1 / 27

Overview of EU environmental Policies and Governance

Overview of EU environmental Policies and Governance. EU-Central Asia Working Group on Environmental Governance and Climate Change, Almaty, 13-14 Septembre 2012. EU environmental Policy. What is and why a common Environmental policy ? Environmental governance in the EU Recent developments

rafael-craft
Télécharger la présentation

Overview of EU environmental Policies and Governance

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Overview of EU environmental Policies and Governance EU-Central Asia Working Group on Environmental Governance and Climate Change, Almaty, 13-14 Septembre 2012

  2. EU environmental Policy • What is and why a common Environmental policy ? • Environmental governance in the EU • Recent developments • International cooperation on Environmental governance

  3. A common environmental policy in the EU: The birth • Increased awareness about the ecological problem of economic development • United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972) • Report of the Club of Rome on “the limits of growth” • Eco-movement in Western Europe • Summit Conference of Head of State and Government (Paris, 1972) opened the way  • Pressure of public opinion, political will at high-level and absence of deep-rooted national policies

  4. A common environmental policy Why? • Common market of pollution • Risk of distortion of competition • Common environmental problems require common solutions • Transboundary aspects of environmental protection • Potential contribution of the environmental policy to growth, jobs and quality of life • The European Institutions are better placed to regulate based on long-term strategies and programmes

  5. Current trends: A Planet in danger • Increase of global average temperature • 1°C average in Europe since the pre-industrialisation. • Loss of biodiversity • 45% of Europe’s butterflies threatened • 38% of Europe’s birds threatened • 60% of the Earth’s ecosystem services have been degraded in the last 50 years. • In the EU, 88% of fish stocks are fished beyond maximum sustainable yields and only 11% of protected ecosystems are in a favourable state. • Global waste production is increasing

  6. A common environmental policy The concept of sustainable development • SD = to improve the quality of life on earth of both current and future generations by combating abusive exploitation of natural resources and of human beings • Integration of environment into other sectors • The Goteborg European Council in 2001 approved a European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development • Lisbon Treaty sets SD as a fundamental objective of the Union in its relation with the world • Europe 2020 strategy: flagship initiative for sustainable growth, resource efficiency

  7. A common environmental policyTowards a resource efficient economy • Resources include all material and natural resources, from food, timber, and biodiversity in the widest sense, to energy, metals, soil, water, minerals, our atmosphere and land. • Resource Efficiency is about: • Sustainable management and use of resources throughout their life cycle • Producing more value with less material and consuming differently, within our planet’s natural limits.

  8. The benefits of early action • The benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting” (Stern Review, 2006). • Transport: the environmental impacts of transport and congestion are estimated to have a cost equivalent to up to 5% of GDP. • Air pollution: causes in Europe the loss of ca. 150 million working days a year and health costs estimated at between €50 and 100bn a year • Full implementation of EU waste legislation would save €72 billion a year

  9. A common environmental policy The main principles • Principle of precautionary and preventive action (eg: EIA, SEA..) • Principle “polluter pays” • It refers to expenditure and charges, in order to avoid transfer of costs (Eg: Environmental Liability Directive with regard to prevention and remedying environmental damage, Environmental Crime Directive on the protection of environment through criminal law )

  10. A common environmental policy: The 6th EAP • EU’s 6th Environmental Action Program (2002 – 2012) focuses on 4 priority issues • Tackling climate change by reducing GHG according to the objectives of Kyoto Protocol • Nature and biodiversity by protecting and restoring the structure and functioning of natural systems • Environment and health by achieving a quality of environment which does not endanger human health • Sustainable management of natural resource by decoupling resource use from economic growth • EU’s 7th Environmental Action Program underpreparation

  11. EU environmental policies The sectors • 8 sectors • horizontal, air quality, waste management, water quality, nature protection, industrial pollution control, chemicals, noise • Not covered: spatial planning / urban policy, fiscal instruments, soil. • Voluminous EU acquis • More than 150 pieces of legislation

  12. EU environmental policiesMain challenges • Implementation • Administrative capacity • Inspection and enforcement key issues • Good quality and reporting • Compliance check by COM • Financial resources • Heavy-investments directives • Various instruments

  13. EU environmental policiesHorizontal legislation • EIA and SEA directives (2011/92/EU and 2001/42/EC) • Access to information directive (2003/4/EC) • Public participation (2003/35/EC) • Environmental Liability (2004/35/EC) • Environmental crime (2008/99/EC) • Reporting directive (91/692/EC)

  14. EU environmental policiesEnvironmental governance • Environmental assessments (EIA and SEA) • Environmental assessment is a procedure that ensures that the environmental implications of decisions are taken into account before decisions are made. • The process involves an analysis of the likely effects on the environment, recording those effects in a report, undertaking a public consultation exercise on the report, taking into account these comments and the report itself when making the final decision and informing the public about that decision afterwards. • In principle, environmental assessment can be undertaken for individual projects such as a dam, motorway, airport or factory (‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ EIA) or for plans, programmes and policies (‘Strategic Environmental Assessment’ SEA).

