§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Environment Council on 25 June. [36665]
§ Mr. GummerTogether with my noble Friend the Earl of Lindsay, I represented the United Kingdom at the Environment Council in Luxembourg on 25 June.
Common positions were reached on proposed directives on the marketing of biocidal products and on the control of emissions from off-road vehicles. In both cases the United Kingdom was able to secure its negotiating objectives.
The Council agreed conclusions on a community strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars and on the EU position for the second conference of the parties to the UN framework convention on climate change, which is to be held in Geneva later this month.
Council conclusions were also agreed on water policy and on the EU position for the first meeting of the open-ended ad hoc working group to prepare a bio-safety protocol for the conference of the parties on biological diversity.
The Council agreed a recommendation on the keeping of wild animals in zoos, a mandate to approve the Espoo convention, and a negotiating mandate on a proposed agreement for the conservation of whales in the Mediterranean and Black seas.
106WThe Council failed to reach a decision on the Commission's proposal on the marketing of genetically modified maize.
There were useful policy debates about the review of the fifth environmental action programme and on the proposed amendment of directive 90/219 on the contained use of genetically modified organisms. Both dossiers will be taken forward under the Irish presidency. Progress on the negotiations with major fur-exporting countries over the use of leghold traps and on the preparations for the third conference of the parties to the convention on biological diversity was noted.