Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the sixth Community Environment Action Programme amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2002-02-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU programme, economic priority, environmental protection, sustainable development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 07.02.2002
COM(2002) 84 final

2001/0029 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

LAYING DOWN THE SIXTH COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT ACTION
PROGRAMME

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

2001/0029 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

LAYING DOWN THE SIXTH COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT ACTION
PROGRAMME

1.

INTRODUCTION

Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty provides that the Commission is
to  deliver  an  opinion  on  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  European  Parliament  at  second
reading.  The  Commission  sets  out  its  opinion  below  on  the  18  amendments  proposed  by
Parliament on 17 January 2002.

2.

BACKGROUND

Transmission of the Proposal to the Council and the European
Parliament (COM(2001) 31) (in accordance with Article 175 (1)
of the Treaty)

26 January 2001

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions

Opinion of the European Parliament – first reading

Adoption of the Common Position

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament
concerning the Common Position (SEC(2001) 1565 final)

Opinion of the European Parliament – second reading

30 May 2001

13 June 2001

31 May 2001

27 September 2001

2 October 2001

17 January 2002

3.

PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal outlines the priorities for action on the environment for the next ten years and
provides  the  environmental  component  of  the  Community’s  strategy  for  sustainable
development.  It  continues  to  pursue  some  of  the  objectives  from  the  Fifth  Environment
Action Programme, which came to an end in 2000, but goes further, adopting a more strategic
approach. It calls for the active involvement and accountability of all sections of society in the
search for innovative, workable and sustainable solutions to today’s environmental problems.

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The proposal identifies four priority areas:

(cid:1)  Climate Change

(cid:1)  Nature and Biodiversity

(cid:1)  Environment and Health

(cid:1)  Natural Resources and Waste

To  achieve  improvements  in  these  areas,  the  new  Programme  sets  out  five  strategic
approaches:

(cid:1)  Ensure the implementation of existing environmental legislation;

(cid:1)  Integrate environmental concerns into all relevant policy areas;

(cid:1)  Work closely with business and consumers to identify solutions;

(cid:1)  Ensure better and more accessible information on the environment for citizens;

(cid:1)  Develop a more environmentally conscious attitude towards land use.

While the  proposal  emphasises  the  need  for  more  effective  implementation,  it  also  seeks  to
engage  a  wider  constituency,  including  business,  which  can  only  gain  from  a  successful
environmental  policy,  through  new  and  innovative  instruments  for  meeting  complex
environmental  challenges.  A  more  effective  use  of  legislation  based  on  the  best  scientific
evidence is sought together with a more participatory approach to policy making.

4.

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT

In  second  reading,  Parliament  has  submitted  amendments  of  a  general  nature  that  seek  to
emphasise  sustainability,  re-introduce  provisions  on  environmental  crime,  promote
environmental  compatibility  of  subsidies  and  fiscal  measures,  and  raising  the  quality  of
information upon which policy is based.

In addition, Parliament requests that the various thematic strategies be subject to co-decision,
and  that  they  be  ready  for  implementation  two  years  earlier  than  scheduled  in  the  common
position. Parliament has also added targets and actions in respect of  climate change  and the
urban environment.

4.1.

Amendments accepted by the Commission

(cid:1)  The  Commission  accepts  amendment  5,  which  seeks  to  provide  for  measures  to  combat

environmental crime, as the Commission had originally proposed.

(cid:1)  The Commission accepts the editorial revision on low fuel-consuming vehicles contained

in amendment 19.

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(cid:1)  The  Commission  supports  amendment  33,  which  clarifies  that  there  needs  to  be  de-
coupling  of  GDP  and  transport  growth.  This  wording  furthermore  is  consistent  with  the
Gothenburg European Council conclusions concerning the need to tackle rising volumes of
traffic.

4.2.

Amendments accepted by the Commission in principle or in part

(cid:1)  The Commission welcomes the suggestion contained in amendment 2 to underline that the
6th environment action programme “is a contribution to the environmental dimension of the
European  sustainable  development  strategy  and  to  the  integration  of  environmental
concerns into other Community policies”.

(cid:1)  The Commission accepts amendment 39, the wording of which recalls the Commission’s
original  proposal,  with  a  view  to  “bringing  about  more  sustainable  production  and
consumption patterns… and aiming to ensure that the consumption of renewable and non-
renewable resources does not exceed the carrying capacity of the environment”.

