Environment in the European Union 1995. Report for the review of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme

Summary:

At the end of 1994, the European Commission requested the European Environment Agency (EEA) to prepare a new state-of-the-environment report for the European Union (EU) to update the one presented in 1992, and to contribute to the review of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme, which is to be completed by the end of 1995.

The findings show that while some progress is noteworthy, improvements in the environment are difficult to relate to specific actions and are often not apparent even after significant reduction of pressures. Time lags, the non-linear nature of environmental processes and the still
limited scale of effort are often the reason for this, but it is equally due to not having control of all significant factors and of new developments changing future expectations. What is clear, however, is that continued vigilance is required and that current targets and approaches need broadening and strengthening if progress across the breadth of environmental issues is to be made.

The report shows how far the European Commission has gone in fulfilling its commitments, in particular in the presentation and implementation of required EC initiatives. -But still the core of the 5EAP is the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility of all actors. This is difficult to realise through a programme which is only formally adopted by the EC.

For the Agency, preparing this report has been the first broader exercise towards a more operational environmental reporting system, where not only the assessment of the elements of the pressures-state-impact chain and related indicators are necessary, but also the progressive introduction of performance indicators to assess both the progress and prospects in environmental quality and sustainability. This is the challenge for the Agency: to progressively improve the environmental reporting system to make it timely and action-orientated.