At the February 28, 2017 Council meeting of Environment Ministers, the head of the Hungarian delegation, Minister of State Mr Zsolt V. Németh made a renewed proposal - based on work started on a 2011 Hungarian initiative - to create an EU-level disaster insurance system which would assure that the “polluter pays” principle is met even in the case of large-scale industrial disasters.
The European Commission recently published reports on the state of the implementation of the Environmental Liability and the Mining Waste Directives. The aim of both Directives is to prevent incidents and accidents that could cause serious damage to people’s health and the environment. In connection with the reports, the head of the Hungarian delegation, Minister of State Mr Zsolt V. Németh made a renewed proposal to create an EU-level disaster insurance system. The Hungarian Government presented the concept of a European-level risk-sharing financial facility in 2011, which was based on a proposal by the President of Hungary, Mr János Áder, then a Member of the European Parliament. The solution proposed would act as European-level insurance that would complement private insurance products if a certain threshold of damages is surpassed. The device would be an immediate and effective financial assistance to Member States in case of industrial accidents, to facilitate rapid disaster recovery, that is, help with damage to the environment and human health, as well as to private and state property. Despite existing EU legislation on liability, without appropriate mandatory financial guarantees, in the event of significant damage the party responsible for pollution may not be able to compensate for the damage it has caused. Therefore Hungary called on the Commission to continue the work on an EU disaster insurance system started in 2011
Member States also discussed horizontal environment policy issues. The head of the Hungarian delegation stated that it needs to be ensured that the EU economic and environment policy goals and roadmaps and the implementation of UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are in line with each other. Water policy, one of the priority areas within the Agenda, continues to be of great significance for Hungary. “Intersectoral cooperation that promotes mutual recognition, understanding and cooperation should be continued and even expanded. Regional cooperation, e.g. in the Danube river basin, complementing EU-level dialogue is indispensable”- emphasised Mr V. Németh.
In connection with the sustainable development goals Poland drew the attention to the main conclusions of the Encyclical letter of Pope Francis entitled “Laudato Si”, with human ecology as its centre point.
