---

Environment Council

I attended and chaired the meeting of the Environment Council in Luxembourg on 17 October 2005. I was accompanied by the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Elliot Morley, in the UK seat. The agenda consisted of three substantive items: policy debates on the REACH chemicals legislation and on better regulation, and agreement of conclusions on climate change. On the REACH chemicals dossier, Ministers were invited to comment on a compromise text prepared by the UK Presidency. There was widespread support for the balance struck in the text between achieving a high level of protection for human health and the environment, and limiting the impacts on industry, and several Ministers stressed their view that this balance should not be changed in the final compromise. Environment Ministers, and also the Commission, strongly supported the UK Presidency's aim of reaching political agreement on REACH at the November Competitiveness Council. Ministers' views were also sought on two specific issues within the dossier, in order to inform the continuing negotiation. The Council was fairly evenly split on the question of whether substances in articles should be subject to a separate, specific regime. The final question was o n the notification of substances of very high concern, where the Presidency approach was widely supported although a number of Member States thought there was scope for an exemption where exposure of humans and the environment to such substances could be excluded. Council adopted a set of conclusions on climate change. The conclusions underlined the EU's commitment to delivering on its Kyoto Protocol targets and its financial commitments on climate change, and agreed our approach for the forthcoming COP11-COP/MOP1 in Montreal. We looked forward to the adoption of the Marrakech accords, and expressed our wish to obtain agreement on a process for beginning negotiations at Montreal on a post-2012 framework. Also in relation to climate change, we heard a point from Poland under Other Business that suggested some issues for review in relation to the EU's emissions trading scheme. At lunch we were joined by-the Chair of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, Karl-Heinz Florenz, and began our discussion of ““Better Regulation””, which was continued in a formal Council debate after lunch. There was strong support within the Council for the view that better regulation tools, and in particular impact assessments, could help in delivering better environmental outcomes in the most effective way. It helps to provide a mechanism for the integration of environmental considerations into all Community policies, as the Treaties require. A number of delegations noted the importance of considering the costs of inaction in evaluating the options, and there was widespread agreement that impact assessment must assist in political decision-making, not replace or delay it. A relatively short list of AOB points included, in addition to the emissions trading item above, information from the Commission on its communication on tackling the climate change impacts of aviation emissions, and on progress on its proposal for a review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Spain and Portugal reported on the 5th meeting of the Ibero-American Forum of Environment Ministers, and the Netherlands raised the issue of the need for adequate funding for environmental matters in the 7th Research Framework Programme and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme. Denmark requested an urgent future discussion on the potential benefits of, and the need for further EU funded research on, genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Luxembourg submitted a paper calling for a discussion focused on the need for change to the EU's approvals regime for GMOs. The Commission suggested that a full debate would be best timed after a WTO hearing on GMOs expected early next year. The Presidency concluded that a significant number of delegations wanted a debate, and it was agreed that the Commission would produce a short paper as the basis for a short, initial discussion at the 2 December Environment Council.