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Select Committee on European Legislation First Report
THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: POLICY AND ACTION PROGRAMME |
14.1 On 15 May we considered the draft decision and asked for further information on the views of the Government Departments most directly concerned with the five priority areas identified by the Commission which were agriculture, transport, energy, industry and Tourism. We also asked for an assessment from the Government of whether measures implementing the proposal would be adopted by qualified majority voting under Article 130s(1) or whether some of them would fall within the provisions of Article 130s(2) which provides for unanimity. We also asked what steps would be taken to ensure that obligations under the proposal would have no impact on United Kingdom law.
The Government's response
14.2 On the first question, that of implications for other Government Departments, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr Clappison) indicates that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is broadly content with the priority areas identified by the Commission in relation to agriculture, although the Government has reservations about the proposed integration of environmental considerations into the Common Agricultural Policy and the sustainable use of pesticides. The Government considers there may be some confusion between possible short term compensation payments to enable farmers to adjust to a reformed CAP and the separate and longer term need for targeted environmental incentives. The Government has no objection to the broad objective of "an integrated strategy for sustainable use of pesticides" but considers it is confusing to include it as part of the action programme. It is committed to the development of a strategy through the current stringent approval system under the provisions of the Authorisations Directive, and to the development of a pesticides minimisation policy. However, it does not want the study commissioned by Directorate General XI of the Commission on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides to be pre-empted. The issue of substitution of particular pesticides would, in the Government's view, be reviewed under the Plant Protection Authorisation Directive and the Government sees no need to add to these arrangements. They do not consider the object of the current review on the actions in relation to the environment and sustainable development as substituting some chemicals by others.
14.3 The Government supports the review's proposed introduction of monitoring and reporting obligations in agriculture, which is already a feature of the UK's agri-environment schemes. It believes that all Member States should also be required to report and monitor the effectiveness of such schemes. It considers that a careful blend of measures on the promotion of extensive farming need not result in increased demand for land or reduced production.
14.4 On transport, the Government supports the Commission proposal to give priority to the integration of environmental considerations in transport but considers that the measures identified could be costly. Detailed costings require more precise information. On industry, energy and tourism the Government supports the setting up of appropriate general objectives for the integration of environmental policy within the principles of subsidiarity and appropriate cost benefit analysis.
14.5 The Government considers that any action needed to implement the objectives of the review should be set out in separate implementing measures to be adopted by the Council, and not flow directly from the action programme. Any proposals produced by the Commission would be subject to cost analysis and open to wide consultation.
14.6 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary points out that the review uses Article 130s(3) as a legal base. This provides for qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers and co-decision with the European Parliament, and is used for an action programme for the first time. It is impossible to predict with any certainty what the legal base of subsequent measures will be; it appears likely that most will Article 130s(1) requiring qualified majority voting, although some may reqire unanimity. In negotiations the Government's aim will be to ensure that the Fifth Action programme review contains only policy objectives for action at Community level and is not binding on Member States.
Conclusion
14.7 We are grateful for the further information, and note that the Irish Presidency is aiming to achieve a common position on the proposal at the Environment Council on 9-10 December. We would like to be kept informed of any major changes in the proposal. We still consider that the proposed decision raises questions of legal and political importance, but now make no recommendation for debate, and clear the document.
31. (17059) 5641/96; see HC51-xix (1995-96), paragraph 3 (15 May 1996). Back |
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| © Parliamentary copyright 1996 | Prepared 12th November 1996 |