Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1990 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities (6th Committee) > Report No. 06 - Aspects of EC Environment Policy

ASPECTS OF EC ENVIRONMENT POLICY

A. INTRODUCTION

1.Certain Community measures on the environment, selected by the Joint Committee for consideration have been examined by the Sub-Committee on Social, Environmental and Miscellaneous Matters. The measures in question are (1) Council Directive 313/90 on freedom of access to environmental information (2) Council Regulation 1210/90 on establishment of the European Environment Agency and (3) Proposed Council Directive on natural and semi-natural habitats, (flora and fauna).

2.This report was prepared by Deputy Michael D. Higgins, Chairman of the Sub-Committee. The Joint Committee is indebted to Deputy Higgins and his colleagues on the Sub-Committee for their dedicated work.

3.Written submissions were received from the Wildlife Service of the Office of Public Works, The Department of the Environment, An Taisce and Teagasc.

The Joint Committee gratefully acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of these bodies. It gratefully acknowledges also the assistance given to it and to the Sub-Committee by Mr. John Hogan in preparing this report

4.The Sub-Committee had consultations with the Wildlife Service of the Office of Public Works, the Department of the Environment, An Taisce and Teagasc.

These consultations provided a valuable opportunity for consideration and discussion of many points raised in the written submission.

B. BACKGROUND

5.The preamble to the EC Treaty established as goals “the constant improvement of the living and working conditions of the peoples of the Community” and “the harmonious development of their economies”. Article 2 of the Treaty assigned to the Community the task of promoting throughout the Community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between the States belonging to it.

6.Meeting in Paris in October, 1972 the Heads of State or Government declared that “economic expansion is not an end in itself: its first aim should be to enable disparities in living conditions to be reduced. It must take place with the participation of all the social partners. It should result in an improvement in the quality of life as well as in standards of living. Particular attention will be given to intangible values and to protecting the environment so that progress may really be put at the service of mankind”. The Heads of State or Government went on to emphasise, in the Final Declaration of the Summit, the importance of a Community environment policy and to this end invited the Community Institutions to establish by the following year a programme of action accompanied by a precise timetable.

7.The Programme of Action, duly formulated by the Commission and Council in consultation with the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the employers’ and workers’ organisations, was approved by the Summit meeting of 22 November, 1973.

8.The aim of Community environment policy was declared to be the improvement of the setting and the quality of life and the surroundings and living conditions of the peoples of the Community. This must help to bring expansion into the service of man by procuring for him an environment providing the best conditions of life and reconciling this expansion with the increasingly imperative need to preserve the natural environment. In particular, Community environment policy should

9.The general principles of Community Environment Policy identified in the Programme, were approved by the Summit and are reproduced in Annex I to this Report. For ease of reference, a listing of the main principles involved is given hereunder, as follows:-

10.The Programme specified the actions to be taken, at national and Community level, (i) to reduce and prevent pollution and nuisances and (ii) to improve the environment and the setting of life, and laid down a detailed description of the action to be undertaken at Community level over the following two years as regards measures to reduce pollution and nuisances including the setting of standards for pollutants (such as lead, mercury, cadmium, organic chlorine compounds, toxic chemicals in water for human consumption, micro-organisms in water for human consumption), the setting of quality objectives for fresh surface water and sea water, for certain industrial sectors, energy production, marine pollution, industrial and consumer wastes and residues, radioactive wastes.

11.The 1973 Programme, while largely remedial as regards measures to be taken at Community level, stands as a watershed document in the sense that it marked the formulation, for the first time of a specific environment policy for the Community - a policy which realistically acknowledged its interaction with a range of other Community sectoral policies (social affairs, regional policy, industrial policy, agriculture, energy policy etc.) Further, it has stood the test of time, in that its principles and objectives retain their validity.

12.The 1977 Programme (Second Environmental Action Programme) extended the First. The Third Environmental Action Programme was adopted in 1983, by which time Community thinking on the environment had evolved to the point that the preventive approach - ie an approach requiring economic and social developments to be undertaken in such a way as to avoid the creation of environmental problems - had become central. The resources of the environment were recognised as constituting the basis of, but also setting the limits to, further economic and social development. Prevention was to be achieved through the integration of environmental requirements into the planning and execution of actions in many economic and social sectors, and stress was placed on prior environmental impact assessment as a crucial tool for ensuring such integration.

13.By the time the Community came to adopt the Fourth Environmental Action Programme in 1987 the context had again changed. By then, there was general acceptance that environmental protection policy had a central part to play in the whole corpus of Community policies and that environmental protection needed to be taken into account as a fundamental factor when economic decisions were taken. In putting forward the Fourth Programme the Commission expressed the view that the establishment of strict standards for environmental protection was no longer just an option, but had become essential. The Commission further expressed the view that when account was taken of the growing public demand for improved standards of environmental protection and for environmentally friendly goods - both within the Community and worldwide - Community industry would be obliged to gear itself increasingly towards the meeting of such standards and the production of such goods. High standards of environmental protection had become an imperative - and an economic imperative at that.

