EU Presidency Statement - The environment

Mr. Chairman,

Allow me to address you on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European Countries associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia -, the other associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, and the EFTA country which is a member of the European Economic Area, Norway, endorse this statement.

1. The second Global Ministerial Environment Forum held in Nairobi from 5 to 9 February 2001 once again attracted a large number of ministers. Its meetings are now a driving force in international cooperation on the environment.

2. The Global Ministerial Forum decided to launch an intergovernmental process at ministerial level, to initiate a comprehensive review of international environmental governance. The European Union attaches particular importance to this process, and will be very interested to hear the views of other countries at the four meetings planned before the next session of the Ministerial Forum. The Union hopes that this process will lead to decisions being taken at the Johannesburg Summit which will help render the structure of world environmental policy more coherent and integrated, while remaining conceptually integrated with all the proceedings which are to contribute to preparations for that Summit. The Union therefore hopes that information will circulate efficiently at each stage of the process, through appropriate documents and briefings, to ensure full transparency.

3. At its 21st meeting, the Governing Council of the UNEP took a number of important decisions.

4. The Governing Council confirmed UNEP's role in encouraging a balanced and integrated approach to trade policies with a view to sustainable development and gave the UNEP a mandate to step up its cooperation with the WTO and UNCTAD.

5. The European Union welcomes the Governing Council's report on the new momentum given to the global programme of action for the protection of the marine environment from land based activities, and undertakes to participate actively in the intergovernmental examination thereof planned for the end of November 2001 in Montreal.

6. As regards chemical products, the Governing Council took five important decisions and we welcome the fact that the Executive Director has a mandate to examine the need for a strategic approach to the subject. We also commend the key role played by UNEP in the prohibition of persistent organic pollutants, which led to the adoption of a Convention to this end in Stockholm in May 2001; we underline the need for it to be ratified as soon as possible.

7. On access to information, we welcome the request made to UNEP to evaluate the various instruments relating to Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, which will give rise to a report in 2002 for the next session of the Ministerial Forum.

8. The Environment Management Group met twice this year. We have high hopes of the coordination which has begun in this framework, and hope that the speedy distribution of information concerning the Group's meetings will make it possible for Member States to follow the progress made.

Thank you for your attention.

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• EU-US Joint Statement on climate change (23/4/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - Environment and sustainable development [1/2] (29/10/2001)
• EU Presidency Statement - Environment and sustainable development [2/2] (29/10/2001)