WRITTEN QUESTION E-3469/98

by Ian White (PSE) to the Commission

(25 November 1998)

Subject: Implementation of the Cardiff Agreement on Integration

Can the Commission please indicate:

1. the number of environmental impact assessments which have been drawn up to accompany new policy proposals presented at any Council meeting since the Cardiff Agreement was signed,

2. what monitoring mechanisms have been established within the Commission to ensure that new proposals which are to be presented to a Council meeting are accompanied by an environmental impact assessment,

3. whether the Commission will prevent proposals which are not accompanied by an environmental impact assessment (where one is required under the Cardiff Agreement) from being considered at a Council meeting,

4. on the basis of what criteria the Commission has decided, whether an environmental impact assessment should be produced, as required under the Cardiff Agreement?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 1999)

The Honourable Member refers to the "Cardiff agreement" in the context of implementing the integration of environment into other policies. While there was no formal agreement signed in Cardiff, there were important European Council conclusions made on the basis of the "partnership for integration" paper submitted by the Commission(1). In these conclusions, the European Council endorsed the concept that major new policy proposals should be accompanied as appropriate with an environmental assessment.

The concept of such assessment had in fact already been adopted by the Commission in its internal decision on integration of July 1997, which marked a renewed effort by the Commission to integrate environmental considerations. These measures focus in particular on the need to ensure that environmental aspects are considered as early as possible in the decision-making procedure, sometimes years before a Commission proposal is made. One line of action is, therefore, to elaborate forward-looking sectoral policy statements on integration. The Commission has already addressed the policy interface between the environment and other sectors in communications on trade, transport and cohesion. These communications can provide an important basis for the development of sectoral policy statements in these fields.

Among the 1997 measures is also a screening requirement to identify initiatives that are likely to have significant environmental impacts and therefore should be subject to a first appraisal. Where appropriate, key legislative proposals are identified, by way of a "green star" system, as requiring an environmental assessment which should form an integral part of the proposal presented for decision. The Commission acknowledges that this system has proved to be more difficult to operate than was originally foreseen.

In many cases, however, the environmental dimension is taken fully into account although the exact presentation may vary from case to case. For example, significant environmental input has been made in the course of 1997 and 1998 to such important proposals as the Agenda 2000(2) package where the environmental issues are integrated into the proposals themselves and this interface is explained in the "explanatory memorandum" of these critical proposals.

In order to achieve a more effective operation of the system, the Commission is currently reviewing its internal procedures to give more attention to:

- earlier policy dialogue between services to identify areas of environmental interfaces;

- systematic use, and further development, of the screening which is included in the Commission's internal manual of procedures to assist in identification of areas of environmental interest and criteria for assessment;

- further development of training of staff in policy services in environment appraisal;

- systematic monitoring and control by both the general secretariat and the environment service;

- a more substantial manpower input from the environment service to integration issues.

This review is due to be completed by the end of the year in order to ensure a more substantive and systematic approach related to the implementation of the 1999 work programme. The Commission will report on progress on internal integration measures when it reports on progress of the overall integration process.

(1) COM(98) 333 final.

(2) COM(97) 2000 final.