EEL News Service 2007/1, 11 January 2007 (http://www.eel.nl)
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Upcoming Event:
* Tackling Climate Change – An Appraisal of the Kyoto Protocol and options for the future
Date: 30 and 31 March 2006
Location: T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands
Click here for more detailed information.
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* On 18 December 2006 the environmental council held its last meeting under the Finnish presidency
During this meeting they officially adopted the REACH Regulation, agreed on what to do concerning marine environmental policy and discussed the waste framework directive. All these topics are covered in this newsletter and available under ‘Finnish presidency’ on the EEL website.
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Added to Legislation, Dangerous Substances
* Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006
On 18 December 2006 the Council approved the REACH deal, after the European Parliament had already voted in favour on 13 December 2006. The new rules on the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals will come into effect on the 1st of June 2007. The Regulation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 30 December 2006.
* Six pesticides have been re-approved, but they will be under very strict control
Of these six pesticides, two have been authorized until the end of 2009 and four have been authorized until the end of June 2008. Needless to say, this is much shorter than the usual ten year time period, which usually applies to active substances. The short authorization clearly demonstrates the reluctance of several Member States to authorize these six substances. All six pesticides are dealt with in separate Directives, which were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 December 2006.
* Directive 2006/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 This Directive covers PFOS marketing and use restrictions and amends Directive 76/769/EEC for the 30th time. It will apply as of 27 June 2008, limiting concentrations of PFOS to 0.005 per cent by mass in chemical preparations, and to 0.1 per cent by mass in semi-finished products or articles. There are a couple of exemptions for essential industrial uses, for instance fire-fighting foams put on the market before the ban entered force can be used until June 2011. It was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 December 2006.
Added to Legislation, Water
* Directive 2006/118/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006
This Directive is on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration. The new Directive sets safety values for various polluting substances, such as ammonium, lead and mercury. All the necessary measures must be taken in order to prevent the hazardous substances from entering into the groundwater. The Directive will enter into force as of December 2008 and Member States have until January 2009 to transpose it into national laws.
Added to Policy Areas, Climate Change
* ETS: Actions announced against overdue National Allocation Plans
Austria, Denmark, France, Hungary and Italy are the five remaining Member States not to have submitted their national allocation plans for the second phase of the EU Emission Trading Scheme that were due in June according to the EU Emission Trading Directive. The Commission has announced infringement action against these states as well as separate actions against seven other states of which the NAPs were not submitted correctly.
* ETS: Commission’s aviation plans softened, 20 December 2006
The plans of the Commission to bring the aviation sector as of 2011 under the rules of the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), have been watered down following protests from the United States and several airlines. Under the original plans the airlines would have to buy 10%, but now it is set to limit auctioning to the, much lower, average of the rest of the EU ETS, in order to treat all industries fairly. Non-EU airlines will be exempt until 2012. Air travel accounts for 3 to 3,5% to global carbon emissions, but this figure is rising fast. The Commission proposal amending Directive 2003/87/EC so as to include aviation activities in the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community 2006/0304 (COD) states exactly what the new plans are.
* Price of CO2 reaches new low
The price for emitting a tonne of carbon dioxide has continued to drop in the first week of 2007. Whereas until the spring of 2006 the price was around €30,-, on 9 January 2007 it stood at €3,50. The main cause of the further is said to be the warmer than average winter in Europe, whereas the dropping in 2006 was probably caused by oversupply on the market. On a more positive note, the activity on the ETS carbon market is increasing.
Added to Policy Areas, Air
* Parliament and the Council reach deal on tougher car emission standards
In December 2006, the Council and the Parliament reached a deal on tougher Euro 5 and Euro 6 emission standards. This means there will be new standards for fine particles, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides as of 2009 and new standards for Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) as of 2014. The deal was reached quite easily, because the Council accepted the Parliament’s proposed time table in exchange for the NOx standards that the Council proposed. As usual, the car industry considered the targets very hard to meet, whilst the environmental groups did not think it was far going enough. The new deal will go into force at the beginning of this year.
