European-American cooperation in the environmental field

In a speech given at the EU Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce, on 19 July 1995, the European Commissioner for the environment, Ritt Bjerregaard, expressed concern over developments in US environmental policy and called on the US Administration to resist recent prop...

In a speech given at the EU Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce, on 19 July 1995, the European Commissioner for the environment, Ritt Bjerregaard, expressed concern over developments in US environmental policy and called on the US Administration to resist recent proposals to weaken US environmental legislation.

Commissioner Bjerregaard stated clearly that there would be no lowering of environmental standards in Europe because of deregulation or simplification of legislation and expressed the hope that the US and Europe may offer global leadership in environmental policy.

With this in mind, she urged the US to join the Basle Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous waste: "The countries of the European Union recently decided, unanimously, to work towards a complete ban on the export of hazardous waste from the OECD countries to non-OECD countries. It would be a clear signal of the readiness of the US to join Europe in taking the lead in the global environmental field if the US decided to support this decision and become a party to the Basle Convention."

Countries

United States