Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on 'Further development of Community environmental policy and the creation of an ecological union'
Date: 1999-03-10
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU environmental policy, ecologism

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Further development of Community environmental
policy and the creation of an ecological union’

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

(1999/C 198/07)

having regard to the decision of its bureau of 16 September 1998 to draw up, in accordance with the
fourth paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, an Opinion on the
Further Development of Community Environmental Policy and the Creation of an Ecological Union, and
to instruct Commission 4 for Spatial Planning, Urban Issues, Energy, the Environment to prepare the
Committee’s work on the subject;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 310/98 rev. 2) adopted by Commission 4 on 11 December 1998
(rapporteur: Mr Erwin Teufel);

A. WHEREAS:

the drawing up of a strategy for incorporating environmental considerations into European Union

1.
policies is at present a particularly important task for the EU bodies,

the Amsterdam Treaty provides a suitable legal basis for further development and progress in the

2.
field of EU environmental policy,

a suitable division of responsibilities in areas relating to the environment is needed between the

3.
national, regional and local levels in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,

forward-looking and far-reaching approaches to integrating environment protection requirements
4.
into all Community policies and to gradually eliminating the ecologically counter-productive aspects of
European law can only be drawn up on a scientific basis, taking account of feasibility aspects and on the
basis of the precautionary principle,

the environmental rules of the EU Member States currently differ, as does the stringency with which

5.
European rules are applied,

6.
significant disparities exist in the individual Member States, and their regions and local authorities,
with regard to the frequency of official checks and to the action taken in the event of abuse, which could
lead to serious environmental damage and distort competition in the internal market,

the regional and local authorities and the courts have a special responsibility for the implementation

7.
and monitoring of Community environmental law,

the third follow-up conference to the Rio de Janeiro climate framework convention, held in Kyoto
8.
in December 1997, adopted specific,
if somewhat unambitious, requirements for the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions. The reductions agreed (at least 5 % for the industrialized countries) are less
than those called for by the EU,

the endeavours to preserve biological diversity, particularly those across regional and national

9.
borders, must be continued,

10.
the man-made environment reflects the economic, ecological and cultural development of Europe’s
regions, and is the basis for agriculture and forestry, forms of cultivation which are as sustainable as
possible and biological diversity, as well as being of great importance for the people of the region and for
tourism,

soil, alongside air, water and sunlight, are among the natural and essential foundations of life for

11.
mankind, animals and plants,

the consumption of soil, erosion and compaction, as well as introduction of toxic substances, are
12.
endangering to an ever greater extent the usability of soil for mankind and the fulfilment of its functions
in nature and in the agricultural cycle,

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there is still scope for developing the promotion of agricultural production procedures which do

13.
not pollute water and for reducing diffuse pollution,

these deficits cannot be made good, nor can the objectives of sustainable water policy be achieved,
14.
by means of EU water protection directives, which to some extent overlap and which are no longer
mutually consistent,

Europe’s citizens have a growing need for access to education, employment, health services, etc.

15.
which has to be met in a sustainable way, not necessarily by providing more transport facilities,

16.
road haulage will increase sharply in the internal market in the medium term as a result of the
growing together of the European economy, and trans-national long-distance road haulage will account
for a significant part of this growth,

vehicle and fuel emissions from road traffic are already a significant source of noise and air

17.
pollution which is damaging to human health and the climate,

shortcomings have arisen in rail transport, and major potential for innovation, particularly in

18.
long-distance freight transport, has so far not been exploited,

competition between the individual modes of transport is distorted, and fair competition should

19.
be established, e.g. by the consideration of external costs,

the polluter pays principle must be the underlying principle of all Community programmes and

20.
environmental legislation,

adopted the following opinion at its 28th plenary session held on 10 and 11 March 1999 (meeting of
10 March) by a majority vote.

B.

INTRODUCTION

— put forward proposals for reducing distortions of compe-

tition;

On the basis of the Amsterdam Treaty the European Union
also has to regard itself as an ecological union. And this
requirement affects the Community itself, the Member States
and the regional and local authorities. A Europe which is
growing together, in which political problems particularly in
the fields of employment, social affairs and finance are to the
fore, requires a new solidarity.

