Busy day in Brussels

It is partly thanks to Malta's initiative at the United Nations 20 years ago that dolphins and whales today stand a chance of protection from the deadly effects of underwater sonar devices.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea put forward by Malta in 1982 requires a full impact assessment on NATO activities suspected of causing strandings and deaths of cetaceans. Euro MP Caroline Lucas of the UK's Green Party has called for a moratorium on the use of Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS) bounced of the ocean floor at high volume by submarines

Strandings of marine mammals have become more commonplace following tests of the devices: at least 17 whales, dolphins and porpoises were beached in March 2000 following US tests near the Bahamas. Nine died following bleeding of the eyes, brain and lungs.

A NATO investigation admitted an earlier 1996 mass stranding of Cuvier's Beaked Whales in Greece in the wake of LFAS tests. Most recently, 15 beaked whales died after being washed up on the Canary Islands following military manoeuvres in the area by NATO's Mediterranean fleet. Autopsies showed they had suffered brain lesions and inner ear damage.

The sounds used are up to 200 billion times louder than those which normally disturb marine mammals, causing internal bleeding, deafness and lung damage in dolphins and whales.

Information Directive warning for Spain

Taking the second step in the infringement process, the European Commission has formally requested by "Reasoned Opinion" (a final written warning) that Spain fully implements the Directive on access to environmental information. In the absence of a satisfactory response within two months, the Commission may refer the case to the Court of Justice.

The case arose from a complaint lodged against the government of the Region of Cantabria following its failure to fulfil two requests for access to information.

The first request concerned the proposed list of sites of Community interest under the EC Natura 2000 scheme, which seeks to conserve natural habitats and wild flora and fauna.

The second request was made to the Cantabrian Environment Minister with regards to a quarry at Izara. The EU Directive enables citizens to be better informed about environmental matters as a means of protecting the environment.

Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström commented: "I regret that Spain has failed to correctly apply the EU rules on access to environmental information. This failure undermines the very reason why these rules were established: to ensure that citizens have access to environmental information held by public authorities thereby helping citizens to play an active role in contributing to environmental protection."

The Court of Justice has stated that public access to preliminary documentation relating to development consent, which is not contributing to a judicial inquiry, should be provided. Similarly, withholding the proposed list of sites of Community interest cannot be justified simply on the grounds that the final list has not yet been adopted. This does not conform to the provisions of the Directive on access to environmental information.

The Izara quarry request was refused because the development consent was not granted. However, this reason for refusing access to information does not feature among the list of accepted reasons detailed in the Directive.

The Access to Environmental Information Directive (90/313/EEC) aims to make public authority information on the environment more accessible to the public and ensure that fair standards of access are applied across the Community.

Member states must ensure that environmental information is made available in response to a request from a member of the public. Refusal to do so must be based on a limited list of exceptions, which include national security and commercial confidentiality.

The authority that receives the request must reply within two months of receiving it. The Directive also requires general information on the environment to be made available to the public.

Local institutions may want to sit up and take notice.

Ten out of 13

On January 21 Environment Commissioner Wallström, Enlargement Commisioner Verheugen and Environment Council Chairman Papandreou (Foreign Minister of Greece) held the last informal meeting with Environment Ministers.

Parliamentary Secretary George Pullicino was prevented from attending the meeting as he attended to the industrial dispute which has disrupted the workings of MEPA. Staff from our embassy in Brussels represented Malta at the meeting on behalf of the Ministry.

So far, about 80 per cent of transposition of the EU's environmental acquis has been completed. With accession imminent progress of the implementation of EU environmental rules moved up a gear from transposition toward its implementation and enforcement.

We are among the ten nations to accede to the EU next year. Commissioner Wallström is intent on seeing that an enlarged Europe is a greener Europe:

"We must now concentrate our efforts on helping them and the remaining candidate countries to implement the EU's environmental laws in an efficient and timely way and on giving them the financial means to do so. We are entering a critical phase: the rules must be fully applied on the ground and important nature sites safeguarded. This is paramount to ensure sustainable development in an enlarged EU."

The implementation challenge is twofold: financial and institutional. Structural assistance for the ten new member states after accession for 2004 to 2006 amounts to around E22 billion. Assistance for environmental investments through the Cohesion Fund alone will be three times more than the pre-accession funds.

