Member states carpeted over ‘green’ laws

Date: 08/05/1997

A SERIES of proposed new measures to strengthen EU environmental laws will be presented to member state governments by the European Parliament next month.

The package, drafted by British Socialist MEP and chairman of the Parliament's environment committee Ken Collins, will be endorsed by MEPs next Tuesday (13 May).

It envisages a clear role for the public and pressure groups in ensuring EU rules are implemented, and recommends tougher sanctions on member states which ignore any of the 200 separate items of Union legislation they have adopted.

“Implementation is not getting any worse, but it is still definitely patchy and a problem. No country is entirely without blame. Our recommendations will be more influential and timely than usual as they will be examined by environment ministers when they consider how to improve the current situation at their June meeting,” said Collins.

While member states generally have a good record in transposing Union legislation into national law, Collins' report confirms that the practical implementation rate is far less impressive.

In 1995 - the last full year for which data is available - 265 suspected breaches of environmental rules were notified.

In a bid to close the loopholes, Collins is recommending that each member state should be required to set up a national environmental inspectorate, whose work would be monitored and overseen by the European Commission.

At the same time, the Parliament is expected to support calls to strengthen the Commission's own group of environmental lawyers. At the moment, the 15-strong team is overwhelmed by the task of handling around 600 cases a year and is handicapped by being unable to carry out its own inspections in member states.

“It is increasingly clear that without a well-resourced independent inspection and enforcement agency, the job will never be done effectively,” warns Collins, adding: “It should be noted that this is not a revolutionary suggestion. Pan-EU teams of veterinary inspectors roam the EU countryside. Food hygiene inspectors and fisheries inspectors also operate at EU level, as do anti-fraud squads carrying out spot checks.”

It is not only a lack of resources which hinders Union efforts to implement the environmental rules agreed by governments. In contrast to internal market legislation, where there are any number of competitors or vested interests to police implementation, Collins argues that “environmental legislation has no defenders with a direct economic interest in its observance”.

This handicap, he believes, can be overcome by giving individuals and organisations clear rights to bring cases of alleged breaches before national courts - an arrangement which would strengthen public scrutiny and keep legal costs within acceptable limits.

MEPs are expected to propose that the Commission makes greater use of its powers to recommend fines on member states which ignore European Court of Justice judgements. They will also try to reduce the scope for political manoeuvring by suggesting that legal proceedings should be initiated automatically when governments fail to implement all the provisions of an EU directive.