Environment Council (Hansard, 7 November 2002)

§ Margaret Beckett

I represented the UK at Environment Council on 17 October, accompanied by Mr. Ross Finnie, the Scottish Executive Minister for Environment and Rural Development. This was the first Environment Council of the Danish Presidency. It was also the first to be held under the Council's new rules of procedure, which provide that final debates and votes on legislative proposals subject to co-decision with the European Parliament are held in public. The Council reached political agreement on 3 proposals and made progress on a range of other important issues.

The Council reached political agreement on a Common Position on the revision of the EC Directive on packaging and packaging waste, which was along the lines of the general approach adopted at June Council. I strongly supported this proposal, which sets targets for recovery and recycling that the UK will find challenging, but achievable. These include a minimum 60 per cent. recovery target and recycling targets between 55–70 per cent., with a 2008 deadline for implementation. The only opposition was from Belgium and the Netherlands, who would have preferred even more demanding targets.

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Political agreement was reached on the "Seveso II" Directive, which I also supported. This modifies the existing Directive on the prevention and control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances. It introduces new controls on hazardous sites across the EU. Obligations will be placed on industrial operators to put into effect Safety Management Systems and detailed risk assessments, as well as to provide information to the public.

Political agreement was also reached on a Regulation to complete implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in relation to transboundary movements of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) from the Community. Along with the Commission, I argued that the Regulation should be as closely consistent with the Protocol as possible. After lengthy negotiations we secured significant improvements to the text, namely that the form of identification of GMOs in mixed bulk shipments should be consistent with other EC legislation, including existing legislation on the release of GMOs and the forthcoming proposed Regulation on traceability and labelling. Furthermore, express consent from the importer will be required for the first international transboundary movement of GM material. On the basis of the improved text I was able to support the political agreement.

There was a short discussion on the proposed Regulation on traceability and labelling of GMOs in products. This focussed on links with a proposal to cover GMOs in food and feed, which had been discussed at Agriculture Council earlier in the same week. There is still some way to go before Member States can reach political agreement, and Council requested that the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) continue to work on this dossier.

There was an orientation debate concerning the proposed directive on emissions trading, with a view to being in a position to seek political agreement at the December Council. I strongly supported the scheme but pressed for flexibility during the first period, in order to allow it to interact more easily with national schemes, such as the UK's successful existing regime, and allow inclusion of other sectors and gases.

Council adopted conclusions on the implementation of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. This included follow-up to environment-related commitments from the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. It called for a strengthening of the Cardiff process of integrating environmental considerations into EU business, and adopted a set of environment-related indicators which it recommended for inclusion in the Commission's report to the Spring European Council. The Conclusions include reference to the need, also accepted by the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on the 15 October, to take account of EU commitments made at the WTO meeting in Doha and at Johannesburg in considering the future of the Common Agriculture Policy and Common Fisheries Policy.

Council Conclusions on climate change were adopted, without discussion, defining the EU's negotiating position for the 8 Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change in New Delhi. The Conclusions call for all Annex 1 developed 574W countries which accepted the comprehensive and balanced Kyoto agreement reached in Bonn and Marrakech last year to ratify the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible so as to achieve its entry into force in the near future. Developed countries which do not intend to ratify are urged to meet their responsibilities under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and to return their emissions to 1990 levels. The Conclusions also recall the ultimate objective of the Convention—to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere at a safe level and call upon all states to engage in a dialogue with a view to initiating at the 8 Conference of the Parties a process for further action under the Convention and the Protocol.

We were able to support the negotiating mandate for the EC for the 12 Conference of the Parties to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and were pleased to see it agreed without amendment. There was unanimous support for the UK's proposal to list the Basking Shark in Appendix II, and unanimous agreement to oppose the Japanese proposal to downlist two species of whales (Minke and Bryde's whales), which would effectively reopen trade in the species.

The Council took note of progress on the proposed Environmental Liability Directive. The Presidency indicated that political agreement would not be possible at the December Council, as the European Parliament's first reading is not expected until spring 2003. The Presidency updated Council on the proposed Regulation on the monitoring of forests (Forest Focus) which aims to establish a Community scheme to assess forest ecosystem conditions. The Presidency also updated Council on two inter-related proposals, a Regulation and a Council Decision, to implement the Rotterdam Convention on a Prior Informed Consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade. On the Regulation, a compromise package has been approved in Coreper and has been forwarded to the European Parliament.

Under any other business, the Commission presented a report on mercury from the Chlor-Alkali industry, which followed a request from the Council in June 2001 to clarify the legal situation. The Greek delegation presented the outcome of the Euro-Med conference that took place in Athens on 10 July 2002. The German delegation made a statement on the financing of the European Committee for Standardisation Environmental Helpdesk. The French delegation started an exchange of views on possible European action in the field of flood prevention. In relation to this the Commission informed Council that a Communication on an integrated strategy on prevention, preparation and response to natural and technological risks is under preparation. Austria and Ireland made a joint statement on nuclear power in the context of sustainable development. Finally, the Danish delegation presented the results of a meeting of EU nature and forest Directors, which took place in Vigso, Denmark on 2–4 October 2002.