European Union News - Environmnet

As part of its efforts to portray the Lisbon Strategy as a way out of the current crisis, the EESC debated the state of play of Lisbon at its November Plenary Session. The discussion singled out priorities for the post-2010 agenda and several key opinions were debated and adopted.

This week takes place in Barcelona the last round of negotiations before the Copenhagen summit, where an international agreement for the post-Kyoto age will be at stake. The EU defends an ambitious proposal of reduction of greenhouse effect gases emissions and compensation for developing countries.

Climate change will be the main theme of the EESC plenary session which will adopt an important resolution on sustainable development and climate change. The future European Parliament's working programme will be presented to the EESC by its President, Jerzy Buzek. The EESC will also award the winners of the third edition of the EESC prize for organized civil society.

The European Commission has approved funding for 196 new projects under the second call for the LIFE+ programme (2007-2013), the European fund for the environment. The projects are from across the EU and cover actions in the fields of nature conservation, environmental policy, and information and communication. Overall, they represent a total investment of €431 million, of which the EU will provide €207.5 million.

Climate change, the economic situation and institutional issues related to the Lisbon treaty will be the main focus of the EU summit to be held in Brussels on 29 and 30 October.

The General Affairs Council, under the Swedish chairmanship, at its meeting in Luxemburg, has adopted the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Thus, one of the Swedish Presidency's top priorities is brought to a successful conclusion. The ministers also prepared for the summit between the EU heads of state and government on 29–30 October.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a USD 211 million loan to the two subsidiaries of the Gas de France-Suez Group holding the concession for the Dos Mares project, to develop three hydropower plants in western Panama.

The search has begun to find the cities that will become the next European Green Capitals. The prestigious European Green Capital Award recognises cities that are at the forefront of environmentally-friendly urban living. Earlier this year, Stockholm and Hamburg were named as the first winners of the title for 2010 and 2011, respectively. Now the race is on to find the cities that will claim the coveted title for 2012 and 2013. The annual award is intended to help European cities become more attractive and healthy places.