European Union News - Environmnet

The European Parliament and the Council negotiators a political agreement on offshore legislation. Among the points agreed, the directive would require oil and gas firms to submit major hazard reports and emergency response plans and prove their ability to remedy any environmental damage caused, before could get a licence to drill. The European Parliament and Council are expected to formally approve the legislation in the coming months.

The European Commission announced the launching of an observatory that will gather data to follow the evolution of markets, to map EU, national and regional bioeconomy policies, research and innovation capacities, and the scale of related public and private investments.

According to European Commission's report, risks from substances registered under REACH have significantly decreased. Companies have now registered 30,601 files with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) describing the uses and properties of 7,884 chemical substances manufactured or placed on the market.

EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, launched a low-carbon contest, calling on creative and innovative minds from across the EU to put their green initiatives to the test.

According to the European Commission, organisers of the Right2Water initiative have announced that they have collected more than one million signatures. This means that it could be the first European Citizens' Initiative to succeed in collecting the necessary number of statements of support. This initiative seeks to invite the European Commission to 'propose legislation implementing the human right to water and sanitation as recognised by the United Nations, and promoting the provision of water and sanitation as essential public services for all'.

The European Parliament approved a proposal to protect public health through the tightening of noise limits for cars. MEPs also recommended introducing labels to inform consumers about new cars' noise levels and adding sound to hybrid and electric vehicles to alert pedestrians.

The RegioStars 2013 Awards were granted by the European Commission in five categories to projects from Portugal, the UK, Poland, Germany and Lithuania which demonstrate good practice in regional development.

A report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that during summer 2012, the percentage of sites exceeding the ‘alert threshold’ was the lowest on record, indicating peak episodes were shorter and maximum ozone concentrations were lower. However, a new report published by the World Health Organization suggests that ozone exposure may be more harmful than previously thought.

The report published by the European Court of Auditors shows that although in almost all the regions selected some improvements in the management of waste were observed, the effectiveness of structural measures funding for municipal waste management infrastructures was hampered by the poor implementation of supporting measures.