8 February 2012
Item 3) a) and b)
BUSINESSEUROPE environmental priority issues in 2012/2013
It was agreed at the last Environment Working Group meeting (24 October 2011) to undertake a priority-setting exercise on BUSINESSEUROPE’s environmental issues for 2012/2013. The present note puts forward a working approach to lead this exercise. It also aims at guiding a discussion on the organisation / functioning of the Environment Working Group (including the task forces) according to priorities which will be set.
A)Background:
In 2012/2013, debates on the further development of EU environmental policy will take place at different levels:
- Two broad-based and long-term EU policy initiatives are currently discussed: the Roadmap to a resource-efficient Europe and the 7th Environment Action Programme.
- More targeted / sectoral policy processes are also underway such as review of the Air Quality Policy, the SCP/SIP Action Plan or the Water Blueprint initiative.
- A number of pieces of legislation are going through a review / revision process, such as the ecodesign directive, the REACH Regulation or the Public Procurement directives.
These initiatives cover a large number of issues which have or could have a significant impact on European industry, more or less marked depending on the sector. Furthermore, the inter-linkage between those different levels of policy initiatives and the overlapping between the institutional agendas, lead to a situation where the “real substance” of issues will be (re)discussed in different contexts and at different points in time.
This renewed EU policy agenda has led also BUSINESSEUROPE’s national federations to review their own priorities in the environmental field. For example, issues such as biodiversity / ecosystem services, nanotechnologies or water policies have emerged as new issues in some member federations.
This situation should prompt the Environment Working Group to streamline its advocacy actions by identifying a limited number of major issues (legislative or otherwise) on which it is important for BUSINESSEUROPE to mobilise in 2012/2013.
B)Points of discussion / decision:
On 15 February, the Environment Working Group will be asked to undertake a priority setting exercise in order to define a limited number of issues on which BUSINESSEUROPE should concentrate and develop an advocacy plan in 2012/2013. Depending on what priority issues will be defined, the organization / functioning of the Environment WG (including the task forces) should be reviewed. It is proposed that the discussion is articulated around the following two blocks:
- Priority setting
The table in Annex 1 presents a list of (legislative and non-legislative) policy initiatives which are currently discussed at EU level. It combines issues which have been or are currently followed by BUSINESSEUROPE as well as issues which are not followed by BUSINESSEUROPE, but either have potentially a significant impact on industry or have been signalled by member federations. It is an indicative list which can be completed on 15 February if members have additional suggestions.
On 15 February, members will be asked to review the table in Annex 1and to rank the listed issues against the following parameters:
- Impact on industry: the issue must have a potentially broad impact (positive or negative) on EU industry at large and should therefore not relate only to one or two industrial sectors, or Member States.
- Possibility to influence: BUSINESSEUROPE must be in a position to send strong messages which are not neutralised by highly divergent positions at sectoral and/or national level. Discussions in the Environment working Group should also make it possible to define a common political objective from the outset.
- Timeline: the discussion should pinpoint whether or not it is too early (or too late) to mobilise BUSINESSEUROPE for 2012.
The exercise should lead to the definition of maximum three priority issues on which BUSINESSEUROPE should have a proactive role in order to influence the 2012/2013 EU policy agenda.
NB: The definition of priority issues should not prevent BUSINESSEUROPE, when necessary, from providing comments on other issues in a more “reactive”manner. In that respect, a “Watch List” could be set up with reports to the Environment WG organised on a regular basis.
- Organisation / functioning of the Environment Working Group and Task Forces
BUSINESSEUROPE’s Environment Working Group is responsible for monitoring EU policy developments in the environmental field (i.e. excluding climate- and energy-related issues), and develop BUSINESSEUROPE’s advocacy strategy and position papers. It oversees the work of several task forces, which are set-up on a temporary basis and with a specific mandate. The membership of the Environment Working Group is composed of representatives of BUSINESSEUROPE’s national federations, member companies of BUSINESSEUROPE’s Advisory and Support Group and representatives of European sectoral associations.
Depending on the outcome of the priority-setting exercise (item 1), it appears advisable to review the organisation / functioning of the Environment Working Group and the mandates of the task forces.
Regarding the Environment Working Group, a more prominent role in developing BUSINESSEUROPE’s advocacy work and the following arrangements of its functioning could be envisaged:
- Organise four - instead of three - meetings per year
- Organise conference calls (when appropriate)
- Appoint rapporteurs / vice-chairs who will take an active role, together with BUSINESSEUROPE’s headquarters, in managing BUSINESSEUROPE’s advocacy strategy on a priority issue.
- Expand its membership to ensure it is composed of the right experts on the agreed 2012/2013 priority issues
Regarding the task forces, decisions will have to be taken on whether new task forces need to be set up and/or if the mandate of existing task forces needs to be terminated or revised.
Annex 2 presents a state of play of the active and dormant task forces
Annex 1: Indicative list of possible BUSINESSEUROPE’s environmental priority issues in 2012/2013
3 (high relevance)2 (moderate)1 (low relevance)
Issues / Description / What is the impact on industry? / What is the possibility to influence? / Is first half 2012 appropriate to start advocate?Non-legislative work (in 2012 / 2013)
Resource efficiency indicators / beyond GDP / To put in place comparable national metrics and indicators that alongside GDP can reflect the state of the environment, use of resources, well being and the quality of life
Biodiversity / ecosystem services / To assess their economic value, and promote the integration of these values into accounting and policymaking.
To encourage businesses to assess their dependency on ecosystems services building upon a EU business & Biodiversity Platform.
