§ 16. Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on EEC environmental policy.
§ Mr. RipponI am glad to report that the meeting of Environment Ministers which I attended in Brussels on 19th July reached agreement on a comprehensive and forward-looking community environment programme. The programme is divided into two main parts. The first contains detailed proposals for priority action to reduce pollution and nuisances, of which we have welcomed particularly the development of more stringent noise standards for motor vehicles, and measures to improve the assessment and exchange of scientific knowledge on pollution hazards. The second contains proposals for longer-term consideration of wider environmental issues, such as problems of urbanisation, conservation, improvement of working conditions and environmental education.
In general the programme presents us with a welcome opportunity to make a continuing contribution to development of policy in a field where we have considerable experience.