European Union News - Environmnet

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the European Union's approach to a global climate change agreement up to and beyond 2012 when the current Kyoto Protocol targets will end. Stakeholders and the general public are invited to put forward their views on a number of critical issues before September 29th.

Brussels has presented a proposal to revise the current legislation on the protection of the ozone layer, aiming to simplify the current legislation and reflect the progress made in phasing out ozone-depleting substances in the EU. Although this progress has been good so far, a number of challenges, that need to be addressed globally, still remain. The ozone layer is expected to recover to pre-1980 levels by 2050-2075.

The Official Journal of the European Union published in July 31st, the Regulation (EC) Nº 689/2008 of the Eropean Parliament and of the Council of June 17th, concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals. This Regulation replaces Regulation (EC) Nº 304/2003, following the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Communities of 10 January 2006 in Case C-178/03.

On July 24th, and as prologue for the celebration of the EU-South Africa Summit, in was held in Bordeaux (France) a scientific conference on research on water and sustainable development. The Conference counted upon the participation of European, South African and French scientific experts as well as heads of scientific programmes.

The Official Journal of the European Union published on July 23rd a Communication from the Commission to all farmers concerning set aside from 2009. The proposal is the logical follow-up of Council Regulation (EC) No 1107/2007 fixing the rate for compulsory set aside at zero in 2008.

On the 22nd July the Official Journal of the European Union has published the Common Position (EC) No 15/2008 adopted by the Council on 6 June 2008 with a view to adopting Directive about establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector and amending Directives 1999/35/EC and 2002/59/EC

On the 22nd July the Official Journal of the European Union has published the Common Position (EC) No 15/2008 adopted by the Council on 6 June 2008 with a view to adopting Directive about  Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system.

The Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union on July 15th, a Call for Proposals for the development of actions in conservation and environmental policy in the scope of the Programme LIFE+.

First international Symposium on Marine Propulsors (SMP) is going to take place in Trondheim, Norway on 22-24 of June 2009. SMP’09 is the first in a series of international symposiums dedicated to hydrodynamics of all types of marine propulsors.

The European Commission put forward a package of new "Greening Transport" initiatives to steer transport towards sustainability dated on the 8th July 2008. Mobility is key to our quality of life and is vital for the EU’s competitiveness. It is the backbone of the economy making the links between the different stages of production chains and allowing service industries to reach their clients, as well as being a significant employer in its own right. As such it is key to achieving the goals of the EU’s ‘Lisbon’ strategy for growth and employment. This is all the more so given that the sector is growing rapidly: between 1995 and 2005, goods and passenger transport in the EU grew by 31.3% and 17.7% respectively and this growth is predicted to continue.