Valuing / monetization of the nature / To ensure that market prices and policies adequately reflect environmental externalities (i.e. environmental impacts identified in a life-cycle assessment)
Environmental market-based instruments
Environmental taxation / To link national incentives (tax rebate, subsidies, etc.) with the environmental performance of companies or products.
To shift taxation from labour to environment / resource-based taxes
Water policy / To propose water efficiency targets and measures (smart metering, pricing, water allocation, requirements on water using devices, etc.)
To assess the implementation and achievements of current freshwater policy, to identify gaps and shortcomings.
Environmental footprint / accountingof companies
Products environmental footprint” / To establish a common methodological approach to assess, display and benchmark the “sustainability” performance of companies and products.
(To some extent, it is linked to CSR).
Environmental subsidies / To phase out environmentally harmful subsidies
REACH
- Implementation / 2013 registration deadline
- 2012 Review / - to prepare the 2nd wave of registrations by 2013
- to draw conclusions on the operation of the REACH Regulation, the status of implementation and the impacts on costs, administrative burden and innovation. To review the scope and potential overlaps with other legislation.
New business models and industrial symbiosis / To promote industrial supply chain understanding to achieve material resource efficiency
Life-cycle assessment / To properly assess the sustainability impacts of resources use in value chains
Industrial Emissions Directive / To implement the new requirements of the directive, in particular whether it should apply to old/existing BREFs
Enforcement of the environmental acquis / market surveillance / Proposal for a directive on environmental inspections?
Eco-innovation
Nanomaterials / GMOs
Land use and soil
Combination effects of chemicals
“EU institutional affairs” / More prominent role taken by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in (pre) environmental policymaking.
Possible legislative work (in 2012 / 2013)
Eco-design directive / To set requirements to boost the material resource efficiency (e.g. recyclability) and to expand the scope to beyond energy-related products.
New legal framework instrument for sustainable products / To strengthen the requirements concerning resource efficiency, beyond energy (.e.g. minimum requirements for recyclability, reusability, updgradeability, durability).
Air quality / To review the Air Quality and National Emissions Ceilings Directives.
To assess new measures (e.g. transport, agriculture, shipping).
Green public procurement / To set environmental requirements into the Public Procurement Directive (e.g. use of eco-labelling, life-cycle cost, production process)
To stimulate the uptake of voluntary GPP criteria by public authorities
Environmental Impact Assessment / To ensure that plans, programmes and projects (motorway, airport, factory) likely to have impacts on the environment are made subject to an environmental assessment, prior to their approval or authorization.
Access to information, public participation in environmental decision making and access to justice (Aarhus convention) / To align EU legislations (IED, Seveso, ELD, etc.) with Aarhus principles
UN level: to promote public access to environmental information held by business.
To adopt the directive on access to justice (proposed in 2003, favourable opinion by EP, but blocked by MSs in Council).
Revised directive on Priority Substances in the field of water policy / To review the list of priority substances and to set (where appropriate) new requirements for existing priority substances.
Annex 2: State of play Task Forces reporting to the Environment Working Group
A)Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) Task Force
Chair: Peter Breidenbach (Currenta, BDI)
Status: Active
Duration / mandate: One year (Feb. 2011 to Feb. 2012)
Review clause: by early 2012, to assess the work undertaken by the Task Force and of its functioning and to decide either to prolong the mandate or to address IED at the level of the Environment Working Group.
Appointments:
Peter Breidenbach is appointed as BUSINESSEUROPE’s representative in the “Article 13 Forum”
B)Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Task Force
Chair: Guy Ethier (Umicore, FEB-VBO). Vice-chair: Sigrid Linher (Orgalime)
Status: Active
Duration / mandate: the Task Force was set up in 2007 without an end-of-term date / review clause. It was created to primarily lead BUSINESSEUROPE’s advocacy work on environmental product policy, in particular the revision of the eco-design and energy-labeling directives as well as the eco-label regulation. In 2010, a new chair, Guy Ethier, was appointed and the mandate of the task was extended to cover the preparation of the Roadmap to a resource-efficient Europe.
Review clause: on 24 October 2011, the Environment WG has agreed to review the mandate of the SCP Task Force in order to achieve a more political approach by BUSINESSEUROPE on the renewed EU “sustainable” policy.
Appointments:
Veronique Garny (Cefic) is appointed BUSINESSEUROPE’s representative in the EU Eco-label Board
Hubert van Breemen (VNO-NCW) was appointed BUSINESSEUROPE’s representative in the GPP Advisory Group. Due to personal reasons he has decided to stop his mandate in 2011. A “recruitment” process is still on-going.
C)REACH Implementation Network (RIN)
Chair: No chair
Status: Dormant
Duration / mandate: the RIN was set up in 2007 with a view to monitoring the implementation of REACH, coordinating BUSINESSEUROPE contributions to ECHA and Commission work / committees and prepare future revisions of the REACH Regulation.
Review clause: No
Appointments:
Anne-Claire Rasselet (Orgalime) is appointed as BUSINESSEUROPE/Orgalime representative in the CARACAL.
Vibeke Plambeck (DI) is appointed in the ECHA Forum, Kerstin Ulrich (BASF, appointed by BDI) in the ECHA SEA Committee and Volker Soballa (Evonik, appointed by BDI) in the ECHA RAC Committee.
D)Air Quality (AQ) Task Force
Chair: Jean-Guy Bartaire (EDF, MEDEF)
Status: Dormant
Duration / mandate: the Task Force was created many years ago and was actively involved in the preparation of the 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution and the revision of the Air Quality and NEC Directives.
Review clause: No
Appointments: No
* * *
Environment WG meeting on 15 February 2012
Item 3 – Discussion note Environmental priority issues 2012/20131