(cid:1)  The  general  demand  in  amendment  4  to  emphasise  the  awareness-raising  of  citizens  and
local  authorities  is  already  provided  in  the  common  position  (articles  2.3  and  3.9).
However, the Commission would support a specific reference to “developing initiatives to
raise  the  awareness  of  local  authorities”,  as  they  play  a  key  role,  especially  in
implementation. Citizens are already covered in article 3.9.

(cid:1)  The  Commission  accepts  the  need  to  “identify  criteria  that  would  allow  environmentally
negative subsidies to be recorded” (amendment 46), although setting a date is unacceptable
in  the  absence  of  a  clearer  idea  of  the  resources  required  for  this  task.  Additionally,  the
Commission  welcomes  amendment  45,  which  advocates  “encouraging  the  use  of…
environmental taxes and incentives at Community level”.

(cid:1)  The Commission is prepared to “provide on an oral basis annual reports to Parliament and

Council” concerning the development of the thematic strategies (amendment 14).

(cid:1)  Concerning  the  proposed  interim  target  for  climate  change  (amendment  15),  the
Commission continues to support the provisional target suggested in its communication on
a  sustainable  development  strategy.  This  stipulates  that  “after  meeting  its  Kyoto
commitment,  the  EU  should  aim  to  reduce  atmospheric  greenhouse  gas  emissions  by  an
average of 1% per annum over 1990 levels up to 2020”. In support of the climate change
objectives, the Commission can also support the suggestion “to undertake further action to
reduce  greenhouse  gas  emissions  from  motor  vehicles”  (amendment  18),  but  this  should
not be limited only to legislative action.

(cid:1)  The Commission can support the suggestion that would prescribe an “integrated, horizontal
approach”  for  the  urban  thematic  strategy  (amendment  32)  in  support  of  “improving  the
quality of the urban environment”.

(cid:1)  The  Commission  can  support  the  principle  of  making  public  impact  evaluations
(amendment 43) but otherwise considers that Parliament’s amendment is too restrictive in
limiting this to environmental impact studies. At the same time, the scope suggested (“all
Commission  Decisions  and  legislative  proposals”)  goes  beyond  that  set  out  in  the
Declaration n° 12 adopted  at the  time of the  Treaty  of  Amsterdam.  In  any  case,  full  and
effective  use  and  implementation  of  environmental  impact  assessment  and  strategic
environment assessment is already provided as a strategic approach under article 3.3. The

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common  position  should  be  maintained  but  with  the  addition  of  “and  publication  of  the
results”.

4.3.

Amendments rejected by the Commission

(cid:1)  The  Commission  opposes  amendment  41,  which  would  require  that  each  and  every
thematic  strategy  be  subject  to  co-decision.  In  addition,  the  Commission  cannot  support
amendment 13, which would bring forward the deadline by which strategies must be ready
for  implementation  by  two  years  from  five  to  three.  The  thematic  strategies  have  been
suggested  as  a  flexible  response  to  specific  priority  environmental  problems,  and  the
appropriate  form  of  the  strategy  should  only  be  decided  in  the  light  of  the  widespread
consultation  that  will  take  place.  The  common  position  recognises  this  while  giving  a
signal that the use of a Decision is to be considered. The need to prepare and consult means
that a deadline of three years for all strategies to be ready for implementation is unrealistic.

(cid:1)  At present, the Commission cannot accept the additional target of stabilising transport CO2
emissions in the context of the Kyoto 8% reduction target for 2008-2012 (amendment 42)
since  the  establishment  of  sector-specific  environmental  targets  needs  to  be  based  on  an
analysis  of  feasible  options  and  cost-effectiveness.  The  Commission  will  address
environmental targets in the transport sphere in a Communication in 2002, as announced in
the White Paper on the common transport policy.

(cid:1)  The  Commission  considers  that  amendment  20  on  measures  to  reduce  emissions  of
industrial  greenhouse  gases  is  superfluous  to  the  text  of  the  common  position,  which
already provides for phasing out production and reducing use of the relevant gases (HFC,
PFC, SF6).

(cid:1)  The  date  provided  for  in  amendment  38  concerning  information  on  indicators  is  out  of
place. Proposing a date (of 2003) suggests that information is to be provided on a one-off
basis, whereas the provision of such information is meant to be regular, as set out on article
10e of the common position.

5.

CONCLUSION

Pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal as set out
above.

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