Brussels, 18/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - There may be few issues on the agenda of the last Environment Council under Portuguese Presidency this Thursday 20 December, in Brussels, but they are major issues. Francisco Nunes Correia, Portuguese Environment Minister who will be presiding the session, hopes to be able to end his term of office with political agreements on the proposal for a directive on soil protection, and on the draft directive aimed at including civil aviation in the Community greenhouse gas Emissions Trading System (ETS). The third issue put to ministerial deliberation should result in Council conclusions on health and the environment. In the wake of the UN conference in Bali on climate, the Council cannot fail to comment on the results so painstakingly reached.
Stavros Dimas, Environment Commissioner, will represent the European Commission. Janez Podobnik, Slovenian Environment Minister, who will be taking over as President of the Environment Council in January, will attend the session to ensure continuity in the work.
The agenda of the session, to be concentrated during the morning, is as follows:
Soil protection: The Council will seek to reach a political agreement on the proposal for a directive accompanying the thematic strategy on this matter, and on which the European Parliament took a stance at first reading on 14 November (EUROPE 9543). Progress has been made but there are still outstanding questions on this directive for which some member states, concerned about respect of subsidiarity, still challenge the legitimacy (Austria, Netherlands and United Kingdom). The gap has to be narrowed between the various delegations on the future use of soil, the definition of dangerous substances, soil sealing, listing of priority areas, the inventory of contaminated sites and the report on the state of the soil. The Portuguese Presidency calls on all delegations to work constructively towards giving the EU a legislation that is considered essential for eliminating the degradation of a non-renewable resource that is subject to many kinds of pressure: erosion, compaction, landslides, contamination, salinisation and water logging, reduction in organic matter content, loss of biodiversity and flooding.
Aviation and combating climate change: In order to reach a political agreement on the proposal for a directive in December 2006 aimed at integrating aviation in the Community system for the trading of greenhouse gas quotas, the Presidency will present a draft compromise on questions still outstanding. The latter concern the date for launching the system, allocation of proceeds, auctioning of emission quotas, access to the special quota reserve for new entrants or operators in full expansion , and the de minimis clause (i.e. the level below which companies carrying out fewer than a given number of flights per year would be excluded from the ETS). The Presidency's main difficulty would be to reach a golden mean between the requirements of the most ambitious delegations and the concerns of those who are less ambitious, while taking into account the opinion of the European Parliament and the position held by industry.
On the date for starting the system, the Presidency foresees 2012 for intra-Community flights and 2013 for all international flights to and from EU airports (the Commission suggested 2011 for internal flights and 2012 for all flights, and the Parliament also calls for inclusion of ETS for all flights from 2011).
Regarding total CO2 emissions that may be traded, the Presidency compromise foresees that the total quantity of quotas allocated each year to airlines represents 100% of average pollution for the period 2004-2006 (this compromise is in line with the Commission's proposal aimed at simply stabilising emissions at the average 2004-2006 level, while the Parliament, for its part, calls for CO2 emissions to have a ceiling of 90% average 2004-2006 pollution, to then come down as in other sectors).
When it comes to auctioning emissions credits, the Presidency suggests that account should be taken of average trading practised in respect of national emissions credit allocation plans, i.e. 7-8% until 2012, given that revision of ETS is foreseen in 2013 (the Parliament hopes that at least 25% of quotas will be sold by auction to companies already established, even if this percentage is increased in 2013).
The annual de minimis threshold, mooted by the Presidency in its compromise proposal, is 730 flights annually. All airline companies below this threshold will escape the ETS, whether the airlines be
international or European.
Environment and health: the Council will adopt conclusions, following on from the Commission communication on the mid-term review of the 2004-2010 European environment and health action plan. It is expected that the Council will call for the inclusion of environmental and health concerns in all relevant EU policies to be continued and strengthened. (A.N.)