14.The 1987 Programme (which is to run for the six-year period 1987-1992) was pre-dated by two events of considerable significance in the development of Community environment policy. One was the recognition by the European Council in March, 1985 that environmental protection policy can contribute to improved economic growth and job creation. Before then, environmental requirements had often been perceived us merely imposing regulations and costs on industry, agriculture, transport etc. The European Council recognised that, in a world where higher environmental standards were more and more required, the achievement of such standards must increasingly be seen as an essential element in the future economic success of the Community and went on to affirm its determination to give environment policy the dimension of an essential component of the economic, industrial, agricultural and social policies implemented by the Community and the Member States. The other event was the decision of the European Council, on the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Conference, to propose the inclusion in the amended Treaty of Rome of a chapter on the environment. This decision was a plain recognition of the need for a developed Community environmental policy at the heart of the Community’s other policies.

15.The provisions of the Single European Act that are immediately relevant to the environment (Articles 130R to 130T) are attached as Annex II to this Report. In addition, the Treaty recognises that environmental protection actions may be important for achievement of the Internal Market. It is evident that environmental actions taken at Member State level alone might easily lead to new barriers to intra Community trade or distort competition. In this context it is noteworthy that Article 100A - which deals with the adoption of measures for the approximation of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in the Member States which have as their object the establishment or functioning of the common market - not only lays down that such measures shall be adopted by qualified majority voting but also provides that, in its proposals laid down in Article 100 paragraph 1 concerning health, safety, environmental protection and consumer protection, it will take as a base a high level of protection. In introducing the Fourth Programme the Commission gave notice that it intended to make full use of the provisions of the new Treaty and, in particular of Article 100A and acknowledged the need to combine, by way of actions which effectively protect the environment, two of the main objectives of the Treaty ie the achievement of the internal market and the development of a high level of environmental standards within the Community. The Commission further stated its conviction that the development of high environmental standards is consistent with and sometimes necessary for, the protection and improvement of the future competitive position of Community industry. It is noteworthy also that Article 130B of the Single European Act stresses the promotion of economic and social cohesion within the Community and the reduction of regional imbalances. Moreover, the chapter dealing with environmental policy makes plain that the Community, in preparing its actions relating to the environment, is to take account inter alia of environmental conditions in the various regions of the Community and of the economic and social development of the Community as a whole and the balanced development of its regions. In the light of these provisions, the Commission signalled its intention to secure close cooperation in the implementation of the Community regional and environmental policies.

16.The Fourth Environmental Action Programme sets out in some detail the actions to be undertaken during its currency (until 1992) under a number of headings, of which the main ones are the following:-

17.The Programme’s Conclusion represents a concise statement of the Community’s thinking and approach to environment policy, as follows:

“Community environment policy is entering a new and crucially important phase. With the agrement of the Governments of Member State to the amendments to the Treaty of Rome contained in the Single Act, the Community has given a new status and impetus to its environmental policy. The European Council has underlined that environmental protection can contribute to improved economic growth and job creation; and it has called, in stronger terms than ever before, for the integration of environmental requirements into the economic, industrial, agricultural and social policies implemented by both the Community and its Member States.

As has been already stated in the introduction, there is a wide and growing recognition that strict environmental standards are a necessity - not only in order to achieve an adequate degree of environmental protection and an improved quality of life, but also for economic reasons. As progress is made towards the completion of the Community’s internal market by 1992, opportunities will grow in many areas and for many reasons - but only provided that high environmental standards are maintained. The Commission is convinced that better competitivity of Community industry on world markets in the future will depend heavily upon its ability to offer environmentally-friendly goods and services, achieving standards at least as high as its competitors and that an alliance between technological innovation and a commitment to high environmental standards can offer new opportunities through the development of new and growing markets for environmental protection technologies and techniques.

The period of the Fourth Environmental Action Programme therefore presents the Community with a major challenge in the environmental field - a challenge to make a definitive move away from reacting to environmental problems after they have arisen towards a general preventive approach, based on the achievement of high standards in all environmental sectors, achieved through devoting a small part of the Community’s huge scientific, technological and industrial resources and potential towards developing and bringing into use the equipment, technologies, management and administrative practices needed to achieve such standards; and at the same time to find means of deriving economic and employment gains from such a move.”

18.The section dealing with Education and Information which is of particular relevance to this Report, is as follows:

“Mention has been made of the need to render the whole process of regulation and application of existing rules more transparent, particularly as far as public information is concerned. In this context it is important to improve the opportunities given by national regulations to individuals and groups to defend their rights or interests in administrative procedures. In the Commission’s view particular attention needs to be given to situations where access to information is an element for the better protection of man or the environment, whether through the better application of regulations or otherwise. Comparable attention needs to be given to access to information in cases of transfrontier pollution.

