLG) on competitiveness, energy and the environment but also sharply criticised how the group was made up, which they considered as being too imbalanced (see other article). In a joint declaration published on Tuesday BirdLife International, CAN Europe, CEE Bankwatch Network, the European Environmental Bureau, Epha Environment Network, Friends of the Earth Europe, Friends of Nature, Greenpeace, T&E and the WWF attest to their determination to make a contribution and ensure that political decision makers take account of citizens' concerns.
Their role at the HLG will, according to the NGOs, be divided into three chapters:
-ensuring that the Group's work is open and as transparent as possible. The NGOs believe that the publication of its reports ought to cover modern communications technologies to guarantee that citizens understand them and feel as involved as possible; to ensure that the HLG mandate is just limited to a consultative role to the institutions in question and that any temptation to interfere in the political process is resisted; to bring their experience on the questions being tackled, even more so given the composition of the Group, which is imbalanced and does not reflect the goals initially outlined by the Commission.
Some of the NGOs' criticism was included in a letter addressed to President Barroso and the four Commissioners at the HLG at the end of January. In it they denounce the overrepresentation of the large energy users and traditional energy providers, as well as the absence of the enterprise leaders in renewable energy innovative products and services, energy saving, consumer and health defence organisations, academia and research, SMEs, financial services, public transport and last but not least, ministers for the environment. The NGOs underline that, “We regard the presence of 4 Commissioners and 4 Ministers on the HGL indicates that the Commission and Member States see this as an important vehicle for policy advice. The work of the HGL is very political in nature, even if it may look rather technical”. They also want the experts groups to be used in re-establishing balanced representation in the group.
In a press release the WWF, whose Director General James Leape is also a representative at the HGL, was delighted that the mandate given to this body is closely linked to WWF concerns (climate change, sustainable development and resource efficiency). Mr Leape declared that, “Energy saving and renewable energies have a decisive role to play in reducing C02 emissions and dependency on imports and in creating new sustainable jobs. In order for it to work correctly, the High Level Group has to deal with environmental, energy and supply security issues in this body”.