Finns aim to make real progress on key environmental issues

Date: 01/07/1999

By Renée Cordes
FINNISH Environment Minister Satu Hassi has ambitious plans for the next six months.

She will not only be tasked with trying to get agreement on dossiers left on the table at the end of Jürgen Trittin's spell as chairman of EU environment ministers' meetings, but also intends to champion a series of causes dear to her own country's heart.

From the moment Finland began preparing for its first Union presi-dency last year, the government made it clear that environmental issues would be high on its agenda. In common with the other Scandinavian member states, Helsinki regards this as a key area where the EU can make a difference.

The importance Finland attaches to this issue was underlined when it became apparent that the policy-making freeze announced by Jacques Santer and his team after their resignation could leave Helsinki with little to show for the first half of its presidency.

In a bid to fill this vacuum, the government put pressure on the outgoing European Commission to break its vow of abstinence by coming forward with a raft of environmental proposals. Acting Environment Com-missioner Ritt Bjerregaard responded by tabling new proposals to improve air quality by setting national ceilings on emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants and ozone.

Energy policy will also be firmly under the spotlight over the next six months as the Finns seek to make progress on a string of new initiatives due to be presented by the new Com-mission team in the autumn. These include a stalled proposal for new measures to boost the use of renewable energy, an action plan for energy efficiency, and energy-saving and renewables programmes.

Energy issues will also play a key role in Helsinki's drive to give the EU a 'northern dimension', with attention focusing on ensuring the safety of nuclear plants in Russia and the Baltic states.

Another top priority for the Finns will be to ensure that environmental concerns are taken into account in every area of EU policy-making. They also plan to carry out an assessment of the EU's fifth Environmental Action Programme agreed last December and use their presidency to focus attention on the environmental aspects of EU enlargement .

In addition, Helsinki will be tasked with taking forward the work which has been done since the December 1997 climate change conference in Kyoto by mapping out a clear path for the Union to meet its commitments to cut emissions.

With the next international conference on the issue planned for October, Helsinki will have its work cut out to maintain a united EU front and overcome deep divisions between the between the world's most developed countries over over how to achieve emission reduction targets.