EU’s newest members to keep environmental laws

Date: 10/12/1998

By Renée Cordes

THE EU's three newest member states will be given the right to keep some national environmental laws which are stricter than those agreed at Union level on their statute books when their current exemption expires at the end of the year.

When Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU in January 1995, they were given permission to apply tougher environmental standards at home for three years.

But the trio were told that they would have to introduce measures to comply with Union law by the end of 1998, except in cases where specific deadlines were set. In return, the Commission agreed to review EU standards during the four-year period.

In a report due to be published next Monday (14 December), the Commission will conclude that the Union has now adopted tougher Union-wide laws in many areas where the three countries had stricter standards when they joined the EU.

But it will recommend allowing the trio to keep national legislation in place in some areas while proposals for new Union-wide legislation are being prepared.

All three countries will, for example, be allowed to maintain national restrictions on cadmium in fertilisers until the end of 2001, despite an EU directive which sets down harmonised rules for the marketing of fertilisers. Austria will also be able to keep stricter limits on the sulphur content of liquid fuels until an EU-wide law enters into force on 1 January 2008.

The Commission's draft report states that the advances made at EU level in environmental legislation over the past three years demonstrate the Union's commitment to addressing the public's concerns.

“The environment-conscious public in Austria, Finland and Sweden followed the review process closely,” it states. “By meeting the commitments given in the framework of the accession negotiations, the European Union proved its capacity of adapting to new challenges and responding to the concern of its citizens.”

While officials from the three member states welcomed the Union's adoption of tougher environmental standards, they criticised the Commission for dragging its feet in proposing new regulations on dangerous substances.

“We are a bit disappointed that this is so late,” said one diplomat, who claimed that the Commission could have moved faster in drafting proposals on the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances which were only adopted by the institution in October.

The Commission's report says that “every effort” is being made to speed up the process of getting agreement on the plan, with the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers expected to adopt it in the spring.