Environment, health and transport

Few would argue that the European Commission under Jos�anuel Barroso has not made a priority of competitiveness and jobs.

He was assisted in that task by the UK's presidency of the EU. But EU policies in areas such as health, the environmentand transport tend to attract greater popular attention than paperwork on the Lisbon Agenda or taxation. And the Austrian presidency is planning to give them more attention.

Few would argue that the European Commission under Jos�anuel Barroso has not made a priority of competitiveness and jobs. He was assisted in that task by the UK's presidency of the EU. But EU policies in areas such as health, the environment

and transport tend to attract greater popular attention than paperwork on the Lisbon Agenda or taxation. And the Austrian presidency is planning to give them more attention.

On the environment, Austria will have to manage a biodiversity strategy due in the first half of 2006 and it hopes, too, to adopt a review of the sustainable development strategy at June's Environment Council. In May it will also represent the EU at the first UN climate change conference since governments agreed this month (December 2005) to keep the Kyoto climate change Protocol alive after 2012. The Commission's annual Green Week is scheduled for the last month of the Austrian presidency, with biodiversity as its theme. Vienna has said it will follow through Commission efforts to promote the environment as an economic opportunity, stressing the importance of new technologies, energy efficiency and eco-innovation. Notably, implementing the Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP) will be the topic of an informal Environment Council meeting. Austria will also consider all seven environmental thematic strategies, the last three of which should be published early next year, with a particular focus on waste and resource use.

Green issues will also get attention in the transport section of Austria's work programme. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will produce an energy efficiency action plan before the summer and Austria will back him in stressing the need for improved efficiency, particularly from road transport. It also intends to start ministerial work on new vehicle emission standards (EuroV) and the thematic strategy for air quality, which covers many of the same emissions.

The third maritime safety package can be expected to come up for scrutiny at a Transport Council in the first half of 2006. Depending on the speed of work within the Commission, the same time-frame may also see the publication of a wide-ranging EU marine strategy. As a country crossed by the Danube, Austria has a particular interest in promoting inland waterways. It therefore hopes to see progress from the Commission on directives improving the standard of inland boats and the transport of dangerous goods by inland waterways.

No final research funds can be agreed until the 2007-13 EU budget is finalised, but once that happens transport and health are two research areas Austria has flagged up for attention. The presidency also says it would like to see women winning more research jobs.

Austria's agenda for agricultural issues also has a strong environmental flavour. This is unsurprising, given that Vienna is already dealing with a legal challenge from the Commission for imposing a unilateral ban on genetically modified (GM) crops, and also plans to increase the national use of biomass (energy produced from farm waste) by 75% over the next five years.

Priorities for the presidency include Commission proposals on biomass and organic farming, both published this month, plus a communication on biofuels (plants or sewage converted to fuel oil) and a pesticides strategy due early next year. Austria has also planned a conference in April on coexistence between organic, conventional and GM agriculture. Finally, the presidency will have to manage the consequences of last week's international trade talks in Hong Kong.

Biofuels and biomass will not, however, be the only energy issues coming up for attention. Vienna will host a conference on sustainable energy sources in March and throughout the presidency there will be an emphasis on the problems of security of supply and improving the internal EU energy market.

As for health, Austria has decided to focus on the increasingly sensitive issue of cigarettes. Austrian law currently bans smoking in schools and offices, but does not impose sanctions if the ban is ignored. The presidency intends to highlight the increasing number of female smokers, as well as take part in the first World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control conference in February. Other health problems marked for attention include diabetes, along with Commission proposals on alcohol and the young, and hospital-related infections.

Following this year's panic in Europe about avian flu, Austria will also be readying itself for the publication of an eagerly awaited communication from the Commission on pandemic preparedness.

The presidency will also be involved in talks with MEPs in a bid to find a compromise between the European Parliament and Council of Ministers on a proposal to regulate food health claims. The first half of 2006 will also turn the spotlight on women's health and women's rights, with problems from osteoporosis to female circumcision up for debate.

Article is part of a European Voice Special Report previewing the Austrian Presidency of the European Union, January - June 2006, and says that Austria will pay more attention to popular issues such as environment and transport, in particular Europe's inland waterways, during its EU presidency.