Council Conclusions — Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT)
Date: 2003-11-07
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: action programme, forest conservation, forestry economics, forestry holding, forestry legislation, governance, illicit trade, trading operation

7.11.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 268/1

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(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT)

(2003/C 268/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. Considering the Council Resolution of 11 November 1999
on forests and development where it recommended the
Community and the Member States to contribute to the
partnership for
its
Member States, partner countries,
international organi-
sations and civil society for efficient implementation of
global forest related priorities;

action between the Community,

2. Recalling the Council conclusions on the World Summit
on Sustainable Development
the Johannesburg
Declaration on Sustainable Development and Plan of
Implementation;

(WSSD),

3. Recognising that the Action Plan on FLEGT proposed by
the Commission forms part of the firm commitment made
by the EU to actively contribute to international processes
such as the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), the
expanded work programme of
the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) with regard to forest biological
diversity, the International Tropical Timber Organisation
(ITTO) and the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);

4. Welcomes the Action Plan on FLEGT set out

in the
Commission Communication as a first step to tackle the
urgent issue of illegal logging and its associated trade in a
collaborative and coordinated way with consumer and
producer countries,
the private sector and other stake-
holders;

5. Recognises that illegal logging is a complex problem that

requires a multidisciplinary approach;

6. Acknowledges

the

fact

forest

law enforcement,
that
governance and trade needs to be addressed within the
framework of sustainable development, sustainable forest
management and poverty reduction, as well as social equity
and national sovereignty;

In particular, the Council:

7. Recognises the need for the EU to contribute to global

efforts to tackle the problem of illegal logging;

8. Stresses the importance of strengthened governance in the
forest sector, and the positive impact this has on reducing
poverty;

9. Urges the Community and Member States to enter into
political dialogue with key target countries to instigate
forest sector governance reforms, more specifically to:

— strengthen land tenure and access rights especially for
indigenous

communities

rural

and

marginalised,
peoples (1);

— strengthen effective participation of all stakeholders,
notably of non-state actors and indigenous peoples (1),
in policy-making and implementation;

— increase transparency in association with forest exploi-
including through the introduction

tation operations,
of independent monitoring;

— reduce corruption in association with the award of
forest exploitations concessions, and the harvesting
and trade in timber;

— engage the private sector of

the timber producing

countries in the efforts to combat illegal logging;

— address other

issues

related to illegal

logging as

identified, such as the financing of violent conflict.

10. Invites the Community and Member States, inter alia in the
course of the mid-term review of the Country Strategy
Papers (CSPs), to introduce forest sector governance into
strategies
programs
especially in regions and countries with significant forest
resources, and to provide adequate funds from geographic
and thematic budget lines in order to build capacity and
support implementation of key reforms;

development

cooperation

and

(1) There is no common EU position on the use of the term indigenous
peoples. Some Member States are of
indigenous
peoples are not to be regarded as having the right of self-deter-
mination for the purpose of Article 1 of the ICCPR and the ICESCR,
and that use of the term does not imply that indigenous people or
peoples are entitled to exercise collective rights.

the view that

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Official Journal of the European Union

7.11.2003

logging and the associated trade,

11. Invites the Commission together with Member States to
engage all the major consumer and producer countries
and organisations in a dialogue in order to seek to build
a consensus on the best way to tackle the problem of
in particular by
illegal
exploring multilateral and regional
responses and by
presenting and discussing the ideas developed in the
Action Plan at
the appropriate international meetings
such as UNFF, the ITTO, the regional FLEG processes,
the Asia Forest Partnership and the Congo Basin Forest
Partnership;

12. Invites the Commission together with Member States to
enter
into discussions with timber producer countries
and regional organisations about their readiness for, their
views on and the scope of voluntary FLEGT Partnership
Agreements and to report back to the Council by
mid-2004. The results of the discussions will form the
to the
for a future debate on the mandate
basis
Commission for negotiations with concerned partners;

the

internal

impact of

and external

13. Invites the Commission to review options for, and to
consider
the
measures indicated in the Action Plan, including the devel-
opment of a Regulation, and to review options for, and the
imports of
further legislation to control
feasibility of,
illegally harvested timber and conflict
taking
account of relevant initiatives in other areas, as well as
existing multilateral mechanisms, and the impact on
domestic industries, and present
to the
Council by mid-2004;

findings

timber,

its

14. Urges Member States to provide the Commission with
relevant information regarding national legislation which
could be applied to address the illegal logging issue. In this
regard, the Council suggests that Member States and the
Commission establish a virtual network to facilitate the
exchange of information on their findings.

COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

of 27 October 2003

on a European environment and health strategy

(2003/C 268/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

I. RECALLING THAT:

1. The Treaty in Articles 152 and 174 requires that a high level of human health protection should be
ensured in the definition and implementation of all Community policies and actions, that Community
policy on the environment shall contribute to, inter alia, the protection of human health and the
promotion of measures at international level to deal with regional or global environmental problems,
and that the Community policy on the environment shall be based on the precautionary principle.

2. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines ‘environment and health’ as including ‘both the direct
pathological effects of chemicals, radiation and some biological agents, and the effects (often indirect)
on health and well-being of the broad physical, psychological, social and aesthetic environment, which
includes housing, urban development, land use and transport’ (1).

3. The Sixth Environmental Action Programme has the goal of contributing to a high level of quality of
life and social well-being for citizens by providing an environment where the level of pollution does
not give rise to harmful effects on human health and the environment.

4. The Programme of Community action in the field of Public Health (2003-2008) lists among its range
of actions and support measures that of promoting health and preventing disease through action on
health determinants across all Community policies and activities.

(1) ‘Environment and health. The European Charter and commentary’,
Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 1990 (WHO
Regional Publications, European Series, No 35).