Union’s eco evangelists aiming to turn green dream into reality

Date: 14/12/00

By Simon Coss

ECO-FRIENDLY Sweden hopes to further enhance its green credentials during its presidency by making environmental policy a key priority along with employment and enlargement.

Stockholm has come up with an impressive wish list of green legislation it plans to promote during its six months at the Union helm.

Critics say the Swedes will be hard-pressed to deliver on all their promises, but Swedish officials insist they will do all they can to meet their goals. "It will not be easy but we are determined," said one.

Stockholm should be helped in its eco-questby the fact that the European Commissioner in charge of environmental policy, Margot Wallström, is herself Swedish.

One initiative which Stockholm is determined to push forward is the long-delayed Union-wide environmental action plan. The EU executive was supposed to produce its proposal earlier this year, but officials now say the plan will not be ready before the start of 2001.

Some environmental experts say the institution has faced serious problems drafting the text and had to begin re-writing the document almost from scratch this summer.

The Commission itself is remaining tight-lipped, but everyone agrees the plan is long overdue. "It seems to be a bit stuck but we have been assured that it is nearly ready," said one Swedish diplomat.

Once the Commission's proposal has finally been unveiled, it will be up to Stockholm to persuade its EU partners not only to sign up to the initiative but also to respect it in practice - no easy task.

The Swedes are also hoping to wind up almost three years of complex negotiations on rules on marketing of genetically-modified crops and seeds. Member states and the European Parliament are holding talks on the precise shape of the controversial legislation and Stockholm hopes a deal will be brokered early in its presidency.

The Swedes also want to make progress in other areas, including chemicals policy and environmentally friendly product design.

Next June, Sweden will host a summit in Göteborg devoted to sustainable development, where EU leaders will take stock of efforts to integrate environmental concerns into other policy areas since their commitments made in Cardiff in 1997.

Article forms part of a survey on the Swedish EU Presidency.