Among other things, this solidarity means not neglecting the
environment and nature protection.
In practice, however,
environmental policy, which requires a particularly long view,
has often been isolated from measures in other policy areas. In
formulating and implementing all policies and measures, the
new magic sustainability triangle of balanced development in
the ecological, social and economic areas must be considered.

This applies not only at Community level, but also to the
Member States and regional and local authorities.

The Committee of
the Regions welcomes the initiatives
taken by the European Commission to promote within its
institutional structures the integration of protection of nature
and the environment into Community policies.

— ensure a sustainable pan-European environmental policy

designed to preserve the natural world.

C. REQUIREMENTS

1.

Improvement of existing procedures and institutions

1.1.
The Committee of the Regions is glad that, with the
strong support of the European Parliament, the principle of
sustainability has been written into Article 6 of the EC Treaty.
This requirement now has to be fleshed out.

to be incorporated into the EC Treaty at

The Committee feels that the drawing up of a sustainability
protocol,
the
appropriate time, could make an important contribution here.
A protocol of this kind could, like the subsidiarity protocol,
lay down procedures and steps which would ensure that the
principle of sustainability was observed at European level in
measures, programmes and legal acts. Maximum administrat-
ive efficiency should be aimed for here.

With this opinion the Committee of the Regions intends to:

— make a contribution to the implementation of the require-
ment for sustainable development now enshrined in the
EU Treaty;

The Committee of the Regions will, within the limitations of
its powers, draw up a proposal for a sustainability protocol
based on the discussions which have taken place in the
European institutions and in some Member States. The proto-
col could also act as a guideline for action in the Member
States.

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The Committee of

1.2.
the Regions believes that an
implementing programme is needed covering all measures
aimed at the further development of Community environmen-
tal policy and the establishment of an ecological union. The
implementing programme should contain a timetable and
deadlines for the main areas of action as well as measures, and
should also form a basis for the relevant green and white
papers. The Committee of the Regions calls on the Com-
mission, instead of revising the fifth action programme for the
environment, to embark on a sixth programme which takes as
starting point the goal of sustainable development, which
embraces all areas of the Commission’s activity and is based
primarily on the Rio document.

1.3.
The Committee of the Regions believes that, particu-
larly in the environmental field, the discussion of a proper
allocation of tasks, starting at local level and proceeding via
the regions and Member States to European level, must be
conducted with a view to the use of synergy effects and with
due regard to the principle of subsidiarity.

The Committee of the Regions also believes that there should
be a periodic appraisal of EU environmental law. The extent to
which ‘soft law’, i.e. voluntary undertakings by target groups
based on agreements, can deliver better environmental protec-
tion results should be assessed at the same time.

The principles of voluntary environmental protection manage-
ment by firms, introduced by the eco-audit, should be anchored
yet more firmly in practice. This will entail participation by
employees, development of their skills and a management
strategy to be coordinated with the staff side in each firm.

The Committee also considers that a prior strategic assessment
of the environmental impact of sectoral plans and programmes
can help to mainstream the environment
in the various
policies.

The Committee of the Regions calls for an environmen-
1.4.
tal stability pact between the EU, the Member States, regions
and local authorities. This pact would develop further the
Valencia Environment Charter in the run-up to EU enlargement
and should make reference to the Aalborg Charter. The
Committee of
the Regions will as soon as possible be
submitting a first draft of such a pact. Future EU members
should endeavour to accede to this stability pact.

1.5.
The Committee of the Regions calls for the establish-
ment of an EU council of ecological experts. The council
should submit a report to the European Commission every
two years in which it would propose specific Community
measures for the gradual elimination of
the ecologically
counter-productive aspects of European law and Community
financing instruments and for developing the consideration
given to environmental protection requirements in all Com-
munity policies. It could also give an expert opinion on
individual questions and regularly monitor compliance with
the principle of sustainability.

1.6.
The EC Treaty should be amended to allow NGO
representatives from the environmental field to be appointed
to the Economic and Social Committee.

An environmental dialogue should be reinforced
1.7.
between the European Parliament,
the Committee of the
Regions and the European Commission, with the participation
of the Consultative Forum on the Environment and Sustainable
Development.

