Mr President, since 1992, the international community, or a substantial part of it, at least, has been reacting to and combating one of the greatest environmental and economic challenges facing mankind: climate change. As we know, it is the most significant global issue in the area of environmental sustainability and is having disastrous effects not only on the climate but on ecosystems and plant and animal species too. The Union took up the challenge in May 2002, with the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, thus demonstrating that the combating of climate change is one of its strategic priorities. In the decision ratifying the Protocol, the Member States agreed to fulfil their obligations under the Protocol jointly. In order to ensure that the Community as a whole succeeds in complying with the international legally binding commitments, they have agreed different emission reduction and limitation targets for each Member State. The Member States are therefore still responsible for reporting the data on annual emissions. The proposal for a decision on which we are about to vote therefore establishes the necessary framework for ensuring the Community and its Member States meet the requirements on emissions reporting and accounting through an improvement of the quality and accuracy of the information provided on policies and measures adopted and on emissions and removals of all greenhouse gases, including methodological aspects. Following the structure of the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Convention guidelines, different reporting requirements are to be addressed by distinguishing between annual and periodical reporting obligations. In addition, there are two provisions that are central to compliance with the commitments under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. These are the implementation and the periodical update of national programmes for limiting or reducing gas emissions and the transparent monitoring of actual and projected emissions. Tomorrow’s vote will oblige the Member States to calculate and send the Commission data on actual and estimated gas emissions by 15 January each year, so that the actual progress made can be assessed and the Community can draw up annual reports in accordance with its international obligations. The few amendments your rapporteur has made to the proposed legislation are aimed at rendering the mechanism even more binding and effective, especially in the light of the latest, barely encouraging, data that show an increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union for the second year running. As Mrs Wallström said, regarding the proposed amendments – 18, to be precise – in the informal negotiations which took place with the Council and the Commission after the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy had given its opinion, an agreement was reached which incorporated the essence of our amendments, including the amendments with the greatest political significance such as those concerning the necessarily and mandatorily supplementary nature of the use of flexible mechanisms with regard to the internal action plans which each Member State is to introduce and pursue in order to achieve its own greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. Therefore, in tomorrow’s vote in the Chamber, we will be tabling a package of amendments on which agreement has been reached. I hope that Parliament will genuinely give fresh impetus to the measure, allowing the Member States to bring themselves into line with these rules quickly. I believe that it will also be a clear political signal with a view to a major event, next December in Milan, when we hope that more of the international community will ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Political group: PSE