HC Deb 30 March 1994 vol 240 cc850-1W
Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he plans to put to the European Environment Council in Brussels on 24 to 25 March.

Mr. Gummer

I represented the United Kingdom at the Environment Council on 24 and 25 March. My hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside also attended on 24 March.

The Council unanimously agreed, on the basis of a United Kingdom text, a common position to ban the export of hazardous waste to non-OECD countries by 31 December. 1997.

In a separate discussion of the draft directive on landfill waste the Council concentrated on the scope of the directive and the question of exemptions. I pressed our views on the environmental advantages of controlled disposal of certain difficult and non-hazardous waste together—"co-disposal"—but overall little progress was made and the Council referred the topic back to the Committee of Permanent Representatives—COREPER—for further work to prepare for the June Council.

In discussion of an amendment to the birds directive I secured assurances that the proposal would not reduce the level of protection for birds and that scientific and conservation criteria would be used in implementing it. The proposal will now be put to the European Parliament.

An amendment to the directive concerning noise from earth moving machinery was adopted after a vote in which the United Kingdom abstained. A unanimous decision was reached on the four year programme—1994–1997—on official statistics of the environment. The Council also agreed a common position on a minor amendment to the large combustion plants directive—88/609/EEC.

The Council agreed conclusions on climate change which urged all member states to complete by 1 May 1994 the national programmes aimed at limiting CO2 emissions that they are required to prepare under the climate change convention and the Community's own monitoring mechanism. We published the United Kingdom programme on 25 January. The Council also decided to establish a working group to examine various aspects of Community approaches to the use of carbon and energy taxation to limit CO2 emissions.

There was a useful orientation debate on the proposed directive on integrated pollution prevention and control. I welcomed the aims of the directive and was supported in this by most other member states. The draft directive will now be considered further in the environment working group.

The Council also adopted a resolution on integrated coastal zone management, and in a short discussion of the Commission White Paper, "Growth Competitiveness and Employment", the Commissioner outlined ideas for taking things forward in the coming months.