Commission looks greener, but still behind on environment

No one had great hopes for the environment when the current Commission took office in November 2004. President José Manuel Barroso quickly made it clear that jobs and growth would be his team’s priority.

A ‘better regulation’ plan set out that the Commission would cut back on the amount of ‘unnecessary’ legislation proposed every year, which sounded like bad news for soil protection standards.

To cap it all, the new environment commissioner was a former Greek industry minister, unheard of in the environmental community.

Two years later fans say Dimas has made consid-erable progress in the face of tough opposition. Conservationists generally admit that Dimas is not as bad as they expected. But expec-tations were so low to begin with and opposition is reported to remain so high that, unsurprisingly, there have been few environmental breakthroughs since 2004.

Among the changes the environment department can put to its name is its role in winning an agree-ment to keep the Kyoto Protocol on climate change alive after 2012. Infringe-ments of EU environment laws were down at the last count and a communication on biodiversity loss asks governments to go further than a UN agreement in the fight against species extinctions.

But few of the legislative proposals that have cleared better regulation barriers and conflicting internal priorities have won praise for the environment department. Seven repeatedly delayed thematic strategies, on key areas of environmental concern, finally made it into the world, only to be accused of not going far enough.

And arguably the most high-profile environmental proposal so far was last month’s energy efficiency strategy, which came from the transport and energy department.

It is perhaps still too early to give a definitive verdict on the Barroso Commis-sion’s environmental performance. Landmark agreements on chemicals legislation and including aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme still have to be negotiated, to name just two. A January 2007 energy review will also contain sections on renewable power and clean coal, both of which will raise environmental interest.

For now, the Brussels policy agenda looks only slightly greener than predicted two years ago.

No one had great hopes for the environment when the current Commission took office in November 2004. President José Manuel Barroso quickly made it clear that jobs and growth would be his team’s priority.