Brussels, 24/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - EU environment ministers will gather in Luxembourg on Thursday 25 June for their final meeting under Czech Presidency, a meeting which will provide the transition to Swedish Presidency. Six months before the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15, 7-18 December), this Environment Council will take stock of international negotiations on a global agreement in December, and is expected to endorse the options sketched out by the Commission to begin immediately the process of adapting the EU to global warming. It is, however, the issue of industrial pollution that will take centre stage, in the hope that a political agreement can be found on overhauling European legislation. This is the only formal decision expected from this meeting, to be chaired by Czech Environment Minister Ladislav Miko. European policy for authorising GM crops will be discussed informally, at the request of the Austrian delegation which wants to see the European Commission begin the reform called for by the Council since December 2008, following a French Presidency initiative. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas will represent the European Commission.
Industrial Pollution: The Council will seek to reach political agreement on the proposal to recast Directive 2008/1/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control (known as IPPC) and the six related directives into one single text in order to take better account of Best Available Techniques (BAT). According to a Presidency compromise, large combustion plants will have to adopt BAT by late 2012 at the earliest. For existing plants, the date will be 2016, with a transition period until the end of 2019 and member states would be able to define transitional national plans capping emissions of certain pollutants. Such annual national ceilings would have to be reduced between 2016 and 2019, to achieve levels associated with current BAT by the end of 2019.
Climate Negotiations: Miko, returning from the Forum of Major Economies in Mexico City on 23 June (see EUROPE 9927), will report on international negotiations just after the European Council which delayed any decision on the size of the European contribution to developing countries until October (see EUROPE 9925).
Adapting to Climate Change: The Council will adopt, without debate, conclusions endorsing the main proposals of the Commission White Paper taking the EU towards a European Action Framework, firstly until 2012, then beyond (see EUROPE 9874).
Soil Protection: Miko will inform the Council of the state of play on the draft framework directive, deadlocked since December 2007 because of the opposition from several member states (UK, Germany, France, Austria and Netherlands).
Bio-waste: In response to December's Green Paper (see EUROPE 9796), the Council will adopt conclusions underlining that improved management of bio-waste can contribute to the fight against climate change and help to improve the quality of soil through compost. It will be up to ministers to agree on the timetable and scale of future Commission action.
Biodiversity and Invasive Alien Species: The Council will adopt conclusions calling for greater effort to protect biodiversity and for a vision and targets beyond 2010. These conclusions are expected to stress that the European strategy against invasive alien species has to include prevention, early detection, containing spread, eradication, monitoring and long-term containment. This is the response to the options presented by the Commission in December which will help in the drafting of the strategy which it hopes to bring forward in 2010 (see EUROPE 9798).
GMO: At the request of Austria (supported by Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovenia), the Council will hold an informal discussion on the issue of GM (genetically modified) crops in the EU. Austria wants the Commission to be asked, as a matter of urgency, to carry out minor changes to legislation to bring in an opt-out clause. This could be based on the subsidiarity principle (Article 5 of the Treaty) and the principal of unanimity governing decisions relating to the use of the soil (Article 175), the Austrian delegation suggests. It will point out that the Environment Council of December 2008 asked for environmental risk assessment to be strengthened, for member states to have more freedom to decide on setting up GM-free areas and to assess the socio-economic benefits and risks. This request was strengthened by a Dutch statement, which, during the March Environment Council (see EUROPE 9852), invoked the subsidiarity principle to call for member states to have the right to decide for themselves on whether or not to allow GM crops. (A.N./transl.rt)