EU ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

EU environmental policies and legislation protect natural habitats, keep air and water clean, ensure proper waste disposal, improve knowledge about toxic chemicals and help businesses move toward a sustainable economy.

The following is a list of EU Environment and Climate Change related legislation documents and weblinks that are currently available on Lean Business Ireland.

Monitoring & adapting to climate change – UN climate negotiations: Kyoto Protocol — first commitment period
2002/358/EC: Council Decision of 25 April 2002 concerning the approval, on behalf of the European Community, of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the joint fulfilment of commitments thereunder

It gives the EU’s legal approval to the Kyoto Protocol — an agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — and confirmation that the EU and the 15 countries that were members at the time the legislation was adopted (the ‘EU-15’) would honour the commitments they made to an 8 % cut in their greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels for the EU as a whole.

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Monitoring & adapting to climate change – UN climate negotiations: Kyoto Protocol — second commitment period
Decision (EU) 2015/1339 on the conclusion, on behalf of the EU of the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

It gives the EU’s formal approval to the agreement reached at the Doha conference in December 2012 to establish a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The second commitment period runs from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020.

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Motor vehicles with trailers: permissible sound level
Council Directive 70/157/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound level and the exhaust system of motor vehicles

The aim of this directive is to implement European Union regulations relating to vehicle noise based on complete harmonisation.

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Moving toward competitive sustainable and secure energy for Europe
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Energy Roadmap 2050

The energy roadmap examines various scenarios for achieving a competitive low carbon economy by 2050 while ensuring security of energy supply. It demonstrates that whichever scenario is chosen the decarbonisation aims are feasible.

KEY POINTS

To achieve the new energy system, the roadmap identifies the following factors:

  • the existing 2020 energy strategy, with its ability to help reduce emissions by 40 % by 2050, must be fully implemented;
  • the prime focus should be on energy efficiency, especially in new and old buildings, transport, products and appliances;
  • renewables have the potential to provide some 30 % of total EU energy consumption by 2030;
  • higher public and private investment is needed in R & D and technological innovation to make low-carbon energy commercially viable;
  • substituting gas for coal and oil can reduce emissions with existing technologies until at least 2030 or even 2035;
  • energy prices need to better reflect actual costs, especially when new investments are being made. The earlier this is done, the easier the change to a low-carbon system;
  • new energy infrastructure, for electric vehicles for example, and storage facilities are needed inside the EU and in neighbouring countries;
  • safety and security of traditional and new energy sources must remain paramount;
  • the EU should take a broader and more coordinated approach towards its international energy relations and moves to tackle climate change;
  • concrete milestones must be set for achievable goals and to give guidance to investors as the EU takes the next step by defining its 2030 policy framework.
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Moving towards a low-carbon economy in 2050
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050
  • It presents a roadmap up to 2050 of the various ways the EU’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target can be achieved.
  • It contains target milestones to show the extent to which the EU will be on course to create a low-carbon economy.
  • It sets out policy challenges, investment needs and the role different sectors should play.

 

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National emission limits for certain air pollutants
Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

It sets limits on total national emissions from four pollutants – sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia. These can cause acidification (e.g. the chemical composition of the sea acidifies), water and soil pollution (eutrophication) and ground-level ozone (ozone resulting from the reaction of the four pollutants with heat and sunlight). EU action continues to be necessary because of the persisting transboundary nature of these pollutants. The limits are staging posts towards more ambitious longer-term objectives.

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Nature and biodiversity – Access to genetic resources and sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation (Nagoya Protocol)
2014/283/EU: Council Decision of 14 April 2014 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity

This Council of the European Union decision officially approves the "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity' on behalf of the EU. Through this approval, the EU has become legally bound to the protocol, a key agreement on international governance of biodiversity.

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Nature and biodiversity – Ensuring trade in wild fauna and flora does not threaten their survival
Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has to be implemented uniformly in all EU countries due to the EU’s single market and the absence of systematic border controls. CITES is implemented in the EU by means of a set of regulations known as the EU wildlife trade regulations. EU countries apply rules for the import and export of endangered species of animals and plants, and products derived from them.

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