  15. Synergies between the EIA Directive and other Directives Waste Framework Directive Policies Habitats and Birds Directives Water Directives (WFD, floods, marine, nitrates) Plans & Programmescovered by SEA Directive (2001/42) Projects (public - private)covered by EIA Directive (85/337, 97/11 2003/35 & 2009/31) IPPC & Seveso Directives Carbon Capture Storage Directive Landfill & incineration Directives

  16. EU environmental policiesEnvironmental governance • Overall benefits of the EIA Directive: • Establishment of comprehensive EIA regimes in all EU MS. • Environmental considerations are taken into account in decision-making processes earlier. • Transparency and social acceptance. Increased public participation in the decision-making process. • EIAs have improved the project design and the decision-making process (on the basis of experience from EC co-funding).

  17. EU environmental policiesEnvironmental governance • The Way Ahead: need to review the EIA Directive After 25 years of application, policy, legal and technical contexts have changed: • New Challenges: Climate change, energy and biodiversity. • Project categories (Annexes I & II) not modified since 1997 (only CCS in 2009). • Lessons from implementation experience (ECJ case law and EU co-financed Major Projects). • New types of projects (e.g. “transboundary” projects like Nordstream). • Synergy with the Espoo and the Aarhus Conventions. • EIA identified as a potential instrument for a future simplification and for better coordination with sectoral assessments required by other Directives.

  18. EU environmental policiesEnvironmental governance 2012-05-01 • Access to information (2003/4/EC) and Public participation (2003/35/EC): • Union institutions and bodies provide the public access to environmental information (databases or registers; websites; impact assessment studies). • Union institutions and bodies provide the public with an opportunity to participate in the preparation of environmental plans and programmes. Due account is taken of the results of public participation in the final decisions.

  19. EU environmental policiesEnvironmental governance • Voluntary instruments • EMAS regulation (EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme ) • management tool for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. • EU Ecolabel • helps identify products and services that have a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle, from the extraction of raw material through to production, use and disposal • Green Public Procurement • process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured.”

  20. EU environmental policies Recent developments • EUROPE 2020: a Strategy for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth(03 03 2010) Implementation through roadmaps and strategy documents: • Roadmap for a low carbon economy by 2050 • Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe • EU 2020 Bio-diversity Strategy • Eco-Innovation Action Plan

  21. Resource efficiency:Doing more with less • Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe (20 09 2011) – how to use resources in a sustainable way & minimise impact on the environment ? • Economy to be put on a resource efficient path • Specific improvements to be made by 2020 • Actions in sectors with greatest environmental impact: production, building, transport, innovation… Raw materials: minerals-fuels-biomass ecosystems–biodiversity – water –land and soils – air – marine resources

  22. EU environmental policiesThe way forward • Continuing ambitious environment agenda as integral part of Europe 2020 strategy. • Improved implementation and enforcement • Policy coherence (interlinked challenges) • Longer-term vision • Green, resource-efficient and competitive economy • Consumer behaviour and urban policy • Public/private financing • International environmental leadership/governance

  23. EU environmental governanceInternational cooperation • EXAMPLE of the Eastern Partnership: • Within the EuropeanNeighborhoodpolicy (ENP) creation in 2009 of the Eastern Partnership between the EU and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. • The countries share key environmental challenges: air quality, water pollution, waste management, nature protection, industrial pollution…etc. • Regional dialogue through a Panel of Environment and climate change.

  24. EU environmental governanceInternational cooperation 2012-05-01 • KEY issues of Environmental governance in the Eastern Partnership: • strengthening of administrative capacities, strategic planning and prioritisation. • environmental assessments on the basis of reliable, comparable and accessible data. • strengthening of public participation and awareness of environment issues.

  25. EU environmental governanceInternational cooperation • TOOLS for Environmental governance in the Eastern Partnership: • Regional dialogues in the Panel on Environment and Climate Change.  • Ratification of international and regional conventions notably Espoo and AarhusConventions. • Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS). Other regional projects on air, waste (including obsolete pesticides and other hazardous chemicals), water (particularly in cross-border basins) and forests. • Regional Environment Centres of the region and others non state actors (NGOs, associations).

  26. Further information • General http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/environment/ • DG Environment http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm • Environment and International issues http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enlarg/russianis_en.htm

  27. A few videos: • http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?sitelang=en&ref=I070238 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5UN9clIaBI&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGxnH5ejFfc

More Related