* Europe is doing well on international air pollution targets
During an UNECE meeting, in December 2006, it was said that Europe is developing well towards achieving the air pollution reduction targets set under the Gothenburg protocol. However, despite the general good European performance one should not overlook the differences in individual countries’ performances.
Added to Policy Areas, Energy
* European Parliament resolution on a strategy for biomass und biofuels, 2006/2082 (INI)
On 14 December 2006 the Parliament has adopted the report by German MEP Langen of 12 October 2006 on a strategy for biomass and biofuels as part of the ‘Biomass action plan’.
Added to Policy Areas, Water
* Ministers want to ‘aim’ for the marine’s ‘good environmental status’… but no obligations During the Environment Council meeting in December, the Ministers decided that they do want good environmental status in marine waters by 2021, but they do not want to make it binding. Besides that, it will also not be necessary to take measures when the costs are disproportionate to the marine environment risks. The agreement stipulates that Member States must asses the current national marine environment status within four years after the Directive coming into force. By 2018 they should have put into practice their plans to develop a good environmental status.
Added to Policy Areas, Waste
* Working towards a classification of municipal waste-to-energy plants based on their incineration efficiency
This is a very important aspect of the amendments to the Waste Framework Directive, especially considering the new waste recovery targets that result from other EU legislation. During the environment Council meeting on 18 December 2006 the Ministers were still unable to agree on this issue, even though the environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas stressed that there is no realistic alternative.
Added to National Pages, the Netherlands
* The Netherlands successfully promoting energy efficient products
Three pilot projects by the Dutch Ministry of Environment supplying ‘energy boxes’ with energy saving products as well as ‘energy gift vouchers’ have been big successes. Consumers could order products like foil to place behind radiators, insulation materials and energy-efficient light bulbs of a value up till €100,- free of charge. More people than expected made use of the offer. An evaluation will decide on a possible extension of the programme.
Added to National Pages, Germany
* German renewable energy production growing strongly
In 2006 the production of energy from renewable sources has grown with 15 per cent and now constitutes 7.7 per cent of total energy consumed. Especially the use of renewable heat production and biofuels in the transport sector rose quickly. The industry sector group BEE claims they are now well on their way of reaching 2010 targets. Herewith Germany has saved 4.2 billion euro on imports of fossil fuels and has reduced its carbon dioxide emission with 10 million tonnes.
Added to National Pages, Spain
* A private mining company in Spain is fined the largest sum ever for an environmental offence in the EU
The mining company was found guilty of operating an opencast coal mine for 11 years, without permission. Consequently, the municipality of Villablino set a penalty of 170 million euros, according to regional legislation, which states that the fine may not be less than the profit obtained during the period of illegal operation.
Added to Job Postings
* The European Biodiesel Board (EBB)
is looking for an Assistant Manager with a background in EU politics, law or economics and with excellent (bilingual) English, French and German proficiency. They also search two interns for a minimum period of 6-9 months, with background in EU public affairs; one intern should also have a background in EU projects (Call For Proposals in the renewable energies sector).
* Junior Consultant at Ecofys in Nuremberg, Germany
To support their international public and private sector clients with science based analyses and solutions for climate policy development and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
* United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Various vacancies, mostly with regard to the Clean Development Mechanism.
* The Oregon LL.M in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
The University of Oregon has the best environmental law program in the United States and the oldest in the world. Oregon’s many environmental law scholars are nationally and internationally renowned for both their writings and their teaching, which has produced lawyers who are leaders in academia, government, nongovernmental organizations, public interest law firms, and business law firms. The priority application date for next year’s course is 1 March 2007.
Added to Upcoming Events
* Chatham House Conferences: ‘Political Risk Revised’
Chatham House, London, United Kingdom
The Global Resource Challenge
Date: 5 February 2007 – 6 February 2007
Click here fore more information
* Chatham House Conferences: ‘Corporate Responsibility 2007’
Chatham House, London, United Kingdom
Sense and Sustainability: The Limits and Reach of Corporate Responsibility
Date: 26 March 2007 – 27 March 2007
Click here for more information
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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