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DG Environment Management Plan for 2010:
Mission Statement and Challenges
(by Karl Falkenberg,
Director General of DG Environ ment)
The main role of DG Environ ment is to initiate and define
new environ ment policy and legislation, to promote integration of
Figure 11.14. European
Union flags outside the
Commission building
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ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
environ mental concerns into other policy areas, and to ensure that
agreed policy measures are implemented effectively in the EU Member
States. Its mission statement is ‘protecting, preserving and improving
the environ ment for present and future generations, and promoting
sustainable Development’.
The political guidelines highlight that the exit from the crisis should
be the point of entry into a new sustainable social market economy,
a smarter, greener economy, where our prosperity will come from
innovation and from using resources better, and where the key input will
be knowledge. Conserving energy, natural resources and raw materials,
using them more efficiently and increasing productivity will be the key
drivers of the future competitiveness of our industry and our economies.
Consequently, developing a resource efficient low-carbon economy and
stimulating green innovation, growth and jobs are among the main
priorities of the EU-2020 Strategy.
Harnessing the environ ment policy contribution to this goal will
mean putting in place the right mix of smart regulation, incentives
and market-based mechanisms to foster eco-innovation, sustainable
consumption and production and these considerations will underpin all
our work. Exploiting the resource potential of waste streams, an action
plan for eco-innovation and reviewing the Environ ment Technology
Action Plan, the Thematic Strategy on Natural Resources and the Waste
Thematic Strategy will be part of the contribution from environ ment
policy to improve resource efficiency.
The threats from biodiversity loss are becoming clearer and the
failure to meet interim goals on biodiversity loss cannot continue.
The real value of ecosystems must be recognised and the link between
biodiversity conservation and greenhouse gas mitigation should be fully
explored. New EU and global targets will have to be agreed in 2010 and
a new realistic – but ambitious – action plan for biodiversity will have
to be designed and negotiated. Further initiatives are required to protect
endangered species of fauna and flora and to address illegal logging
and deforestation worldwide. Achieving and maintaining good soil
quality is essential in a world where resources are becoming increasingly
scarce and there is increased competition for land use from transport,
energy, food production and nature preservation and adoption of the
Commission proposal by the Council will support this goal. A coherent
forest information system for the EU will also be an important element.
With the adoption of REACH, the new law entered into force
on 1 June 2007. (REACH is a European Community Regulation
on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006). It deals with the
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical
substances.) The EU has set the benchmark for chemicals policy.
But it is the implementation of REACH which will determine its
effectiveness and will be a key area of cooperation with DG ENTR
11. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: LEGISLATION, POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS
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(Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry) and ECHA (European
Chemicals Agency). Registration of chemicals by industry, appropriate
evaluation by authorities and substitution of substances of very high
concern are key to ensure the safety of chemicals and will also stimulate
innovation in the chemical industry. Ensuring a successful co-decision
outcome on biocides constitute further important elements to increase
the chemical industry’s sustainability. Nanotechnology is also rapidly
developing and can bring benefits to the environ ment and contribute
to economic growth, but can only flourish if its safety is ensured by
a clear regulatory framework. It is more important than ever to focus
on using water resources more efficiently, exploiting the potential for
water savings and on keeping water clean. Implementing the Water
Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive
effectively will be essential and will depend on implementation of the
urban wastewater and nitrate directives in particular. But it will also
require a cross-cutting approach involving support from other sectoral
policies.
Air quality legislation brings substantial health and environ mental
benefits. We need to investigate in more detail the underlying causes of
implementation problems in some Member States so that the environ-
mental and health benefits from better air quality are secured. In this
context the adoption of the revised proposal on industrial emissions
by Council and Parliament is important. In addition, the pending
Commission proposal for a revision of the directive on national emission
ceilings of certain air pollutants will be re-examined.
Implementation of our legislation maintains environ mental progress
and ensures that the health and environ mental benefits intended
from proposals at the time of their adoption actually materialise.
Implementation gaps notably in the areas of waste and nature legislation
have to be addressed.
Increasingly, progress in environ ment policy depends on measures
taken in other policy areas – such as transport, energy or agriculture –
to address the drivers of environ mental degradation. We must therefore
ensure that environ mental objectives are mainstreamed into other
Community policies and reflected in the preparation of the future
multiannual Financial Perspectives for the 2014-2020 period.
Improving and refining our knowledge base through better
information, better management of information systems and the
Development of appropriate indicators will help target environ-
ment policy as efficiently and as effectively as possible. Following up
on our communication on GDP and Beyond, we will work to develop
complementary indicators to GDP to measure societal welfare and
progress more appropriately. We will work with the EEA (European
Economic Area) and the Member States on an implementation plan to
see how a shared environ mental information system could be put in
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ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
place. 2010 is the international year of biodiversity, and among other
communication activities, a special focus on this theme is planned.
Environ mental challenges are increasingly global and moving
towards a green economy and sustainable production and consumption
patterns requires action well beyond EU borders.
The EU is a global leader in developing environ ment policy and
has an important role to play in improving international environ-
mental governance, in particular through multilateral environ mental
agreements, and ensuring positive synergies with other polices, in
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