Finland’s EU Presidency : Environment

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Environment

EU ministers responsible for environmental issues meet four times a year. During its Presidency, Finland will hold two meetings of the Environment Council – one in Luxembourg in October, the other in Brussels in December. The meetings will be chaired by Jan-Erik Enestam, Minister of the Environment.

Main issues

During Finland’s Presidency, the focus will be on issues relating to climate change, biodiversity, air quality, marine environment and waste issues.

Work on climate policy will cover both international and internal developments. The Finnish Presidency will actively seek ways to promote international negotiations on the development of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change after 2012. The EU's objective is that these discussions could, in the near future, result in an ambitious global regime which would include all countries crucial to climate change. Within the EU, focus will be on implementation of the Kyoto commitments and the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme and European climate programme.

The Finnish Presidency will actively promote the EU’s objective of halting the decline in biodiversity by 2010.

Finland will also expedite the mid-term review of the Community’s Sixth Environment Action Programme on the basis of a Commission report. In the consideration of thematic strategies, emphasis will be on strategies concerned with air quality, the marine environment and the prevention and recycling of waste.

Meetings

Finland will hold an informal meeting of ministers responsible for environmental issues in Turku in July. The main theme of the meeting will be “Going Global on Eco-Efficiency - Towards a New Generation of Environmental Policy”. The meeting will also focus on the Baltic Sea, the protection and environmental value of which will be displayed in events parallel to the ministerial meeting.

Finland will also host the following five civil servant meetings: Informal EU workshop on climate change, (venue Naantali); High level civil servant meeting on spatial planning and seminar on the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON), (venue Espoo); meeting of Directors-General for Water, (venue Inari); and meeting of the Network for Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental law, (venue Espoo).