In the Commission’s view it should be possible to devise ways of improving public access to the information held by environmental authorities, whilst at the same time giving protection to information which can legitimately be regarded as confidential. The Commission will study the need for, and desirability of, a Community ‘Freedom of Environmental Information Act’ and will make appropriate proposals.

Quite apart, however, from the question of establishing rights of access, there is no doubt that the widespread diffusion of information on the environment and on environmental problems, policies and programmes can powerfully support both the evolution and public acceptance of necessary environmental measures. Not enough efforts have been made to this end, although it is important to note that a number of Member States now regularly publish national ’State of the Environment’ reports. The Commission for its part will in future publish Community ’State of the Environment’ reports on a three-yearly cycle starting in 1987, drawing for this purpose on information supplied by Member States under the provisions of Community Directives and on information available through the progressive development of the Community Information System on the State of the Environment and on natural resources (CORINE).

More generally the Commission intends to review its whole approach to the diffusion of information on environmental issues. Much more could be done to inform the public and thus influence public opinion in favour of strict environmental policies.

The Commission intends to ensure the wider availability of information on the implementation of Community environmental legislation. The Commission will also take steps to ensure that many more of the numerous reports on scientific, technical and economic aspects that are prepared for the Commission’s service in the course of developing policy proposals (but which may be of wider interest) are published in appropriate ways. The Commission is also supporting the launch of a new review on Community environmental policy and law. In addition, in order to enhance the efficacy of the actions on information, the Commission will ensure a better coordination between the Directorate-General for Information, Communication and Culture, and other concerned services.

The European Year of the Environment (EYE) - the central aim of which is to convince every individual throughout the Community of the importance of the environment and thereby to change attitudes (both of society and of individuals) to the need for strict standards of environmental protection - offers both an opportunity and a challenge to improve dramatically on past performance in putting across relevant information on environmental issues and problems - and to put it across in ways that make it accessible to all elements in society; and that offers the chance of convincing them of the necessity to commit themselves to action (both during EYE and beyond) to achieve practical improvements.

At the level of hard data on environmentally significant parameters, the Community information system on the state of the environment (CORINE) will be of growing value and importance. The main purpose of CORINE is to ensure the availability of a sound base of comparable environmental information, to economic actors and decision-makers throughout the Community as an aid to the processes of policy-making, implementation of legislation and integration of the environmental dimension in other policy areas. The practical implementation of the CORINE programme is in hand and work on its continuous development will be undertaken during the period of the Fourth Environmental Action Programme. At the end of the phase of work covered by the Council Decision the Commission will report to the Council and present proposals which will ensure the availability throughout the Community of a wide range of up-to-date and comparable environmental and natural resource data; capable of being presented in ways and combinations likely to be of the greatest assistance to decision-makers.

Simultaneously and with a view to complementing the information produced in the framework of the CORINE programme, the Commission intends to reinforce the environmental component of the statistical programme of the European Community; in this connection it is in particular proposed to develop better information on the relationships between the economy and the environment.

Environmental education has a particular significance in strengthening public concern on environmental matters. As already noted everybody has to acknowledge that he can contribute, by his own behaviour, to better environmental conditions; and the stage at which this awareness can best be inculcated is during the period of education. Environmental education, which has already featured in earlier action programmes, will therefore continue to deserve support at Community level. The Pilot Schools Network has been successfully implemented (first at primary and then secondary levels) over the past eight years and has been strongly supported by Member States. Much valuable experience has been gained. The Commission intends to publish, during the European Year of the Environment, a full report on the work to date of the pilot Schools Network and on the lessons learned. It will also send a communication to the Council indicating the basis on which it is intended that the network should be consolidated and extended to tertiary level, drawing on the experience to date and the latest developments in the field of educational science.

The function of non-governmental organisations in the development of environmental policy and thinking is a fundamental one. The development and application of environmental policy often necessitates difficult arbitration between the important but different interests of social and economic groups. The interests of specific branches of industry, including both management and unions, have to be taken into account as well as the different situations in the Member States. So too do the views of pressure groups defending specific or sectoral interests.

In such complex situations the existence of non-governmental organisations who may be considered to represent general environmental interests and can act as partners of the policy-making organs, is of great importance. It is for that reason that the Commission will continue its constructive and permanent contact and exchange with representative environmental organisations at European level, especially with the European Environment Bureau.

Industrial federations, (eg UNICE) and trade union bodies (eg ETUC), are making increasing efforts to collaborate at both national and European level in the formulation and execution of environmental policy. The Commission believes that it is very important to strengthen and to organise more efficiently its cooperation with both the industrial federations and the unions and will make continuing efforts to this end. In this connection, the Commission intends to make the maximum possible use of the contributions made by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions”.

19.The text of the Section dealing with management of environmental resources is also relevant to this Report, and is quoted as follows:-

“The period of the Fourth Environmental Programme needs to see a number of important developments in the field of nature conservation. It is probably true to say that, of all the aspects of environmental policy, nothing excites so much public interest and concern as the need to protect nature and habitat, landscape, fauna and flora, from the threat of further degradation or depletion. The First Environmental Action Programme, adopted in 1973, contained important chapters on the protection of the natural environment and this emphasis was maintained in the two subsequent programmes.

