Voorbereiding Raad milieu, 30 oktober 2007 (en)

The first environment council under the Portuguese presidency will take place on 30 October 2005 in Luxembourg. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas i will represent the Commission. Climate change issues will be one of the meeting's main focuses. The Council is expected to adopt conclusions setting out the EU's objective for the special United Nations climate change conference in Bali in December. A statement is also expected on water scarcity and droughts. Policy debates will be held on the Fuel Quality Directive and on the Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Genetically modified organisms will also be a focus of the meeting, with a vote scheduled on Austria's safeguard measures on the import and processing into food and feed of two types of genetically modified maize, MON810 and T25. Commissioner Dimas will hold a press conference at lunchtime, at which time UNFCCC secretary Yvo de Boer will give a short statement on climate change.

Climate change: special United Nations meeting in Bali

The Council is expected to adopt conclusions on the European Union's objective and position for the special United Nations meeting in Bali (Indonesia) in December this year. The Council is due to confirm the EU's aim at reaching an agreement in Bali on the start of negotiations on a fair and comprehensive post-2012 international framework on climate change to be approved by 2009. The conclusions will underline the urgency and scale of the action required, refer to results to build on in Bali, and stress the need for an inclusive and comprehensive process. A small number of issues remain to be resolved in Council, including concerns over how the latest emissions inventory data should be presented and referenced, the financial obligations of Member States under the UNFCCC, and tackling emissions from international aviation and maritime transport.

Water scarcity and droughts

The Council aims to adopt conclusions on water scarcity and droughts following the Commission's publication of a Communication on the issue in July 2007 (see IP/071121 ). Water scarcity and droughts are two priorities of the Portuguese Presidency. They were the focus of a specially convened informal meeting of the Environment Council on 1 September 2007. The debate at this Council will focus on whether specific legislation on the prevention and management of droughts is necessary as will be the conditions for setting up an observatory on water scarcity and droughts.

Fuel quality

The Council will hold a policy debate on the Fuel Quality Directive following the Commission's proposal to revise the directive (see IP/07/120 ). The Commission's proposal reflects developments in fuel and engine technology, the growing importance of biofuels and the need both to meet the air quality goals set out in the 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution and to further reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. Discussion in Council will especially focus on whether a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fuels should be set and the role of biofuels in reducing these emissions.

Sustainable development strategy

The Council will hold a policy debate the renewed Sustainable Development Strategy following a progress report on the strategy recently published by the Commission (see IP/07/1576 ). The Commission's report shows that progress has been made in certain areas of the strategy but that a number of unsustainable trends persist. The main challenges addressed by the strategy include climate change and clean energy, sustainable transport, sustainable consumption and production, conservation and management of natural resources, public health, social inclusion, demography and migration, and global poverty. The Environment Council will hold the first such policy debate.

Safeguard measures for MON810 and T25

The Council is scheduled to vote on Austria's safeguard measures on the import and processing into food and feed of two types of genetically modified maize, MON810 and T25. The Commission was informed of Austria's decision to provisionally prohibit the use and sale MON810 and T25, including cultivation, in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Following an opinion by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2004 stating that the products did not constitute a risk to human health or the environment the European Commission submitted to the Council its proposals asking Austria to repeal its safeguard clauses. The Council voted against the proposal in June 2005 and again in December 2006 after the Commission re-examined its proposals and re-consulted EFSA which subsequently reconfirmed the safety of both products (April 2006). The Commission's current proposals concern only Austria's ban on the food and feed aspects of these two products whose uses from derived products are authorised in Austria. Cultivation is not covered by the present Commission proposals. The vote comes before the end of the World Trade Organisation's implementation period (deadline 21 November 2007).

Any other business points includes information from the Presidency on a number of issues, including the Presidency's business and biodiversity initiative, the results of the 19 th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, the outcome of the sixth Environment for Europe conference held in Belgrade, the outcome of the 36 th International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) assembly, and the state of affairs on the proposed directive on the sustainable use of pesticides and a the regulation on the marketing of pesticides.

The Commission will inform the Council on SMEs and sustainable consumption and production. Other items include a request from the Netherlands for including noise from tyres into the directive on tyres for motor vehicles, a request from Italy to discuss the role of EFSA in the EU's GMO policy, a request by Spain to discuss the threat to Spanish bird biodiversity, another request by Spain on the outcome of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification which took place in September, and at the request of a number of Member States information will be provide about the Vienna Ministerial meeting on the role of nuclear power in the climate change debate.