European Union News - Environmnet

Species are disappearing at an alarming rate, threatening nature's ability to provide human beings with essential goods and services like clean air and water, food, fuel, materials, climate regulation and flood prevention, to name just a few. In order to tackle such issues, EU-funded project BIODIVERSA is working to create a single biodiversity research community in Europe.

The European Commission has announced that six substances of very high concern will be banned from EU market due to their carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction effect or their persistence in the environment and accumulate in living organisms. Operators wishing to sell or use these substances will need to demonstrate that the required safety measures have been taken to adequately control the risks, or that the benefits for the economy and society outweigh the risks. Where feasible alternative substances or techniques exist, a timetable for substitution will also have to be submitted.

On 15 February 1000th quality food products are registered by the European Commission. The latest one has been an Italian sheep's cheese. On the other hand, Spain has 146 products in this record. In addition, the Commission considers these schemes essential for fast start-up of 'Quality Package 2010', by introducing several regulations that are bringing the production to the quality criteria demanded by consumers.

The need to shift economies onto a lower carbon route and to acknowledge the direct links between the resilience of ecosystems and that of national economies were highlighted by the Prince of Wales at the opening of Parliament's Low Carbon Prosperity Summit held on 9 February. In his speech, the Prince of Wales stressed the need to move away from conventional economic models based on the production of high carbon intensity products, in line with the overall objective of the Summit which was to find a way for a new low-carbon economy in Europe.

The European Parliament has demanded tighter rules for the EU's growing output of waste electronic and electrical equipment. In a plenary vote on 3 February, MEPs proposed new targets for collecting, recycling and re-using waste, as well as for cutting red tape for companies. They also recommended tougher measures to prevent the export of e-waste to developing countries, where it can pose a health and environment hazard.

European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs met the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and other members of the national government in Addis Ababa by the end of January, in a round of meetings which provided an opportunity to further strengthen EU development cooperation with Ethiopia, an important regional partner to the EU and recipient of the single largest share of EU aid. In his visit to the country Commissioner Piebalgs explored ways to support the government's five-year "Growth and transformation" national strategy and signed an agreement for the implementation of the Global Climate Change Alliance in Ethiopia.

EU-funded scientists have successfully demonstrated a road train technology that could boost road safety and driver comfort while cutting congestion and carbon emissions. In the system, the driver of the lead vehicle of a convoy controls the other vehicles, allowing their drivers to safely engage in other activities.

The European Commission has presented EU's flagship initiative for a resource-efficient Europe, which provides a long-term framework for actions in many policy areas, supporting policy agendas for climate change, energy, transport, industry, raw materials, agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity and regional development. This strategy is the seventh and last of the Europe 2020 flagship initiatives which aim at building smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for Europe.

This is one of the main conclusions drawn from the Report of the European expert group on future transport fuels, which has been presented to the European Commission. This report, which for the first time has developed a comprehensive approach covering the whole transport sector, affirms that the European Union will have to move to an oil-free and largely CO2-free energy supply for transport if it wants to meet the objectives set in terms of environmental impact and security of energy supply.

Getting to know whether in the future wood resources would be enough to satisfy human needs is one of the objectives set by the EU funded project EUWOOD, 'Real potential for changes in growth and use of EU forests'. Under this project, researchers also aim at showing new insight into the wood biomass supply.

The European Commission has published a report on Member States' performance in the prevention and recycling of waste. This report shows that despite some Member States have made excellent progress, there is still some way from achieving the long-term goal of becoming a 'recycling society', a society  that not only avoids producing waste but also uses it as a resource.