More than six years have now elapsed since the Council adopted its Directive and resolution on the conservation of wild birds (79/409/EEC). It is of course essential to ensure that this Directive and resolution are fully implemented in the Member States. Similarly the effective implementation of Regulation (EEC) No. 3626/82 which applied the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) within the Community is necessary. Both measures are of major importance for conservation both within the Community and beyond its borders; the continuing implementation of both will therefore be a matter of priority during the period of the Fourth Environmental Action Programme. But this alone is not enough; the time is now ripe for the Community and Member States to make a major new thrust in the field of nature conservation.

Certain of the actions envisaged in other fields, for example, the possible reforms of the common agricultural policy which are set out in the Commission’s communications to the Council and the parliament of 15 July 1985 (Perspectives for the Common Agricultural Policy) and of 18 December, 1985 (A Future for European Agriculture) envisage changes which, if implemented, would have an important beneficial impact on nature and nature conservation. Measures taken to limit pollution of air, water and soil also benefit wildlife and plant life. The proposals amending the structural policy are an important step in that direction. The implementation of environmental impact assessment procedures, as set out in the Council Directive of 27 June, 1985 (85/337/EEC) may help to avoid some of the more obvious dangers to the natural environment. But, once again, these measures by themselves will not be enough.

What essentially is needed is a Community instrument aimed at protecting not just birds but all species of fauna and flora; and not just the habitats of birds, but the habitat of wildlife - animals and plants - more generally. Such a comprehensive framework should ensure that, throughout the Community, positive measures are taken to protect all forms of wildlife and their habitat; such measures should be aimed at the three main objectives of the World Conservation Strategy:

The Commission will make appropriate proposals on these lines. The Commission is also working on the preparation of a comprehensive list of sites throughout the Community that are protected under the various categories of protected areas. Such a list is a necessary basis for the consistent implementation of the kind of framework instrument discussed above.

Within such a framework, urgent action is also needed, aimed at the protection of endangered plants and species, such as those listed in the appendices of the Berne Convention. It seems clear from recent reports that the implementation of the Berne Convention in the Member States of the Community, as elsewhere, is poor. A comprehensive framework of nature protection measures, at Community level, would undoubtedly help to improve the situation of endangered species of plants and animals within the Community, whilst at the same time helping to achieve the three-fold objective of the World Conservation Strategy.

In addition to Community measures of the kind mentioned above the ‘nature conservation’ section of the Community’s ACE Regulation (EEC) No. 1872/84 should be expanded and extended to help the achievement of the above objectives; it would be neither logical nor desirable to restrict its scope to species covered by the ‘Birds Directive’; the Commission will make appropriate proposals. The potential contribution of other policies to nature conservation objectives will also be important; the Commission intends to keep in mind the scope for an increasing scale of actions of this kind as the adaptation of the common agricultural policy to current needs continues.

A community framework for nature protection will involve not only environmental organisations, and environment departments, but also far wider interests, including industrial, commercial and farming interests. Above all it involves the promotion of awareness and understanding and of the will to act in a field where immediate economic interests will only rarely be served by such actions. For this reason - as well as because of its intrinsic importance and high public support - the theme of nature protection will feature prominently in the activities to be undertaken during the European Year of the Environment.

Under the environment chapter of the Commission’s programme for 1985, the Commission stated:

It will be important in the context of the Fourth Environment Programme to put some flesh on this brief statement.

Priorities will include the better enforcement of existing Community Directives relating to animal protection and the proposal of new Community measures where this is appropriate, eg for the protection of laboratory animals and the welfare of farm animals”.

20.The environment has featured as a major topic at the highest EC level in recent years. For instance, the European Council meeting in Hanover in June, 1985 expressed its concern about the danger to the environment in general and in particular caused by the pollution of air and water and invited the Commission and the Council to intensify efforts to improve the means to combat and prevent air and water pollution. The Council reaffirmed that the concept that environmental considerations must be integrated into all areas of economic policy-making was in conformity with the environmental objectives of the Single European Act. Meeting in Dublin in June, 1990 the European Council considered the role of the Community and its Member States in the protection of the environment within the Community and at the global level and agreed that a more enlightened and more systematic approach to environmental management was urgently required. The Council adopted a declaration setting out guidelines for future action - text attached as Annex III to this Report and requested the Commission to use the objectives and the principles contained in the Declaration as the basis of the Community’s 5th Action Programme for the Environment to be presented in 1991. In particular the declaration

21.The Fourth Joint Committee published a report on the Internal Market (No. 29 of 1986) and the present Joint Committee published a Report on the Social Dimension of the Internal Market (No. 1 of 1990).

