EEL News Service 2005/04, 24 February 2005 http://www.eel.nl
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Added to Dossiers page:
* Luxembourg Presidency Dossier
An overview of the environmental priorities of the present presidency: the Lisbon process, Kyoto Protocol, Quality of bathing water, Sulphur content of marine fuels, Underground water, LIFE+, INSPIRE, and REACH. The dossier provides a short description of each of these issues and, where relevant, an indication of the stage in the decision-making process as well as links to relevant background materials.
* Packaging and Packaging Waste Dossier
This topic deserves special attention as it is part of the EU waste policy aimed at preventing as much as possible the coming into being of waste. In practice however, the average amounts of packaging waste produced by Europeans are still rising. Besides an overview of the European side of the topic, developments in Germany and the Netherlands are sketched, attention is payed to the case law of the ECJ and links to other information sources are provided.
Added to Legislation pages:
* Latest texts of the main pieces of EC environmental legislation, notably framework directives, for all policy areas.
Added to Policy areas, General, Policy Documents on Sustainable development:
* Communication from the Commission on the 2005 Review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy: Initial Stocktaking and Future Orientations, COM(2005) 37 final of 9 January 2005
The document puts an end to a period of confusion over the EU environmental priorities regarding sustainable development. Coming a week after proposals to refocus the EU Lisbon strategy on jobs and growth, it stresses the Commission’s determination simultaneously to make concrete progress on the broader sustainability agenda. The communication launches a first review of the EU sustainable development strategy since has been launched in 2001.
Added to Policy areas, Waste:
* Communication for the Commission in the framework of the implementation of the European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (2005/C 44/13)
The EU has formally endorsed a series of technical standards for packaging materials developed by European standardization body CEN. The decision has been published in the Official Journal after Member States’ approval. Packaging firms can cite the standards to show compliance with a series of “essential requirements” in EU packaging law. EU endorsement means the burden of proof to demonstrate compliance has shifted from industry to regulatory authorities.
Added to Policy areas, Climate Change:
* Commission’s Communication on action on climate change post 2012
On 9 February 2005 the Commission adopted the Communication on “Winning the Battle Against Climate Change” and a more detailed Staff Working Paper. The Communication outlines key elements for the EU’s post-2012 strategy. It highlights the need for broader participation by countries and sectors not already subject to emissions reductions, the development of low-carbon technologies, the continued and expanded use of market mechanisms, and the need to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change.
Added to Events page, upcoming conferences:
* 1-3 March 2005, Carbon Markets Insights, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
* 14-16 April 2005, EnergyMed 2005, Conference Exhibition on Renewable Sources and Energy Efficiency in the Mediterranean Countries, Naples, Italy
* 19-20 April 2005, 3rd Annual Brussels Climate Change Conference, Brussels, Belgium
* 21 April 2005, Implementatie Kaderrichtlijn Water Congres, Heerlijkheid Marienwaerdt Beesd, the Netherlands
* 2-4 May 2005, International Congress on Successful Cases in Sustainable Development, Veracruz, Mexico
* 19-21 May 2005 SolarExpo 2005, International Conference and Exhibition on Renewable Energy, Distributed Generation and Green Building, Vicenza, Italy
* 24-25 May 2005, Actualiteiten milieuwet- en regelgeving, Hilversum, The Netherlands
* 14-26 August 2005, University of Joensuu – UNEP Course on International Environmental Law-making and Diplomacy, Joensuu, Finland
* 26-29 October 2005, Ecomondo 2005, 8th International Trade Fair on Material & Energy Recovery Rimini and Sustainable Development, Rimini, Italy
* 29 September – 1 October 2005, Eolica Expo Mediterranean 2005, Rome, Italy
Added to the Reviews page:
* Convergence with EU environmental legislation in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: a Guide, ERM, 2003 (English and Russian full text versions available at EEL website)
An extensive report developed by Environment Resources Management in the context of a DG Environment framework contract “Financing capacity for implementation and enforcement of harmonising environmental policy in the NIS. The report sets out a roadmap for these countries, identifying preliminary priorities that could help to target further financial assistance at the regional or national level and identifying the (parts of) EU directives that could be targeted for convergence in the next five to ten years in the NIS.
* The precautionary principle: protecting public health, the environment and the future of our children, Marco Martuzzi and Joel A. Tickner (eds.), WHO, 2004
In 12 chapters, written by leading public and environmental health scientists, a wide range of topics from public health to ethical values and implementing precaution is explored. The book finds that there is no single recipe for applying precaution; there are different types of risk, evidence and uncertainty. Furthermore, it gives concrete examples how to continuously reduce and if possible remove exposures to potentially harmful substances, activities and other conditions. The full text pdf-version of this book is available at the EEL website and at the WHO site.
* Environmental Information Centres, Resource and Services, K. Vilimaite (ed.), REC, 2004
The Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe published this database that contains information about environmental centres, resources and services from 350 sources in 15 countries. The directory is especially relevant to environmental information specialists as well as other environmental stakeholders, including researchers, governmental officials, NGOs, businesses and others seeking environmental information. Again, the full text of the book is available as pdf-file at the EEL website and at the REC site.
Updates:
* National page: Italy
Several pieces of Italian environmental legislation were added, and a series of ECJ cases in which Italy was condemned for failing to abide by several environmental directives.
Updates:
* Dossier Editors: Gerrit Betlem (new contact details)
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Editors-in-Chief:
Wybe Th. Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Jens Hamer (Academy of European Law, Trier)
Editor:
Daria Ratsiborinskaya (Institute of European law, MGIMO, Moscow)
Technical realisation:
Marco van der Harst, Julien J.M. Simon
(T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
e-mail: mailto:eelnewsservices@asser.nl