EU Planning To Dump Multiple Major Environment Bills In 2015, Because Teh Growth, Teh Holy Growth
Major pieces of environmental legislation are among scores of draft laws the new European Commission is considering scrapping as part of a pared down agenda for next year. Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime minister who became president of the European Union executive last month, will set out his legislative to-do list today in Strasbourg, France. His agenda may include withdrawing a proposal intended to cut air pollution, another that would limit landfill waste across the EU, and other initiatives drafted before Juncker’s team took office on Nov. 1, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.
The Juncker commission, which came in after a surge in populist, anti-EU sentiment in May’s Europe-wide elections, has vowed to cut what it considers unnecessary laws as part of an attempt to focus on stimulating economic growth and employment.
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The air-pollution law that the previous commission team proposed in 2013 is aimed at reducing emissions of pollutants including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides before 2020 and 2030 deadlines. According to the provisional 2015 work program, the legislation could be redrafted as part of a broader set of climate measures. A law to boost the so-called circular economy, which would cut packaging and landfill waste including introducing a 70 percent target by 2030 for the recycling of municipal waste across the bloc, is also in line for withdrawal.
“Europe needs to be ambitious, including on environmental and social standards, but it would be pointless if we were wasting our time and energy on proposals that have no chance of being adopted,” commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told reporters in Brussels on Dec. 12. “We are considering to propose to withdraw a number of proposals which do not match the commission’s political priorities or which are out of date.”
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-12-15/eu-may-scrap-environmental-proposals-amid-focus-on-growth