1.8.
The regions and local authorities should develop
programmes to promote citizen participation. As a first step
in this direction, each region and local authority should
establish a contact point, and where possible also an Internet
website, to provide citizens with information on initiatives in
their area, e.g. Agenda 21 or Habitat.

1.9.
Every region should, in coordination with the local
authorities, establish a longer-term framework of guidelines,
for example in the form of an environmental plan for the
achievement of sustainability, laying down specific objectives,
with intermediate
for
stages, measures
implementation. The EU should also give suitable support to
the exchange of experience and the coordination processes, in
particular in border regions.

and deadlines

2. Environmental law and its application

2.1.
The Committee of the Regions would like to lend its
support to the Commission’s efforts to develop Community
environmental law further, with due regard to the principle of
subsidiarity, partly in view of its important contribution to the
achievement of fair competition, particularly by the setting of
emission limit values and environmental quality standards.
The Committee of the Regions urges the Commission to keep
the required reporting in this connection within reasonable
limits so that the results achieved, in the form of feedback,
outweigh the effort involved in compiling such reports.

2.2.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the European
Commission’s proposal on minimum requirements for the
nature and extent of official environmental protection inspec-
tions. It calls on the Council to take up this proposal and to
adopt requirements as soon as possible which take account of
practical needs, and, whilst keeping the work involved and cost
within reasonable bounds, to put implementation throughout
Europe on a comparable basis in the short term, in the medium
term to bring about uniformity.

The Committee of the Regions welcomes the adoption
2.3.
of the Directive (96/61/EC) on integrated pollution prevention
and control, which for the first time establishes a uniform
European framework for the authorization and monitoring of
industrial installations of particular relevance to the environ-
ment.

2.4.
The Committee calls on the Commission to draw up
without delay technical documents (BREF) for the individual
types of industrial installation listed in directive 96/61/EC,
which set out in detail the European environmental standard
in the form of an emission limit value.

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Only in this way can harmonization of the material require-
ments be achieved. Otherwise, directive 96/61/EC would go no
further than harmonization of authorization and monitoring
procedures, thus perpetuating distortions of competition.

2.5.
The Committee of the Regions calls on the Commission
to come forward as soon as possible with proposals for
measures based on the concept of Integrated Product Policy,
which covers the entire lifecycle of a product.

3. Raising awareness of sustainability through education and

training

3.1. More emphasis should be placed on the use of social
instruments (information, education, dialogue, interactive pol-
itical decision-making, cooperation etc.) in parallel with legal
and financial means in order to foster environmentally con-
scious behaviour aimed at quality of life and sustainability.

3.2.
The Committee calls on the European Commission
and the Council to reshape existing support programmes
to encourage innovative ways of improving environmental
knowledge and promoting environment-friendly behaviour,
with the help of the social instruments referred to above.

Use of the international database should be made
3.3.
possible for the exchange of information on local initiatives
relating to the quality of life and sustainability, making use of
social instruments (e.g. development of a local Agenda 21 or
Habitat Agenda on housing development).

4. Cross-border cooperation

4.1.
The Committee of the Regions highlights the import-
ance of more intensive cooperation between regions both
within and outside the European Union.
It calls on the
European Commission to continue to promote the exchange
of experience and the search for solutions to cross-border
environmental problems, particularly with a view to enlarge-
ment of the European Union.

New Community environmental

4.2.
legal procedures
should concentrate on the settlement of cross-border disputes
between Member States.

5. Climate protection

The Committee of

the Regions believes that

5.1.
the
potential of renewable energy sources and technologies for the
more efficient use of energy should be exploited to the full and
that, in assessing their promotion in terms of competition
policy, government should consider sustainability. Incentives
should also be created and access to the relevant programmes
facilitated.

5.2.
The Committee of the Regions calls on the Council to
establish as soon as possible a Community framework for the
taxation of non-renewable energy and the internalization of
all external costs. Account should be taken here of the impact
on low-income groups, upland and rural areas and economic
sectors with heavy energy costs.

