Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – The Sixth Community Environment Action Programme – Final Assessment

The world today is very different to that of 2002 when the ten-year 6th Environment Action Programme (EAP) was adopted. It is recovering from a deep financial and economic crisis, which clearly demonstrates the systemic risks of uncritically maintaining business-as-usual. This points once again to the importance of the concepts of green growth and a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy which can be seen as offering good policy guidance for global economic transformation in the long-term.

Environment Action Programmes have guided the development of EU environment policy since the early seventies and the 6th EAP should be seen as part of a continuous process spanning almost 40 years. Its lifespan encompassed two enlargements which saw the Community grow from fifteen Member States to a Union of twenty-seven and through which an increased level of environmental protection has been driven by the uptake of EU environmental legislation.

This Communication presents a final assessment of the Programme, which gives some clear insights into environmental policy-making today and in the future.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)531: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:531:FIN

---