EEA snapshot of environmental priorities for 2009

Monday 12 January 2009

Climate change, biodiversity and resource use are among priority issues expected to dominate the EU environmental policy debate this year, according to a report published by the European environment agency (EEA) on Friday.

The report gives a snapshot of eight environment policy areas: global climate change talks, climate adaptation and water, invasive species, air quality, bioenergy, marine management, the common agricultural policy and waste shipments.

It mirrors draft provisional agendas released by the Czech Republic last week detailing the member state's environmental priorities during its six-month stint as the country presiding over EU affairs (EE 07/01/09 http://www.endseurope.com/20306).

In the report, the EEA calls on member states to submit more detailed information to the European commission on implementation of EU legislation to improve environmental impact assessments and help shape future policy.

Information supplied on waste shipments in particular is not sufficient to provide a clear picture of the situation at EU level, according to the agency. Better data could help EEA "tell whether waste shipments are driven by better treatment options, greater capacity or effective pricing", report authors say.

Follow-up: EEA press release http://www.eea.europa.eu/pressroom/newsreleases/killer-slugs-and-other-aliens and report http://reports.eea.europa.eu/signals-2009/en/EEA-Signals-2009-EN-web.pdf.

ENDS Europe Daily is Europe's leading environmental news service. A free trial is available by clicking on the following link: http://www.endseuropedaily.com/web/helcom.