The Committee of the Regions calls on the European
5.3.
Commission to consider the extent to which laws governing
the organization of the economy, and other instruments,
especially support programmes, actually impede the reduction
of emissions. The Commission should also work for emission
reductions in the context of reform of the Common Agricul-
tural Policy and the Structural Funds. The Committee of the
Regions stresses in this context the importance of forest
eco-systems as air filters and carbon dioxide sinks.

The Committee of the Regions considers it right that
5.4.
legal objectives for the reduction of emissions of
toxic
substances laid down in Community law should, within an
appropriate timescale, be adjusted to take account of new
knowledge of
the toxins in question and technological
advances.

The Committee of the Regions would also like to see
5.5.
greater use made, in relation to climate protection policy, of
market incentives (environmental levies, tradable environmen-
tal rights and balancing strategies). These should be used to
increase the cost effectiveness of environmental policy and
thus to defuse the conflict between growth and employment
policy.

5.6.
The Committee of the Regions considers that the
European Union and its Member States should continue to
be leading advocates of the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions.

6. Protection of nature

6.1.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the European
Commission’s efforts to maintain biodiversity. It expects the
Community to fight for the protection of species and nature
in international trade policy.

The Committee of the Regions calls on the European
6.2.
Commission, the Council and the European Parliament to take
greater account of the interests of nature protection in the
context of reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Only
sustainable forms of agriculture should be regarded as compat-
ible with environmental protection; this is not generally the
case for typically industrial farming methods. In the interests
of sustainable agriculture support should be given to environ-
mentally benign farming methods and cycles, and the market-
ing of products in the region in which they were grown and
processed.

6.3.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the European
Commission’s efforts to promote sustainable land use, such as
the labelling of organic products and the work being done on
eco-labelling. Specific action plans and programmes should be

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adapted to the land-use situation so that the needs of the local
population,
land users and the environment can be taken
into account. The Committee also welcomes the European
Commission’s efforts to promote sustainable land use via
the arrangements for common market organizations and
Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92, thereby encouraging greater
economic and statutory development.

6.4.
The Committee of the Regions calls for environmental
impact assessments to be carried out in relation to major
projects carried out in the framework of the Structural Funds.
Documents submitted, including cost-benefit analyses, should
be made public.

The Committee of the Regions supports the establish-
6.5.
ment and safeguarding of the Natura 2000 network of special
areas of conservation. The Committee calls on the Commission
to keep the resulting reporting requirements within reasonable
bounds.

6.6.
Proper long-term financing of landscape conservation,
soil protection and forest conservation and rehabilitation is
needed.

7. Soil

7.1.
The Committee of the Regions calls for soil use to
comply with the principle of sustainability. Thus, in addition
to using land economically, care should also be taken of the
soil as a natural resource and the carrier of ecological functions.
The Committee of the Regions regards sustainable agriculture
and forestry as an essential, determining feature of soil use and
a guarantee for the maintenance of the man-made landscape.

8. Water and waste

The Committee of the Regions supports the European
8.1.
Commission in its efforts to achieve an efficient water
protection policy with a high level of protection. Only in this
way can the objective of sustainable development be achieved
throughout Europe.

8.2.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Com-
mission’s objectives for future water policy and calls on the
Commission to flesh out the precautionary, polluter pays,
cooperation and subsidiarity principles, as well as the principle
of taking ecological factors into account, in water policy, in
order to reduce or prevent significant damage to man’s
environment.

In this context, the Committee of the Regions points out that
measures for the creation of forests or for maintaining the
health of existing forests are particularly relevant to water
protection.

8.3.
The Committee of the Regions considers waste preven-
tion to be the main plank of European policy on waste. It
therefore calls on the Community and its Member States to
pay close attention to this objective.

The prevention of waste of any kind using state-of-the-art
science and technology must become an important criterion
for eligibility for Community industrial support programmes,
or be given greater weight than at present.

The introduction throughout Europe of market incentives
for the prevention of waste damaging to health and the
environment, already tried in some regions, is to be encour-
aged.

7.2.
The Committee of the Regions therefore calls for
measures by the Community, the Member States and the
regional and local authorities to be guided by the following
objectives:

8.4.
The Committee of the Regions points out that the
principle of free movement of goods applies only to a limited
extent to waste disposal. Existing regional and local authority
powers are to be maintained within the framework of Europe-
wide harmonization.

