European Union News - Environmnet

The European Commission published its figures on the minimum water quality standards set by the Bathing Water Directive which show that most of the waters in the EU meet those standards. Cyprus, Croatia, Malta and Greece had excellent reports on their bathing water sites, while the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Latvia, Luxemburg and Belgium had relatively low proportions of sites meeting the strict guide values, especially as regards inland waters.

The European Commission adopted new rules to ensure that national support measures are designed to preserve the EU objective of decarbonising. In particular, under the new framework Member states may compensate electro-intensive users for part of the higher electricity costs expected to result from a change to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as from 2013.

Under the banner “The Water Challenge – Every Drop Counts”, the Green Week 2012 kicked off. The European Commission informed that it expects some 3000 participants gather for three days to discuss water-related issues. In addition, it presented the new viral clip as part of the "Generation Awake!" campaign, which alerts consumers to the dangers of unsustainable patterns of consumption, such as the excessive water use.

The Habitats Directive and LIFE, the EU financing programme for the environment, celebrate the 20th anniversary as the two key instruments for the conservation and sustainable use of nature in the EU. According to Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik, in the past two decades, the EU has made great progress, and there is much to celebrate, but nature still needs our help.
 

The report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) recommends to seize the opportunity of improving quality of life while adapting to climate change in cities. It also advices to cities to start investing in adaptation measures using ideas and best practice from around the world.

The European Commission published its annual forecast for 2011 which highlights that emissions of greenhouse gases from installations participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) decreased by more than 2% last year. However, it also informed that there is still a growing buffer of unused allowances.

The European Commission has proposed to create a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) focused on water in order to deal with water related challenges by promoting innovation. This partnership will seek to align the activities and outcomes of existing European, national and regional activities.

The Institute of European Environment Policy (IEEP) published a study financed by the European Commission that shows the need to change to be able to meet the new 2020 biodiversity targets for agriculture, and this requires action on several different fronts. Indeed, the report suggests to address five main issues.
 

The European Commission launched a call which is targeted particularly at SMEs that have developed an innovative green product, process or service, which is struggling to find its place in the market. Therefore, businesses and entrepreneurs from across Europe can apply for funding to help bring novel environmental projects to the market.