Environmental groups criticise European Commission on its performance, July 2003

Eight environmental non-governmental organisations, known collectively as the 'Green G8', presented their annual scorecard on the European Commission's environmental performance on 17 July 2003, warning that the Prodi Commission risks 'losing its green credentials' as it enters the last year of its mandate.

The Green G8 review of the European Commission's environmental policies looks at what has been achieved to date, offers a "to do" list for future action and contains a scorecard listing the environmental performance of individual Commissioners. The 2003 report, compiled jointly by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, WWF, Friends of Nature International, the European Federation for Transport and Environment, BirdLife International and Climate Network Europe, follows on from the "mid-term review" of July 2002, which evaluated the Prodi Commission's environmental performance during the first half of its term of office (September 1999 - July 2002). The NGOs have examined those policy areas that are highlighted as priorities in the EU's 6th Environment Action Programme and/or in the Commission's work programmes of 2002 and 2003, providing a detailed assessment of its performance in the following thirteen key areas:

1. Climate
2. Agriculture
3. GMOs
4. Maritime safety
5. Environmental liability
6. Chemicals
7. Energy - including energy efficiency, renewables, hydrogen and nuclear
8. Protection of nature
9. Public Participation
10. Sustainable developmentTrade
11. Trade
12. Waste and product policy
13. Transport

The European Commission's efforts in climate protection receive the most praise because of the pressure it has levied on other countries to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol. However this is the only area where the NGOs feel that the European Commission has 'proved its green commitment' failing miserably in other areas, most notably in waste and transport policies. Other failures, noted by the NGOs, include the delay with the REACH system for a new EU chemicals policy, the poor performance on environmental liability and the lack of follow-up to its 2001 Sustainable Development Strategy.

Of the European Commissioners, Margot Wallström, responsible for the environment, ranks the most highly followed closely by the Commission's President, Romano Prodi. The Energy and Transport Commissioner is heavily criticised for being the most anti-environmental Commissioner and the Green G8 noted:

It is worrying that she contradicts agreed EU policies unchecked. In doing so, she is politically weakening the Commission as a whole, and particularly president Prodi, who is responsible for the political consistency of the Commission policies in all sectors.

In the wake of such a critical review of current efforts, the Green G8 provides a list of number of actions in each of the thirteen policy areas for the coming year that could help the Prodi Commission to improve its environmental record before leaving office. In particular, it calls upon the European Commission to amend and adopt the 'REACH' proposal, facilitate a compromise between the European Parliament and Council on environmental liability to ensure that polluters will pay and initiate legislation that guarantees that GMOs do not contaminate EU agriculture and environment (co-existence measures).

Links:
Greenpeace: EU office:
	Homepage
	17.07.03:	Press Release: Commission is losing its green credentials
	One year to go - The 2003 Green 8 review of the European Commission's environmental policies
European Sources Online:
	Topic Guide - The Environmental Policy of the European Union

Helen Bower

Compiled: Friday, 18 July 2003

Eight environmental non-governmental organisations have criticised the European Commission's environmental performance in their annual review published on 17 July 2003.