Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) calls to extend Covenant of Mayors, protect biodiversity and for ambitious waste targets
During the ENVE meeting on 28th of September, local and regional authorities together with experts from other institutions and organisations discussed the European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) opinions on ' The Future of the Covenant of Mayors' by Ms Kata Tüttő (HU/PES) and on the 'Contribution to the fitness check of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives' by Mr Roby Biwer (LU/PES).
The draft opinion on the Future of the Covenant of Mayors prepared by Kata Tüttő (HU/PES) (Councillor of Budapest, Hungary) was adopted and highly supported by the participants. The rapporteur emphasized the role of the Covenant of Mayors** in both energy efficiency and renewable energy targets. This European movement has already achieved unprecedented success both in mobilising over 6,500 local and regional authorities on climate and energy issues and in establishing multilevel governance structures. The ENVE calls for an extension of the Covenant beyond 2020 and for an update of the current minimum target for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. The rapporteur proposes to fix it, in the medium term, at 50% by 2030 as compared to 1990 levels. In addition, the rapporteur fully supports the globalization of the Covenant and suggests that the CoR help spread this model by means of partnerships with cities and regions in third countries.
The CoR draft opinion adopted by the ENVE Commission based on the initial draft by Roby Biwer (LU/PES) calls on the European Commission to not open up the Nature Directives for review, but to use the fitness check to take actions to improve their implementation by the Member States and regional and local authorities. This was also supported by Camille Gira, State Secretary for Sustainable development and Infrastructure of the Luxembourg EU Presidency, Margrete Auken i (DK/Greens-EFA), European Parliament shadow rapporteur on the mid-term review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, and Antonella Battaglini, Chief Executive Officer of the Renewables Grid Initiative.
Members of the ENVE commission also appointed the following new rapporteurs: Andres Jadla (ET/ALDE) (Member of Rakvere City Council) on 'EU environment law: improving reporting and compliance', Marco Dus (IT/PES) (Member of Vittorio Veneto Municipal Council, Province of Treviso) on 'EU Emissions Trading System' and Michel Lebrun (BE/EPP) (Member of Viroinval Municipal Council) on 'Delivering a new deal for energy consumers'.
The 'Circular Economy' conference , the day after, aim to contribute the views of the EU's local and regional authorities to European Commission's new Circular Economy package foreseen for 2nd of December. Sirpa Pietikäinen i (FI/EPP), European Parliament rapporteur on ‘Resource efficiency: moving towards a circular economy’ stressed that recycled waste means less toxicity and reiterated that targets for more effective recycling are achievable; but need collective methods and proper financing'.
ENVE Vice-Chair Ms Sirpa Hertell (FI/EPP) (City councillor of Espoo) said: 'We need ambitious approaches and provisions in eco-design, in waste prevention as well as in green public procurement. Waste management solutions should be high up in the waste hierarchy in order to achieve ambitious local or regional waste targets'.
The next step towards improving the state of environment will be taken during the 6th meeting of the CoR/EC Technical Platform for Cooperation on the Environment, which will hold a workshop during the Open Days on 'Regions open for green business: environment legislation as the driving force' .
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*"Fitness check" is comprehensive policy evaluation assessing whether the regulatory framework for a policy sector is fit for purpose. Their aim is to identify excessive regulatory burdens, overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies and/or obsolete measures which may have appeared over time, and to help to identify the cumulative impact of legislation. Their findings will serve as a basis for drawing policy conclusions on the future of the relevant regulatory framework.
** The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities, voluntarily committing to increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources on their territories.
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Julia Rokicka
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