Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (Codified version) COM(2006) 543 final — 2006/0170 (COD)
Date: 2007-02-15
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU environmental policy, air quality, codification of EU law, industrial pollution, polluter pays principle, pollution control measures, waste management

C 97/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.4.2007

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council concerning integrated pollution prevention and control
(Codified version)

COM(2006) 543 final — 2006/0170 (COD)

(2007/C 97/04)

the European Economic and Social
On 11 October 2006 the European Council decided to consult
Committee, under Article 175(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovemen-
tioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 25 January 2007. The rapporteur was
Mr Osborn.

At its 433rd plenary session, held on 15-16 February 2007 (meeting of 15 February), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 188 votes to 2 with 8 abstentions.

1. Introduction

The purpose of the Commission's proposal is to under-
1.1
take
codification of Council Directive 96/61/EC of
a
24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention
and control and a number of subsequent amendments of that
Directive.

1.2
The Committee strongly supports the regular codification
of EU law in all areas. It agrees with the Commission and the
other institutions that such codification makes the legislation
more transparent and accessible to all those needing to use it
and more comprehensible to the public.

2. General comments

2.1
In the present case codification has an additional benefit
since it will bring all the European legislation on integrated
pollution prevention and control together in a single Directive
in good time before any new proposals arising from the current
review of
the pollution prevention and control are brought
forward. It will thus facilitate consideration of any new propo-
sals by the European institutions and by other interested parties.

2.2
In this context the Committee recalls its own previous
Opinion commenting on progress in implementing integrated
pollution prevention and control delivered in December
2003 (1). At that time the Committee expressed concern about
a number of problems that had already been identified in the
implementation of
the Directive. These included delays and
confusion in transposition, delays and lack of transparency in
the conditions imposed on sites subject to IPPC control, difficul-
ties in securing consistent standards of inspection of sites in
operation and of enforcement of permit conditions and a
number of other concerns.

(1) OJ C 80, 30.3.2004, pp. 29-34.

2.3
Since then the Commission has developed an Action
Plan to assist in making faster progress throughout the Union,
and the Committee are glad to see from the current studies
being undertaken by the Commission on implementation that
there does appear to have been some acceleration of action on
implementation in many parts of the Union.

It

aspects of

The Committee does however remain concerned about a
2.4
number of
is particularly
implementation.
concerned that a number of member states seem likely to face
considerable difficulties in bringing all their sites under the IPPC
control regime by the end of 2007 as required by the Directive.
(Most countries in Europe have had ten years to achieve full
implementation and even the new member states have had
about three years to achieve at least the basic framework of
control for installation sites). It also remains concerned about
the lack of transparency about the reasons which have led some
competent authorities to grant permits to operations that fall a
long way short of the achievable emission values set out in the
BREF documents. The basic concept of integrated assessment so
as to allow sensible trade-offs between emissions to different
media is not always carried through effectively. Varying practices
as regards frequency and robustness of inspection procedures
are also a cause for concern.

EESC looks forward to playing its part in commenting
2.5
further at later stages of the review process on the IPPC legisla-
tion. Meanwhile it would encourage the Commission and the
other
Institutions to be ready to consider significant new
measures to secure more effective implementation of the legisla-
tion in the light of the very mixed state of implementation
revealed by the current studies by the Commission.

28.4.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 97/13

IPPC has the potential to bring about a steady improve-
2.6
ment in the standards of operation of businesses across Europe
in a sensitive way that takes account of local conditions and
circumstances. But it is taking a long time to establish itself as a
significant force for change and improvement in environmental
performance of operation. If it is to retain the confidence both
of businesses and of the rest of civil society it is essential that it
be implemented transparently and enforced consistently across
Europe. Otherwise it will fail to establish a dynamic framework
for steady improvement of performance as the investment cycle

provides opportunities, will prejudice fair competition, and will
lead to growing distrust in the whole system as a means of
improving environmental performance and better environmental
quality across Europe.

Codification of existing legislation in the present Direc-
2.7
tive is a useful step in itself. But it should be regarded as doing
no more than paving the way for the further measures that are
likely to be needed to improve implementation following the
current review.

Brussels, 15 February 2007.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Directive
on pure-bred breeding animals of the bovine species (codified version)

COM(2006) 749 final — 2006/0250 (CNS)

(2007/C 97/05)

On 22 December 2006 the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Articles 37 and 94 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-
mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 25 January 2007. The rapporteur was
Mr Bros.

At its 433rd plenary session, held on 15 and 16 February 2007 (meeting of 15 February), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 184 votes to 1, with 16 abstentions:

1. Introduction

1.1
The purpose of this proposal is to undertake a codifica-
tion of Council Directive 77/504/EEC of 25 July 1977 on pure-
bred breeding animals of the bovine species. The new Directive
will supersede the various acts incorporated in it; this proposal
fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence
does no more than bring them together with only such formal
amendments as are required by the codification exercise itself.

2. General comments

2.1
The Committee regards it as very useful to have all the
texts integrated into one Directive. In the context of a People's

Brussels, 15 February 2007.

like the Commission, attaches great
Europe, the Committee,
importance to simplifying and clarifying Community law so as
to make it clearer and more accessible to ordinary citizens, thus
giving them new opportunities and the chance to make use of
the specific rights it gives them.

2.2
It has been ensured that this compilation of provisions
contains no changes of substance and serves only the purpose
of presenting Community law in a clear and transparent way.
The Committee expresses its total support for this objective and,
in the light of these guarantees, welcomes the proposal.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS