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.

Rail, maritime & waterway transport – Strategy to reduce atmospheric emissions from seagoing ships [archived]
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - A European Union strategy to reduce atmospheric emissions from seagoing ships

The European Union wants to take stock of the environmental and health problems caused by atmospheric emissions from seagoing ships and to define objectives, actions and recommendations to help reduce such emissions over the next ten years.

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Rail, maritime & waterway transport – The Marco Polo II Programme
Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing the second Marco Polo programme for the granting of Community financial assistance to improve the environmental performance of the freight transport system (Marco Polo II) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1382/2003

The Marco Polo II programme pursues the same objectives as the first Marco Polo programme. It is designed to reduce congestion and improve the environmental performance of the intermodal transport system, thereby contributing to an efficient and sustainable transport system which provides European Union (EU) added value without having a negative impact on economic, social or territorial cohesion. However, Marco Polo II includes some new features.

The Marco Polo II programme provides for wider geographical coverage. It covers actions involving the territory of at least two EU countries or the territory of at least one EU country and the territory of a close non-EU country.

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Rail, maritime & waterway transport – White Paper: A strategy for revitalising the Community’s railways [archived]
WHITE PAPER - A STRATEGY FOR REVITALISING THE COMMUNITY'S RAILWAYS

The White Paper meets the need to lay down a strategy to revitalise the Community’s railways by creating a sound financial basis, ensuring freedom of access to all traffic and public services and promoting the integration of national systems and social aspects.

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Re-use, recycling and recovery of vehicle parts and materials
Directive 2005/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to their reusability, recyclability and recoverability and amending Council Directive 70/156/EEC

It lays down administrative and technical rules to ensure that a vehicle's parts and materials may ultimately be reused, recycled and recovered as much as possible. It makes sure that the reused components do not cause any safety or environmental risks

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Recovery of petrol vapours during storage
European Parliament and Council Directive 94/63/EC of 20 December 1994 on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations

This Directive aims to reduce emissions from volatile organic compounds due to evaporation of petrol at all stages of the fuel storage and distribution chain.

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Reducing Greenhouse Gases – European satellite monitoring programme (Copernicus): climate aspects
Regulation (EU) No 377/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 establishing the Copernicus Programme and repealing Regulation (EU) No 911/2010

It provides a legal framework for the Copernicus programme for 2014-2020, laying down operational rules and establishing its main objectives. Monitoring climate change is one of the six areas for which Copernicus's services are specifically designed. The others are: land, marine and atmosphere monitoring, emergency response and a security service.

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Reducing Greenhouse Gases – Making Europe resilient to climate change through adaptation
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS An EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change

This Communication sets out an EU strategy to make Europe more climate-resilient in a flexible manner and by prioritising low-cost solutions. It sets out several climate adaptation actions to improve the EU’s response to climate change impacts at all levels.

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Reducing greenhouse gases – Reduction in fluorinated greenhouse gases [archived]
Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases

The European Union (EU) is establishing regulations for the containment, use, recovery and destruction of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases. These rules accompany the provisions relating to the labelling of products and equipment containing these gases, to the notification of information, to prohibitions on commercialisation, as well as to the training and certification of personnel and enterprises.

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