— more economical and careful use of soil;

— protection of particularly valuable soil from degradation
and sealing, and suitable handling of unavoidable exca-
vation residues;

— priority for redevelopment of brownfield sites;

— recycling of unpolluted soil and suitable handling of

polluted soil;

— reduction of erosion and prevention of landslides and

similar geological phenomena;

— reduction of toxic inputs.

The Committee calls on the Commission to bear in mind the
objectives of re-using material and energy contained in waste,
and of disposing of toxic substances contained in waste as
close as possible to their place of origin.

The Committee of the Regions therefore calls on the
8.5.
Commission not to impede the efforts of the Member States
to establish an environmentally benign structure for waste
disposal. The point here is that high environmental standards
must be guaranteed and must not be watered down by EU
Commission competition policy initiatives. It also asks the
Commission to submit as soon as possible proposals spelling
out the necessary Community law demarcation between waste
disposal and recycling. The Committee of the Regions expects
the Commission to recognize the right of the Member States
to draw up their own demarcation criteria, until such time as
a Europe-wide demarcation is established.

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9. Transport

The Committee of the Regions welcomes the sub-
9.1.
mission by the Commission of a number of basic proposals
and discussion papers on the improved integration of environ-
mental and transport policy. The Committee of the Regions
expects the European Commission to give priority to solving
existing and worsening transport problems with due regard to
environmentally sound forms of transport (e.g. rail,
local
public transport, inland waterways and coastal transport). In
this context, the Committee particularly welcomes the efforts
to promote combined transport further, thus helping to relieve
the pressure on roads.

The Committee of the Regions expects the European Parlia-
ment and the Council to adopt as soon as possible the
necessary legislation for the further development of rail
transport, with priority being assigned to this as an environ-
mentally benign mode of transport.

The Committee of the Regions also considers that agreement
is needed at European level on the outline of an approach,
covering all modes of transport, to the allocation of transport
costs, including external costs, to their source.

In this context, the Committee of the Regions also asks the
Commission to examine the impact of various internalization
strategies on business, society and the environment. Here
adequate consideration should be given to the effects of
transport prices on the shipping and transport
real-cost
industries and on the European Union’s place as a centre for
business and enterprise.

The Committee of the Regions calls on the Com-
9.2.
mission, the Council and the European Parliament to do
everything possible to ensure that further significant progress
is made in the field of
in the framework of
enlargement of the Community. This would include increasing
the maximum rates for road user charges for lorries where
applicable, and varying them according to environmental
criteria. Progress should also be made on the use of the railway
networks.

transport

9.3.
The Committee of the Regions calls for measures to
limit the fuel consumption, and thus the CO2 emissions, of
passenger vehicles,
including measures empowering the
regions and Member States to provide tax incentives for the
early introduction onto the market of ultra low-emission
vehicles, having regard to the effects on different income
groups and people living in rural and urban areas.

The Committee of the Regions calls for rapid adoption
9.4.
of the goods vehicle emissions directive; more ambitious target
values should be set than those so far laid down under the
EURO IV standard (from 2005). At the same time the Member
States should be empowered to provide tax incentives from
2000 onwards for vehicles which meet stricter exhaust stan-
dards at an early date. This should also apply to buses and
delivery vehicles with gaseous fuel engines of the kind used in
conurbations.

9.5.
The Committee of the Regions sees the rapid introduc-
tion of less environmentally damaging petrols and diesel fuels

as a decisive measure for the reduction of the environmental
damage caused by road traffic. Moreover, clean fuels are a vital
precondition for the introduction of new types of engine with
lower fuel consumption and toxic emissions.

The Committee of the Regions sees the fuel directive published
in late December 1998 as a significant step forward, but
considers a further reduction necessary, particularly for sulphur
content.

The Committee of the Regions calls on all the Member States
to promote the rapid introduction and preferential use of less
environmentally damaging fuels by means of effective tax
incentives.

Account should be taken here of the impact on low-income
groups and rural areas.

9.6.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the directive
on future emission standards for passenger vehicles and light
commercial vehicles published at the end of December 1998
and the decision to allow the Member States to provide tax
incentives for the early introduction onto the market from
2000 of passenger vehicles meeting the EURO IV standard.

