Press Release
Green group highlight green priorities for Danish Presidency
16th January 2012
Green group EEB has released its environmental expectations for the new Danish EU presidency, signalling that greening the economy is the only sustainable way out of Europe’s current economic crisis.
”If the EU is to start living within its ecological footprint, it must rapidly take concrete steps towards an environmentally sustainable future,” said EEB Secretary General Jeremy Wates.. The group highlighted the preparation for the Seventh Environmental Action Programme (7EAP) as an important way to achieve this as well as work on this year’s Rio+20 conference.
The EEB Memorandum puts forward recommendations on how the Presidency should handle discussions regarding the EU budget, the common agricultural policy and fisheries, as well as a number of specific topics that are on the agenda such sulphur in marine fuels, ship dismantling and GMOs. Other areas highlighted include the strengthening of proposals concerning the directives on energy efficiency and energy tax and the forthcoming review on chemicals legislation, REACH.
The Memorandum incorporates the EEB’s Ten Green Tests which were released last month. These tests, which highlight the most pressing challenges, will be used to evaluate the performance of the EU and the presidency in the six months to come.
“The appointment of a new Danish government that has made no bones about its green ambitions just a couple of months before Denmark takes over the EU Presidency has raised hopes among environmental NGOs that this is a Presidency that will make a difference,” said EEB Secretary General Jeremy Wates.
“We hope that the Danish presidency will do its best to fulfil those hopes and will rise to the challenge of steering the EU towards a greener future.”
.jpg)