Action plan in favour of environmental technologies
The European Union is adopting an action plan to promote environmental technologies (technologies whose use is less environmentally harmful than relevant alternatives) in order to reduce pressures on our natural resources, improve the quality of life of European citizens and stimulate economic growth. The action plan's objectives are to remove the obstacles so as to tap the full potential of environmental technologies, to ensure that the EU takes a leading role in applying them and to mobilise all stakeholders in support of these objectives. ACT
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 28Â JanuaryÂ 2004 entitled: \"Stimulating technologies for sustainable development: an environmental technologies action plan for the European Union\" [COM(2004) 38 final - Not published in the Official Journal]. SUMMARY
This action plan in favour of environmental technologies concerns technologies to manage pollution, less polluting and less resource-intensive products and services and ways to manage resources more efficiently. These environmentally friendly technologies pervade all economic activities and sectors. They cut costs and improve competitiveness by reducing energy and resource consumption and so creating fewer emissions and less waste. Key factors in promoting the environmental technologies
The Commission identifies a number of factors which in its opinion are of importance when promoting environmental technologies and which underpin this action plan:
In Annex II to this communication, the Commission identifies the barriers to the development of environmentally friendly technologies. There are four types: economic, regulatory, technological and diffusion barriers. Actions proposed in the plan
The actions proposed fall into three main areas according to their effect:
In order to get environmental technologies from the research laboratories to the markets, three priority actions are proposed:
To improve market conditions, the Commission is proposing among other things to:
With a view to promoting environmental technologies at international level, the priority action proposed by the Commission seeks to encourage responsible investment in environmentally-friendly technologies, as well as the use of environmental technologies in developing countries and those undergoing economic transition. Background
This Action Plan is based on the results of extensive stakeholder consultations and an assessment of the barriers hindering the development of environmental technologies. The Action Plan will be implemented in synergy with the Lisbon Process and the 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. RELATED ACTS
Following up the Action Plan
Communication from the Commission of 27Â January 2005: Report on the implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan inÂ 2004 [COM(2005) 16 - Official Journal C 123Â of 21.05.2005]. The Commission considers that the implementation of the priorities in the Action Plan is well underway, particularly in terms of establishing technology platforms and key orientation documents which should catalyse the development of environmental technologies, funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the preparation for an international support fund. However, the Commission highlights the need to step up work in this area, in particular by mobilising European risk funding, fixing environmental performance targets for products, processes and services, establishing an EU wide system for testing and verifying environmental technologies as part of work to revise the Guidelines for environmental State aids, defining market development and industrial performance indicators, setting up national implementing roadmaps and drawing up action plans for public procurement.