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THE FRENCH PRESIDENCY'S PLANS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTEurometaux Flash Info Following the 22 June Environment Council, Dominique Voynet, French Environmental Minister, who will become the President of the Council on 1 July, outlined her priorities for the next six months. Combating Climate Change will be France’s first priority during the presidency and Ms. Voynet indicated that she would be unrelenting in pressing for the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change (COP6), which will be held in The Hague in November, to reach concrete conclusions. In this connection, the subsidiary bodies of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will be meeting in Lyons, France, from 4-15 September for their last technical preparation meeting before the Conference in The Hague. Climate change will also be one of the main topics under discussion at the 10 October Council meeting and at a "special" Council session on this issue on 7 November (the day before COP6 starts). Ms Voynet stressed that the issue would not be decided simply by international action and that France would be paying particular attention to the adoption of Community greenhouse gas reduction measures, which the Council will be discussing on 10 October. Improving world governance in terms of the environment will be the second priority for the French Presidency at international level. Their analysis is that environmental issues are being dealt with on a sporadic and uncoordinated basis by various international bodies which all have different priorities and which are not always taken very seriously; the absence of a common body of regulations; and the strained relationship with the WTO (some multilateral environment agreements may not be implemented). Based on the above, the French Government intends to put forward various suggestions (first to the Council and then to Member States) for remedying these shortcomings, including the possibility of creating a World Environment Organisation. The connected issue of environmental responsibility will be discussed by the Council in October after public consultation on the European Commission’s White Paper. Hoping that the 28 June conciliation procedure over water policy will reach a successful conclusion, thereby removing a potential thorn in the side of the new Presidency, France will be able to concentrate on questions such as air quality, noise control and waste treatment and will promote the integration of environmental issues into other Community policies. Publisher: |