C. MAIN PROVISIONS

Freedom of access to environmental information

22.In response to the information desiderata outlined in the 4th Action Programme on the Environment (1987-1992) - Paragraph 18 above - the Commission produced, in 1988 a draft directive which, after consultation with the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee was approved by the Council in March, 1990. Subject to certain restrictions, the directive guarantees to any natural or legal person the right of access to any information on the environment collected and held by public authorities in exercise of their legal powers. Such access is seen as helping to increase public participation in the procedures to control pollution and prevent damage to the environment. For the purposes of the directive “information relating to the environment” means all data, of a factual or legal nature, concerning

The directive requires that, at least every three years from 1 January, 1992 onwards, Member States shall publish a report on the state of the environment containing a general description of the national situation, the state of water, air, soil, flora, fauna and natural sites and a description of the principal measures taken or planned to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment and to repair any damage caused.

23.Regulation No. 1210/90 of 7 May, 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Environment information and observation network.

The purpose of the Agency is to provide the Community and its Member States with objective, reliable and comparable information enabling them to take the requisite measures to protect the environment, to assess the results of such measures and to ensure that the public is properly informed about the state of the environment. The Agency will give priority to the following;

The Regulation envisages that in due course the Agency will be involved in monitoring the implementation of Community environmental legislation, in cooperation with the Commission and competent bodies in the Member States. The Agency will be legally autonomous.

The location of the Agency has not been settled. The Regulation will come into operation on the day following a decision as to location.

Proposal for a Council Directive on the protection of natural and semi natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora

24.The proposal is designed to establish an integrated policy on wildlife protection in conjunction with existing Community legislation (Wild Birds Directive) and international agreements (Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Habitats and Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals). The aim of the proposal is to establish a comprehensive network of protected areas of European significance aimed at ensuring the maintenance of threatened species and threatened types of habitat. Designation is to take place in accordance with criteria as to species and habitats specified in Annexes to the Directive.

D. VIEWS OF THE COMMITTEE

Freedom of Access to Environmental Information

25.In the absence, in Ireland, of specific provisions involving disclosure of information by bodies charged with enforcing and monitoring legislation affecting the environment, the release of such information to the public has tended to be discretionary and ad hoc. In consequence, a climate of public unease in relation to such bodies has been engendered and this generalised sense of unease has frequently contributed to understandable, if sometimes exaggerated, public concern over particular developments perceived as having undesirable environmental implications. Against this background, the Committee sees the advent of the draft directive as timely and opportune in that it will represent the first step towards a more open and responsible attitude to our environment at local, regional and national levels. It should enable people to assess the actual environmental quality of their locality and give them a better basis on which to participate more fully in the decision-making processes that affect them and their environment. Finally, the full implementation of this directive will be a recognition of one of the major goals for sustainable development agreed by the governments of the UNECE countries, including Ireland, at the Bergen Conference of May, 1990 - that of raising environmental awareness and improving public participation in decision-making processes.

26.It has been represented to the Committee that, as a result of the directive, information should become freely available in a number of areas, as follows:

AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT:

1.Access to water pollution monitoring data for industrial and other activities currently licensed under the Water Pollution Acts 1977 and 1990 and held primarily by local authorities.

2.Access to ground water monitoring data collecte by local authorities, health boards, the Geological Survey and Teagasc and required under EC Directives on the protection of groundwaters (80/68/EEC) and 80/778/EEC relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption.

3.Access to general water quality monitoring data currently held by the Environmental Research Unit (ERU) of the Department of the Environment.

4.Access to water quality data on coastal and other waters designated for bathing purposes under EC Directive 76/160/EEC and held by local authorities and some health boards.

5.Access to draft Water Quality Management Plans held by a local authority or group of local authorities.

6.Access to monitoring data on toxic and dangerous substances in the aquatic environment. Such data is collected intermittently by EOLAS, the ERU and the Geological Survey.

AIR QUALITY:

1.Access to air quality monitoring data in urban areas. The data is currently available but only on a retrospective basis. It should be possible to make it available monthly in the current year. This information is currently held by the environmental health departments of the various health boards who collect it on behalf of local authorities.

2.Access to air quality monitoring data resulting from a licence issued under the Air Pollution Act 1987 or in compliance with EC legislation. This information is currently held by local authorities.

3.Access to general air quality monitoring such as NOx in urban areas or SO2 and other acid gases in rural areas. The former is collected by Dublin Corporation and other large urban authorities while the latter is collected by the ESB.

WASTE MANAGEMENT:

1.Access to waste inventories and general waste management plans prepared under the European Communities (Waste) Regulations 1979. These are prepared and held by local authorities.

2.Access to special waste management plans and inventories of toxic and dangerous wastes prepared in the context of the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Wastes) Regulations 1982. These plans are also to be prepared by local authorities. There is an existing requirement for the publication of such plans (Art. 12 of Directive 78/319/EEC), however, to date only 9 plans have actually been finalised while the rest are reported to be in various stages of preparation. None of the plans have been made public, a fact which has resulted in infringement proceedings under Article 169 by the Commission.