The cost of compliance with the environmental acquis for the candidate countries is estimated at E80-110 billion. Twenty five billion euros will go toward meeting the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and over over E10 billion to help implement the Landfill Directive

A key issue emerging in the discussions at the meeting was how to help local and regional authorities to build up the administrative capacity needed to implement environmental policy at ground level. Twinning Programmes are making the wealth of Europe's experience and expertise in implementing policies available to candidate countries.

The Ministry for Home Affairs and Environment submitted a project on the institutional capacity in the Environment Sector for funding under the 2002 pre-accession programme. Project Fiche was submitted to the Commission in October 2001 and was finally signed last month. The project will commence within the next few months and comprises a twinning arrangement for technical assistance.

The project will establish instutional capacity in the environmental sector including pollution control, waste management, protection of biodiversity. It will ensure that the original structure of the institutions involved in the implementation and enforcement of the acquis is adequate for the task provided staff have sufficient knowledge and expertise. Project is expected to provide detailed plans for human and other resources necessary to adequately address the issues of the environmental acquis.

Also on the agenda were measures and financial options for implementing EU nature protection legislation within the framework of the NATURA 2000 network of protected sites. NATURA 2000 sites for Malta are still being selected by MEPA. They will eventually be published for public consultation.

Safer cosmetics

Last month EU ministers adopted new legislation to ban the use of carcinogens, mutagens or substances that are toxic to reproduction (CMR) in cosmetic products.

Green MEP Alexander de Roo, Vice-President of the Environment Committee said: "I am glad to see that EU ministers have finally agreed to put an end to the outdated "wait-and see' approach for cancer-causing substances in cosmetics. We do not need lengthy assessments before restricting CMR substances in cosmetics: they must simply not be used in cosmetic products - full stop! This is not only an appeal to common sense - nobody wants to have cancer-causing substances in their skincream - it is also fully backed by the relevant scientific committee."

The Council of Ministers initially wanted to allow the use of these substances and merely subject them to a risk assessment and then decide whether to take any restrictions or not.

This was in stark contrast to the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Cosmetic Products and Non-Food Products intended for consumers (SCCNFP), which said that these substances should not be intentionally added to cosmetics, a position that was vigorously defended by the Greens/EFA group throughout the whole process and that view finally prevailed.

Manufactures will have to inform the public about the exact quantities of hazardous substances used in cosmetics, as well as about data on undesirable effects on human health resulting from the use of cosmetics.

"This should create a driving force to safer cosmetics," said De Roo, who visited Malta at the invitation of Alternattiva Demokratika to work on waste issues. He will be returning to Malta in May for a European Federation of Green Parties meeting to be held here.

Future of Euratom relic

The Euratom Treaty had a hand in the creation of the special economic zone we call the EU in 1957 in order to promote the use and the growth of nuclear energy. The Euratom Treaty still guarantees special privileges for the nuclear industry.

Green/European Free Alliance energy co-ordinator Claude Turmes says: "This is unacceptable in the age where Europe is building an internal energy market, because it leads to distortions in competition and gives unjustified privileges to this outdated energy form at the detriment of others, namely renewable energy forms." He described the Euratom Treaty as "a relic of the 1950s unbroken faith into technological progress and the times of the cold war."

Scottish MEP Neil MacCormick, substitute member of the European Convention, said: "In order to create a level playing field in the internal market for energy and to improve the democratic control of energy policies in the EU, we call for the abolition of the Euratom Treaty. We have to get rid of all the specific economic advantages given to nuclear power under Euratom. All the aspects related to safety, health and environment protection from radioactive sources must fall under the environmental protection provisions of the EC Treaty. The necessary provisions for nuclear safeguards and non-proliferation could be integrated in a future EU Treaty or specified in an additional act to the Constitution."

Irish Green MEP Nuala Ahern called on the Irish government to exercise the Convention on the Future of Europe as a means of getting rid of the Euratom Treaty:

"It is time the non-nuclear governments, who are in the majority in the EU, stopped supporting nuclear research. More money goes into nuclear research than into renewable energy research, and the non-nuclear states are footing the bill for this. It is time Euratom was called to a halt," said Ahern.

This all took place on just another busy day in Brussels.