The European Commission adopted its communication on 2 March on assessing the implications of the Paris Agreement and the next steps by the EU, which was presented by Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for climate action and energy. Ministers welcomed in general the Communication and the reading of the Paris Agreement by the Dutch Presidency. Ministers stressed the importance of implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the legislative procedure in relation to the 2030 climate and energy framework. Commission and Member States are of the opinion that high level participation is desirable at the signing ceremony in New York on 22 April. During the working lunch Ministers continued discussion on the ratification of the Paris Agreement, especially its timing. Many Member States called for quick ratification which would help maintaining the political momentum gained at the Paris climate conference.
The Communication from the Commission can be read here.
In connection with an Action Plan on the Circular Economy, ministers highlighted the improvements of product design, the promotion of sustainable consumption patterns, the development of waste management, ensuring the quality and competitiveness of secondary raw materials as priorities, with a need for monitoring and coordination of the different measures envisaged.
The head of the Hungarian delegation Mr Zsolt V. Németh, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, Agricultural Development and Certified ’Hungaricum’ Treasures signalled the Hungary, fundamentally supports the objectives set out in the Commission Communication. There is need to strive for a life-cycle approach in order to preserve the value of products, material and resources as long as possible and to minimize waste generation. He stressed that all measures and objectives of the proposed Action Plan should be based on a proper impact assessment taking into account Member States current socio-economic situation and waste management potential. It is important that the objectives and the time frame for implementation we will agree on are feasible.
With regard to the European Semester / Annual Growth Survey 2016 and the contribution of the environment and climate to growth and jobs, Member States’ interventions focused mainly the integration of the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. It was noted that these aspects should be reflected within the Annual Growth Surveys and the National Reform Programmes, contributing to the improvement of competitiveness and the creation of new jobs, as well as to setting up a post-2020 mechanism that would also aim to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement and of better governance.
The European Commission briefed the ministers also on the further legislative proposals on real driving emissions test procedure.
The Commission presented the Minamata package on mercury, the aim of which is to create consistency between EU law and the provisions of the Convention, allowing the ratification of the Convention.
The Council adopted a statement calling on the Commission to determine the endocrine disrupting substances on the basis of the criteria according to previous obligations.
The European Commission presented the Communication on the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking and provided information on the "Innovation agreements", which aim to address regulatory obstacles perceived by stakeholders in order to foster innovation.