3.Access to information on how and where PCB’s (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) are currently stored/disposed of in Ireland. Up until last year it was the function of the ESB to collect and store PCB’s in Ireland as they are by far the largest generators of such wastes (redundant transformers, etc). However, these functions have been transferred to the Department of the Environment with no indication on how much is generated, where it is stored and how/where it is disposed of.

MAJOR ACCIDENT HAZARDS:

1.Access to information held by the Department of Labour’s Industrial Inspectorate relating to the European Communities (Major Accident Hazards of Certain Industrial Activities) Regulations, 1986. Specifically, the number of major inventory sites, the number of isolated storage sites, the types and quantities of dangerous substances stored on such premises. Access should also be available to off-site emergency plans prepared in the context of this Directive.

INFORMATION HELD BY OTHER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS/SEMI-STATE BODIES OR OTHER AGENCIES:

1.Access to environmental monitoring data held by the Department of the Marine. Specifically, data resulting from a licence issued under the 1980 Fisheries Act. This data also includes information on the quantities and frequency of use of chemicals on fishfarms.

2.Access to monitoring data and other information on pesticide and other residues held by the Department of Agriculture, Teagasc and Coillte.

3.Access to environmental monitoring data and other information held by the Nuclear Energy Board.

4.Access to information on activities likely to impact on the environment. For example, planting targets for a particular area. Such information is controlled by the Forest Service.

5.Access to reports of inspectors or consultants in respect of planning applications or appeals.

27.The Committee sees no reason to disagree that information in the areas listed in the preceding paragraph should be made freely available. (The listing is indicative and does not purport to be exhaustive).

28.The Committee feels that, while the provision of relevant information to the public in accordance with the directive, will be important and welcome, this will not in itself suffice to allay public concern on all environmental issues. The Committee considers it equally important that there should be a major drive to provide the public with technical information on the basis of which it could come to a balanced and informed assessment of risk in environmentally - sensitive issues. This information could be furnished by means of fact sheets available through information offices. The provision of such information - which would evidently need to be authoritative - would, in the Committee’s view go a considerable way towards avoiding polarisation of views in advance of the availability of a balanced independent assessment of the gravity of the particular situation.

29.The Committee welcomes the establishment of the ENFO environmental information service which it considers a valuable national resource.

30.The Committee welcomes the Environment Action Programme published by the Government early this year. It trusts that such programmes will be published annually and that each programme will give an assessment of progress achieved under the different headings in the previous twelve months.

31.The Committee notes with satisfaction the publication by the Department of the Environment of quarterly reviews of developments in the area of environmental protection.

European Environment Agency and the European Environment and Observation Network

32.The establishment of the European Environment Agency (EEA) stems directly from the aims for environmental protection laid down in the Treaty of Rome as modified by the Single Act and by successive Community action Programmes on the environment. The Agency and Network are being established with the objective of providing both the Community and the Member States with objective, reliable and comparable environmental information at a European level. This will ensure a sound base for future Community actions in the environmental area as well as keeping the public informed as to the state of the Community’s environment.

33.The establishment of the EEA is the logical successor to the Commission’s CORINE programme (Council Decision 85/338/EEC) relating to an experimental project for gathering, coordinating and ensuring the consistency of information on the state of the environment and natural resources within the Community. The techniques and data bases already established under this programme will provide a significant contribution towards the new Agency.

34.Initially, the Agency will confine itself to furnishing information used currently in the implementation of Community environmental policy with priority being given to the following:

35.It is proposed that eventually the Agency would have a direct role in monitoring the implementation of Community environmental legislation as well as other functions relating to eco-labelling and criteria and guidelines for the assessment of the impact on the environment of certain public and private projects.

36.At the present time, the Agency has no home so it is not officially operating. However, planning and recruitment of staff has already begun so that the Agency will be in a position to function as soon as an agreed location for its headquarters is agreed.

37.The Agency can have little relevance to Ireland until such time as a national focal point has been established to co-ordinate at national level the various information networks and institutions involved in environmental protection and monitoring. The Committee feels that this role should be entrusted to the proposed Environmental Protection Agency and considers further that the existing situation in Ireland, with environmental monitoring and protection spread over a variety of disparate central, local government and semi-state agencies, is fundamentally unsatisfactory.

38.The other impact of the Agency is likely to be the setting up of Centres of Excellence within the Member States related to specific environmental themes. These centres will co-operate with the Agency in carrying out research and in collating information of relevance to the environment. In this connection the Committee gives its wholehearted support to the proposal by Teagasc that its facilities at Johnstown Castle, Wexford be designated a centre of excellence focusing on agriculture under the European Environment Agency, having regard to the important contribution of Johnstown Castle to agricultural environment research over a long period.

39.The question of a location for the Agency is still undecided and has become part of a wider debate within the Community on the siting of institutions such as the Europėan Parliament and the specialised agencies.