The Committee of the Regions would like to see all the
Member States offering effective tax incentives for the rapid
introduction and preferential use of ultra low-emission
vehicles.

9.7.
In view of the high importance which citizens attach
to a quiet living environment both in and outside cities, the
Committee of the Regions urges the Commission to submit,
as a follow-up to the new vehicle emissions directive, a
directive for the further reduction of the noise caused by
passenger and commercial vehicles (engine noise at speeds up
to 60 km/h and tyre noise at higher speeds).

10. Economy, trade and employment

The Committee of

10.1.
that
environmental improvements contribute to the quality of the
business location and thus to the safeguarding of employment.

the Regions points out

10.2. Minimum ecological standards must be introduced in
trade policy, particularly in the WTO. Within the same
framework, the basic legal provisions should be established for
integrated and organic farming, particularly in the common
market organizations.

10.3.
The Committee of the Regions points out however,
that with a view to the economics of business location,
environmental policy instruments should increasingly be
chosen on the basis of their cost effectiveness and efficiency,
and their capacity to promote progress on environmental
technologies. The Committee believes that an ecologically
effective and economically efficient environmental policy is
best suited for the integration of environmental policy with
economic and employment policy.

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11. Radiological protection

11.1.
The Committee of the Regions calls for radiological
protection issues which are outside the scope of the work of
EURATOM, such as uranium extraction waste and its final
storage, to be made the subject of more detailed debate in the
framework of the EU. In particular, the information available
to regional authorities responsible for radiation protection
needs to be improved, as does cooperation with these auth-
orities; more support is also needed for joint research and
development projects on problems related to natural radioac-
tivity. In the light of previous accessions, these are important
questions.

11.2.
The Committee of the Regions would like to see
common European provisions on the handling of materials
contaminated by natural radionuclides (e.g. waste, mud from
oil extraction, slag etc.).

D. REASONS

The Committee of the Regions’ views on basic environmental
policy issues should be consolidated and further developed in
the light of the Amsterdam Treaty.

Economic and monetary union will further intensify compe-
tition in the internal market. Concrete implementation and
further development of Community environmental law will
therefore gain in importance in the future.

The Committee of the Regions has a major responsibility here,
as it is the regional and local authorities which are in charge
of effective application.

Proper economic development of the European Union is
possible only in conjunction with an ambitious environmental
innovation and
policy. Environmental protection drives
growth in the whole economy. Modern environmental protec-
tion will also safeguard jobs with a future. The export from
the EU of environmental protection technology will, in view
of the intensive preparation strategy for the candidate Central
and Eastern European Countries, take on particular importance
in the coming decade.

Brussels, 10 March 1999.

The Committee of the Regions recognizes that the existence
of numerous interdependent factors is making the further
development of environmental law increasingly complicated.
Additional expert advice is therefore considered necessary.

Classic environmental problems have been replaced by new
challenges. The global threats posed by climate change as a
result of rising emissions of greenhouse gases, the depletion of
the ozone layer and the consumption of resources cannot be
visualized to the same extent as the majority of classic
environmental problems, such as water pollution or the
uncontrolled dumping of waste. A comprehensive approach is
therefore needed in all areas of environmental education. The
accent should be not exclusively on scientific data, but also on
the link between environment protection and economic and
social issues.

The European Union has a global responsibility for climate
protection and energy and raw material conservation. It must
set a good example if the call for sustainable development is
to be answered throughout the world.

It will not be possible to achieve sustainable development in
the European Union without a change of priorities in the
various sectoral policies. This is particularly clear in the
transport field.

Soil damage is a major environmental problem. The main
causes of this are erosion and a deterioration in the chemical
makeup and physical properties of the soil. There is as yet no
Community policy on soil protection. The Committee of the
Regions is aware that the inter-sectoral nature of any modern
soil protection policy makes the development of such a policy
at Community level particularly difficult, especially in view of
the need for compliance with the subsidiarity principle.

Because of the horizontal nature of the problem, institutional
and procedural issues play a special role in the implementation
of the principle of sustainable development.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER