Blair under fire from green lobby

By Emily Smith

Date: 22/12/05

Tony Blair got a big thumbs down from green group the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) this week, for the way the UK's presidency of the EU has handled green issues during its six months in office.

Positive work to combat climate change was, says the EEB, eclipsed by the deal Blair negotiated on the 2007-13 EU budget this month.

Secretary-General John Hontelez said the financial perspectives package agreed by heads of state left environmental funds crippled, with rural development funds slashed and questions unanswered about funding for future environmental policies.

The EEB has in recent years set every incoming presidency ten green tasks and awarded these smiling, sad or straight faces at the end of six months.

Blair is judged to deserve just one smile, for the UK's work at the UN climate change conference that agreed to keep the Kyoto Protocol alive after 2012.

There are four sad faces - for green spending, clean air, the Aarhus convention on public access to environmental information and funding nature sites under the Natura 2000 plan.

There is no verdict on waste and resource management, since the European Commission delayed proposals on these until today (21 December).

The UK manages only a straight face or mixture of faces on the other four issues: sustainable development, chemicals, water quality and the marine environment.

The EEB said it was particularly unhappy with the decision reached by competition ministers this month on proposed chemicals legislation REACH and would campaign for improvements in 2006.

Feature looks at the report from the European Environmental Bureau evaluating the environmental effectiveness of the UK's Presidency of the European Union, July-December 2005.

• Primary Source

European Environmental Bureau: Press Release, 19.12.05: EEB verdict on UK Presidency performance http://www.eeb.org/press/pr_EEB_verdict_UK_presidency_201205.htm

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