40.The Committee feels that there is a substantial case for location of the Agency in Ireland. The considerations relevant to Ireland’s bid are set out in Annex IV to this report.

Proposal for a Council Directive on the protection of natural and semi-natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna.

41.The Committee is advised that the Directive as drafted represents the strongest and potentially most valuable piece of EC legislation for the conservation of wildlife yet proposed. It aims to establish a comprehensive network - Natura 2000 - of protected areas of European significance aimed at ensuring the maintenance of threatened species and threatened types of habitat in all the regions of the Community where they occur. Each Member State is required to contribute to the creation of the network in proportion to its share of habitats. Designation is to take place in accordance with criteria as to species and habitats specified in Annexes to the Directive.

42.The Irish Presidency committed itself to advancing the proposal with the aim of having it finalised in June, 1990. However, despite a number of Working Group meetings to discuss the text and technical expert meetings to discuss the Annexes, there are still areas outstanding of major concern.

43.One of the major stumbling blocks to agreement of the Articles of the text has been the absence of the Annexes. The Annexes have been circulated as recently as April, 1990, but Annex V (a key Annex) is still not available.

The Annexes specify the following:

-species whose habitats are in the need of special protection (Annex I)

-species in need of special protection (Annex II)

-types of vulnerable habitat within EC (Annex IV)

-criteria to be applied for classifying special protection areas (Annex V)

In addition there are further Annexes of lesser importance.

Key Issues for Ireland

44.Much of what is proposed in the Directive is already being implemented under the Wildlife Act, 1976 which provides for statutory protection of flora and fauna. Under the Act this is done by:

(a)a ban on the capture or killing of many species;

(b)the provision of close seasons for huntable species;

(c)the creation of a network of nature reserves of various kinds, woodlands, peatlands, dune systems, wet grasslands, marine areas, bird sites, fens;

(d)the creation of refuges for fauna;

(e)a ban on the taking of certain plant species.

45.The Directive proposes that the Commission, in consultation with the Member States, would set up a network of protected areas, called Natura 2000, covering most types of ecosystems and each Member State would then be required to give statutory protection to these sites within 1 to 5 years within its territory. This portion of the proposed Directive is still unclear in that it does not specify how much of each ecosystem in any Member State must be protected. For example, if the Directive stipulated that a percentage of a particular type should be conserved Ireland might not be in a position to comply. Most of the sites which are already nature reserves under the Wildlife Act are owned by the State. The Act does of course provide for management agreements with individual landowners to farm their land in a certain way so as to conserve the flora and fauna. Such agreements are subject to the payment of compensation. The Wildlife Act also provides for land purchase including compulsory purchase but funding is a problem.

46.As the Directive now stands the habitats to be included in the proposed Natura 2000 list will be decided by majority voting. This could result in a member being obliged to protect a particular site regardless of the difficulties in the area of finance and land ownership. While Ireland is willing to and has made considerable strides towards the protection of many of our threatened ecosystems, it would be very difficult to extend the nature reserve network to meet the targets proposed if these targets are set too high. A figure of a quarter of the surface area of a particular ecosystem has been mentioned.

47.If we take the example of our peatlands, our objective is to conserve and the only way to conserve is to purchase, 10,000 hectares of raised bog and 40,000 hectares of blanket bog. These figures represent 3.2 per cent. of the original raised bog and five per cent. of the original blanket bog area. To date we have approx. 750 hectares of raised bog (.24 per cent. of the original area) under protection and 15,000 hectares of blanket bog (2 per cent. of the original area). There are only about 23,000 hectares of raised bog left and some of this is damaged in conservation terms being exploited for peat development, fertiliser, etc. It would obviously be impossible to conserve one quarter of the surface area of this type.

48.Again with dune systems, most of these are in private ownership and are being eroded by development for leisure activities, farming, golf courses, etc. Ireland has some of the finest dune systems in Europe and would hope to conserve most of them by agreement with the owners or by purchase.

Funding

49.Ireland and indeed all the Member States have been anticipating a long promised proposal on habitat funding before taking a final position on the principles of the Directive. In June of this year the Commission have finally come up with a draft funding Regulation - ACNAT (Action by the Community relating to nature conservation). ACNAT will replace the existing ACE Regulation (Action by the Community relating to the Environment). ACE provided funding for the protection of species of birds, and their habitats. ACNAT will provide funds for the protection of threatened species and habitats as outlined in the proposed Directive. In the past Ireland could only avail of ACE funds to purchase peatlands if it was the habitat of a significant number of endangered bird species. Under the new ACNAT Regulation there will be funds available to purchase a natural habitat if it is listed in Annex IV of the proposed Directive.

50.The financial support will be not more than 50 per cent. of the cost of the project and in exceptional cases up to 75 per cent. of the cost of projects concerning:

-habitats of species threatened with extinction in the Community or;

-habitats in danger of disappearance in the Community or;

-species threatened with extinction in the Community.

51.It is suggested by the Commission that 11 million ECU might be available under ACNAT in the first year and in subsequent years it may be increased up to 20 million ECU. It is estimated that five per cent. of this amount would be available to Ireland. It has been suggested that an annual budget of 500m ECUs is necessary in order to fully service the requirements of the proposed Directive for the 12 Member States, this sum is equivalent to two per cent. of annual Community funding under the Common Agricultural Policy. It is proposed that the funds be used for purchase as well as the drawing up of management agreements with landowners, where this is feasible, as an alternative to outright purchase of the site.

52.In association with the ACNAT Regulation it is proposed that threatened habitats and species would be protected under Article 19 of the Agricultural Structures Regulation by the setting up of Environmentally Sensitive Areas.

Effect on existing legislation

53.Much of what is proposed under the Directive is already being implemented under the Wildlife Act, 1976. It will be further implemented in the present amendment to the wildlife Act.

The Drainage Act (implemented by O.P.W.) may need to be amended to provide for consultation with regard to wildlife, similar as to what already exists with regard to the protection of fish.

The Fisheries Act, 1980 may need to provide for consultation with the Minister for Finance with regard to aquaculture and the location of Fish Farms, similar to the administrative arrangement that exists at present.

The Local Government Act may need to be amended e.g. with regard to roads being built through protected areas. The proposed Directive will have far-reaching implications and it is quite probable that other legislation may need to be amended in order to implement it.

54.Implications for Ireland

a.The implementation of the proposed Directive will put an added workload on the wildlife Service. Extra staff in the administrative, management and research areas will be essential.

b.If the ACNAT Regulation provides for 50 per cent. of the cost of site purchase and management, the State will be expected to provide the remainder.

c.As farmers are the custodians of our wildlife it is inevitable that there would need to be a change in farming practices in order to implement some of the proposals. Land use patterns would need to change in some areas e.g. tree planting and turf cutting on blanket bogs would be effected as would stock numbers on protected areas sensitive to erosion. At present, it is obvious that EC headage grants are resulting in such an increase in sheep numbers on the mountains that serious erosion is now occurring.

Time Schedule

55.Article 24 states that Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive within two (or three) years of its notification. The list of areas to be protected (referred to in Article 5) shall be drawn up within this time limit. Once the list has been adopted, Member States shall have one to five years within which to classify as special protection areas the habitats included on that list.

56.The Committee is concerned at the extent to which, throughout the EC, insensitive development and abandonment are continuing to degrade the rural environment, and at the fact that this degradation very often occurs in the peripheral areas such as Spain, Greece and Ireland which have considerable difficulty in allocating the necessary resources for conservation. It is advised that the minimum amount necessary for effective conservation of Europe’s threatened habitats has been estimated at 500 million ECU (about two per cent. of the CAP budget) and it accepts the view of conservationists that this would be a relatively small price to pay. The Committee, in this connection, notes with approval recent Opinions unanimously adopted by the Economic and Social Committee (i) that the financing proposed for ACNAT is inadequate and (ii) asking the Commission to formulate the objectives concerning habitats more clearly and to implement the principle of subsidiarity.

General

57.The Committee wishes to record its conviction that Environmental Policy, though relatively new, has developed as a major, and successful, element in EC policy and it subscribes to the view that, without pressure from the Community, not many of the Member States would have enacted the substantial corpus of environmental legislation they have, in fact, introduced over the last decade.

58.It is a matter of concern to the Committee that there has been a continuing Community wide tendency to delay implementation of EC environmental legislation or to transpose it inadequately into national legislation. The Committee trusts that, now that the Single European Act has put the EC’s competence in environmental matters beyond legal doubt, better compliance on the part of all Member States, including Ireland, may be expected. At the institutional level, the advent of the European Environment Agency and the National Environment Protection Agency should make a significant contribution to the solution of this problem.

Debates in the Houses

59.In view of the importance of environment policy in the European Community the Joint Committee requests that a debate take place on this report in each House at an early date.

E. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE

IThe provisions of the Directive on freedom of access to environmental legislation should be transposed into national law as soon as possible.

IIInformation available to the public under the provisions of the Directive should be supplemented by authoritative assessments of risk in environmentally-sensitive areas.

IIIEnvironment Action Programmes should be published annually by Government and should include an assessment of achievements under the previous year’s programme.

IVThe National Environment Agency should be established as a matter of urgency.

VThe case made by Teagasc to have Johnstown Castle designated a centre of excellence under the European Environment Agency regulation should be supported at every appropriate level.

VIIreland’s case for location in Ireland of the European Environment Agency is convincing and should be pressed within the instances of the Council.

VIIThe inadequacy and the implications for the principle of subsidiarity, of the Commission’s funding proposals for conservation under the draft directive on habitats and wild flora and fauna should be pursued with the Commission in the appropriate Community instances.

VIIIIreland’s record in implementation and enforcement of EC environmental legislation should be improved and maintained at a high level.