Review of Community environment and sustainable development policy
The European Commission has published an amended proposal for a Decision on the review of the Community's programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development - also known as the Fifth Environment Action Programme. This latest document takes account of the European Parliament's first reading of the original proposal on 13 November 1996. The European Parliament adopted some 102 amendments to the proposed Decision. The Commission has, however, only incorporated a small part of these into its amended proposal. The Commission's reasoning is that the review was intended to ensure a renewed political impulse to the implementation of the programme and not to revise or rewrite it, nor to set new targets or deadlines. Amendments which have been accepted by the Commission relate to increasing cooperation with other Community programmes and initiatives, as well as with other Member States and international organizations and bodies. Other amendments accepted include some relating to: - The protection of human health and the collection and dissemination of information on the links between environment and health; - The promotion of sustainable fishing; - The reinforcement of existing measures under the SAVE, ALTENER, THERMIE and JOULE programmes and placing greater emphasis on economic management instruments; - The improvement of nuclear safety in Central and Eastern Europe; - The phasing out and prohibition of persistent organic pollutants (POPS) which have a deleterious effect on the environment or health, where environment-friendly alternatives exist.