The Sixth Environmental Aaction Programme: A New Approach To EU Environmental Regulation.
| Autor | Bernat Mullerat |
| Páginas | vLex |
-
INTRODUCTION
The European Union's environmental legislation goes back to the early 1970s. At that time, the EC Treaty had no specific provision underpinning environmental protection, but the EU used the principle of approximation of national laws affecting the establishment or functioning of the common market (Article 100 ECT) as a legal basis, together with Article 235 ECT. This allowed the EU to pass more than 100 environmental instruments relating to water, air and noise pollution as well as waste management, control of chemicals and the protection of fauna and flora, before the Single European Act came into effect in 1987.
Over the last 30 years, the EU's environmental policy objectives have been presented in Action Programmes, which were fundamentally aimed at ensuring environmental progress across member states. Although not legally binding in themselves, Action Programmes enable the EU Commission to propose legislation for the protection of the environment.
Action Programmes have led to significant improvements in our environment with the assistance of EU and national legislation. This has led to reductions in acidification, ozone depleting substances, waste production and to the improvement of air and water quality. The first four Action Programmes were adopted in November 1973, May 1977, February 1983 and 1987. These Action Programmes were very much reactive, end of pipe strategies responding to environmental problems once they have occurred. Indeed, the EU's approach to environmental protection was purely based on command-and-control measures.
The Fifth Environmental Action Programme "Towards Sustainability" was approved in 1993 and came to an end in 2000.
Unlike its predecessors, the Fifth Environmental Action Programme was much more proactive. It was based on the concept of sustainable development which had been put forward in the 1987 Bundland report. It recognised the benefits of continued growth and efficiency, so long as environmental constraints are taken into account. This Action Programme also instituted the concept of "shared responsibility" whereby all sectors and levels of society should work together towards greater environmental protection.
Despite the ambitious goals set out in the Fifth Environmental Action Programme, an EU Commission review published last year considered this Action Programme as a "failure". The EU Commission has been criticised for not implementing its policies more thoroughly. Therefore, the new Action Programme published on 24 January 2001 aims to achieve precisely this, strong policy implementation.
-
THE SIXTH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PROGRAMME
At the Helsinki European Council in 1999, European heads of state invited the EU Commission to prepare by the end of 2000 a proposal for the Sixth Environmental Action Programme. They asked the EU Commission "to prepare a proposal for a long-term strategy highlighting policies for economically, socially and ecologically sustainable development to be presented to the European Council in June 2001. This strategy will also serve as a Community input for the ten year review of the...
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu prueba