Added to Case Law
* Case C-313/06, Commission v. Italy
On 19 April 2007, the ECJ ruled that Italy had failed to implement EU rules on air pollution from non-road engines, as laid down in Directive 2004/26/EC. The deadline for transposition was 20 May 2005. Consequently the ECJ orders Italy to pay the costs.
* Case C-219/05, Commission v. Spain
On 19 April 2007, the ECJ ruled that Spain failed to comply with Directive 91/271/EEC on urban waste water treatment. It stated that Spain failed the secure treatment of its waste water at several different locations, and should therefore pay the costs.
* Case C-135/05 Commission v. Italy
In a judgment of 26 April 2007 the Court has ruled in favour of the Commission, which had lodged a complaint against Italy over EU waste legislation. The Court punished Italy for generally and persistently failing to enforce a number of three waste Directives. The Directives cover landfills, hazardous waste and waste. The fact that in Italy some 700 illegal waste tips are still operating allowed the Court to deduct that control and enforcement measures are not in place in this country.
Added to Legislation, General
* Environmental liability directive (2004/35/EC) not being transposed
Not many Member States seem to have noticed the deadline for the implementation of directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability (30 April 2007). Only three Member States, notably Italy, Latvia and Lithuania have transposed the directive establishing an environmental liability framework to ensure that environmental damage is prevented or remedied. “If the others do not follow very soon the Commission will have to consider starting legal action”, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said on 27 April 2007.
Added to Legislation, Water
* Agreement on new floods directive
Triggered by climate change and its possible consequences, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament have agreed on the proposal for a directive on the assessment and management of flood risks COM(2006)15. Under the proposed directive, Member States have the obligation to identify river basins and coastal areas subject to flooding and they must take measures to reduce risks.
Added to Policy Areas, General
* Current Commission environment unfriendly
This is the main message from a new report by ten Green European NGOs. After serving a midterm, Barroso’s Commission only gets sufficient marks for the climate change (7 out of 10) energy and agriculture (6). The worst score (2) is reached in the sectors of forestry, marine protection and GMOs. The ‘Green 10’ stress in their report called ‘Could try harder’ that it is still not too late for the Commission to improve its records on environmental protection.
Added to Policy Areas, Climate Change
* World Bank predicting higher carbon prices in the EU ETS second phase
The World Bank’s report State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2007 presented on 1 May 2007 at Carbon Expo in Cologne, indicates expectations for a rise in the price of the EU carbon emission allowances traded under the EU ETS. After the first phase prices have crashed to less than 1 euro per tonne in the last few months, critique on the scheme increased. The size of the carbon market is however still growing substantially, with over 1.6 billion tonnes traded in 2006.
* EU-US climate change summit ends positively
EU President and Chancellor of Germany Angel Merkel, the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and US President George Bush met on 30 April 2007 to discuss climate change issues. The joint statement includes some interesting results, as both parties agreed to ‘promote a constructive agenda’ in Bali where the next COP/MOP will be held later this year. Where Bush urged the large developing countries (pointing in particular to India and China) to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Merkel and Barroso acknowledged the difficulty of having different approaches.
* EP members moving from Brussels to Strasbourg is a polluting activity
The regular traveling of Members of the European Parliament from Brussels to Strasbourg is a very polluting tradition. In a report issued the last week of April 2007 by the European Green Party, scientists claim that the total of CO2 emissions associated with Strasbourg – use of energy in buildings, transport and purchases associated – is very significant. The European Greens are in favor of creating just one single seat of the European Parliament, namely in Brussels.
Added to Policy Areas, Water
* Commission Communication on Black Sea Synergy COM(2007)170
On 11 April 2007, the Commission presented the Black Sea Synergy as a new European regional cooperation initiative. It builds on EU policies that are already in effect and it is aimed at the development of cooperation in the Black Sea region. The main cooperation areas are, among others, energy, transport, environment and maritime policy.
Added to National Pages, Germany
* ‘Massive’ and ‘drastic’ action plan will cut German greenhouse gas emissions of 40% by 2020
German Minister of Environment Gabriel has issued an action plan aiming at a 40% reduction of German greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The plan focuses, among others, on energy efficiency measures, which will cut energy consumption by 11%, and renewable energy could potentially take up a 27% share of the national power supply. The 40% binding target for Germany is subordinated to the EU’s adoption of an overall goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 30% by 2020.
*Recent updates National Pages
National pages have been updated with news, case law, legislation and recent developments in EEL. See, inter alia, Italy, Switzerland & France
Added to Events
* Policy Instruments and Effectiveness: An Environment and Law Conference
The objective of the Seminar is to provide an interactive forum for presenting and debating ongoing work on law and environment.
Date: 11 June 2007
Venue: Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki
Added to Job Postings
*Institute for European Environmental Policy
IEEP is looking for a full time Programme Director responsible for agriculture and rural development policy.
Location: London, UK
Deadline: noon on 9 May 2007
* World Wide Fund International
WWF is looking for a Business & Industry Engagement Marketing Manager, who will work in the WWF Global Climate Change Programme to develop and implement marketing strategies.
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Deadline: 11 May 2007
* Greenpeace
Greenpeace offers internships for assisting one or more policy coordinators or the media officer of Greenpeace European Unit with a concrete project, related to your expertise and interests, including Chemicals, GMOs, Renewable Energy, Forests protection, Climate and Oceans & Some administrative assistance.
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Deadline: n.a. (but do not send any applications before May 2007)
* EBRD is announcing vacancies on the position of:
Principal/Senior Banker. The closing date for applications is 18 May 2007.
Energy Specialist, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Team. The closing date for applications is 9 May 2007.
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Editors-in-Chief:
Wybe Th. Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Jens Hamer (Academy of European Law, Trier)
Editors:
Leonardo Massai (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Ruben Vermeeren (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Sara Woods (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Technical realisation:
Marco van der Harst (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
e-mail: eelnewsservices@asser.nl
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