PRESS RELEASE

Good on climate and water, bad on pesticides and sustainable development: the Portuguese Presidency

EEB assesses the achievements of Portugal's six-month EU Presidency

(Brussels, 20 December 2007) - "Portugal's Presidency will be remembered for leading the EU in a united front against climate change in Bali so that in the end, the USA had to bow. It also worked hard on a number of specific environmental agenda issues, including leadership on raising awareness of water scarcity and a proposed worldwide ban on Mercury. It worked hard on a compromise on soil protection, where it ultimately failed. However we do not positively view Portugal's concrete work on pesticides and sustainable development," said John Hontelez, Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau.[1]

As usual, the EEB has produced an assessment of the outgoing Presidency, based on the Ten Green Tests it put before the Portuguese government when it took over from Germany on the 1st of July. The Presidency clearly scores positive on climate because of its leadership in Bali. The EEB also applauds the progress made on a legally binding global policy on mercury within the framework of UNEP. On air quality, results of the final negotiations with the European Parliament were mixed, with limits on particulate matter set at the EU level for the first time muddled by murky logic and confusing regulations. 

But the EEB has major concerns over the disappointing outcome of today's Environment Council meeting on the future of EU Soil Framework Policy  Finally, the EEB had urged the European Council to show leadership on sustainable development by demanding specific actions in all areas where progress is poor, but the December Council chose instead to focus on the transport sector only. On pesticides, the EEB thinks the Agriculture Council made a big mistake in not setting reduction targets for their use.

For further information please see:

EEB's Assessment of the Portuguese Presidency

John Hontelez, Secretary General, European Environmental Bureau: hontelez@eeb.org; Tel: +32 (0) 2 289 1091; Mobile: +32 (0) 486 51 21 27

Editors notes:

[1] The EEB is a federation of over 145 environmental citizens' organisations based in EU Member States and most accession countries. The main aim of the EEB is to protect and improve the environment of Europe and to promote knowledge and understanding of EU environmental and sustainable development policies amongst the general public in the EU to enable them to play their part in achieving that goal.