Added to ECJ Case Law
* Case C- 394/05 Commission vs. Italy
On 24 May 2007, the ECJ ruled in favour of the Commission, agreeing that Italy had not implemented correctly Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles.
(NB in French: no English translation available yet)
Sector: waste
* Case C-361/05 Commission vs. Spain
On 24 May 2007, the ECJ ruled that Spain did not properly apply Directive 75/442/EEC and its amendments in the three landfill sites Níjar, Hoyo de Miguel et Cueva del Mojón in the Province of Almeria.
(NB in French: no English translation available yet)
Sector: waste
* Case C-376/06 Commission vs. Portugal
On 24 May 2007, the ECJ found Portugal guilty of late compliance with Directive 2001/42/EC, which deals with strategic environmental assessments. The deadline to implement the Directive expired in July 2004.
(NB in French: no English translation available yet)
Sector: general
Added to CFI Case Law
* Case T-387/04, EnBW Energy Baden Württemberg AG vs. Commission
One of the main German energy producers requested the annulment of Commission decision of 7 July 2004 on the German National Allocation Plan (NAP) with regard to emissions of greenhouse gases. The company, EnBW Energy Baden Württemberg AG, did not agree with the allocation methods for power stations decommissioning nuclear energy installations (such as one of its main competitors RWE) and claimed that this was state aid. EnBW claimed that the Commission failed to start the state aid procedure, breaching Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty. The CFI ordered this request inadmissible for lack of interest in bringing proceedings. (NB In German: no English translation available yet)
Sector: Climate change
Added to Policy Areas, Climate Change
* Poland and Czech Republic take the Commission to Court
On 25 May 2007, Poland and the Czech Republic announced that they will take the Commission to court, because they consider the CO2 emission allowances permitted under ETS far too stringent. In March 2007, the Polish and Czech allocation plans were rejected, unless the number of emission allowances was reduced significantly. According to the two countries, the Commission’s allowances will prevent the countries from catching up with the western European countries. It will hamper industrial development and they think it is discriminatory. Slovakia has already started proceedings in February 2007, and Hungary is also not willing to accept the Commission’s decisions. In the mean time, the Commission stays put and says they have no chance of winning this court case.
Added to Policy Areas, Energy
* Major cities get together to fight climate change and promote energy efficiency
As part of the Clinton Climate Initiative, representatives of 40 of the world’s largest cities met in New York from 14-17 May 2007 in order to discuss how they can reduce their contribution to global emissions, of which 80% is produced by cities. On of the major announcements was the start of a $ 5 billion project aimed at making old buildings more energy efficient.
* Coal: Commission keeps state aid in place
Contrary to what environmentalists had hoped for, the Commission has decided to keep the existing structure of coal subsidies in place until at least 2010. The Commission states it has not found considerable market distortions through the ongoing subsidies and state aid. These can continue, provided they show a downward trend. Coal is on the one hand the most polluting fossil fuel but on the other hand it is available in abundance and in Europe and it is a flexible energy source.
Added to Policy Areas, Nature
* European Parliament worried about Commission’s Biodiversity Plan
MEPs have issued a warning that it will take unprecedented efforts to reach the goals for halting the loss of biodiversity, which were set in a 2006 Commission Action Plan. The EP report, which was adopted on 22 May 2007, concludes that the loss of biodiversity is continuing mainly because the Member States lack the political will to take action.
Added to Policy Areas, Waste
* Green paper on ship dismantling
On 22 may 2007, the Commission adopted a green paper on better ship dismantling. It is subject to an online consultation process till 30 September 2007. The Commission considers a radical change extremely necessary, due to the size and the danger of the issue. The paper wants to lay the foundation for future dialogue and measures to be taken, to ensure a safe environment and protect human health.
Added to Policy Areas, Water
* European parliament adopts legislative report on chemicals in water
On 22 May 2007, The EP voted to reduce the level of chemicals in water by adopting a proposal that would almost double the list of hazardous substances covered by the Annex to the 2000 European Water Framework Directive. It also strengthened the classification of those substances that were already on the list.
Added to National Pages, Commonwealth of Independent States
* The following national pages have undergone updating in the past weeks: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. None of these countries have a national editor yet. If you are interested in becoming the national editor, contact us.
Added to National pages, the Czech Republic
* Approval of an environmental tax reform
On 23 May 2007, the Czech Cabinet approved a final version of environmental tax reform. This is part of a general tax reform. Under the new provisions household heating with renewable energy sources, gas and district heating from cogeneration will be favoured. The Parliament still has to approve these proposed reforms.
Added to National Pages, the United Kingdom
* England’s waste strategy 2007
On 24 May 2007, the government published the waste strategy for England 2007. It sets out their vision for sustainable waste management. It discusses diverting waste from landfill, public environmental consciousness, increasing progress in landfill diversion and recycling, and possible new Policy instruments and tools.
Added to Dossiers/papers
* The Francovich Follow-up dossier has been updated completely and REACH: the final status of the REACH dossier has been updated as well.
Added to Events
* Conference: Climate Change: Politics vs Economics
The difficulty is that environmentalists, scientists, economists, foreign policy and security experts and investors all speak different languages and have different understandings of how best to tackle the issue. The aim of this conference is to bring together well-respected representatives from each of these fields to discuss the connections and debate whether it is international politics or economics or a mixture of both that will deliver a step-change in the global response to climate change.
Date: 25 – 26 June 2007
Location: Chatham House, London, United Kingdom
* Green Week; past lessons, future challenges
Linking with the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Green Week will have a look at European environment policy throughout the years and at what we need to do now in order to meet future challenges.
Date: 12-15 June 2007
Location: Charlemagne Building, Brussels, Belgium
Added to Job Postings
* EEL website
We are looking for a trainee who would like to help us over the coming months to improve the EEL website and collect information for this EEL News Service. Excellent knowledge of English language is a must. If you are interested, please contact us for more information (contact details on the EEL website).
* United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
UNEP is looking for a Global Programme of Action programme officer. Under the overall supervision of the GPA Coordinator the incumbent will contribute to the implementation of the UNEP/GPA Coordination Office’s Programme of Work (POW) with a major focus on the capacity-building and technology support within the framework of the Bali Strategic Plan, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and UNEP’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) at regional and national level.
Deadline: 4 June 2007
Location: The Hague, the Netherlands
* European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
EMSA is looking for a Project Officer for Pollution Monitoring and Surveillance (Seconded National Expert).
Deadline: 16 July 2007
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
* Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is looking for an environment expert in the Commercial Operations department. This expert will support the corporate environment team in projects, research and data compilation.
Deadline: 20 June 2007
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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Editors-in-Chief:
Wybe Th. Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Jens Hamer (Academy of European Law, Trier)
Editors:
Leonardo Massai (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Ruben Vermeeren (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Sara Woods (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Technical realisation:
Marco van der Harst (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
e-mail: eelnewsservices@asser.nl