EU marine environment strategy shapes up

Environment Daily 1768, 15/11/04

Tough enforcement measures for the EU's planned environmental marine strategy have not been ruled out, following talks between the European Commission and interested parties in Rotterdam.

Head of the Commission's environment directorate Catherine Day gave a strong indication that binding measures could follow the strategy next year. "We may need a legal framework to guarantee that everyone will play their part", she said.

But exactly what the framework would cover is not yet clear. Michael Scott of Scottish Natural Heritage and European environmental advisory councils group EEAC pointed out that some aspects of the strategy - such as halting biodiversity decline - would be almost impossible to police.

One possibility mooted in Rotterdam was the idea of having a legal framework to set common goals, whilst leaving a good deal of flexibility as to how these should be enforced at regional level.

Speaking after the three-day meeting - the last in an extensive stakeholder consultation procedure - Mr Scott said he was "very happy" with the way things were going. He said the Commission had taken on board EEAC calls for a clear "end point" towards which the strategy should.

Rosanna Miccich of NGO Greenpeace however said she was disappointed not have seen clearer indications of what the strategy will look like. In particular she said it was still not clear how existing regional conventions would fit into an EU-wide strategy.

Commission officials said they were now just waiting for EU environment commissioner designate Stavros Dimas to take office and decide on a timetable for upcoming environmental work. Publication by March, as originally planned, is still a possibility, though next summer seems more likely.

Follow-up:

European Commission http://europa.eu.int/comm.