Transcript EU Policy Landscape on SCP & EU Eco

EU Policy Landscape around
Sustainable Consumption and
Production & EU Eco-label
Liazzat Rabbiosi, UNEP
[email protected]
Basic facts about the European Union
Basic facts:
•established in 1951
•European Union is a pact
between 27 sovereign
nations
 share a common destiny
 pool an increasing share of
their sovereignty
•half a billion Europeans
Mission
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provide peace, prosperity and stability for its peoples
overcome the divisions on the continent
ensure that its people can live in safety
promote balanced economic and social development
meet the challenges of globalisation and preserve the
diversity of the peoples of Europe
• uphold the values that Europeans share, such as
sustainable development and a sound environment,
respect for human rights and the social market economy
Key EU Institutions
• Council (representing national
governments) – main decision-making
body
• European Parliament (representing the
people) – an elective body
• European Commission (independent of
EU governments that upholds the
collective European interest) - an
executive body
Decision-Making Process
Step 1: European Commission facilitates preconsultation and discussion with interest groups,
citizens, and experts on a specific strategy or policy
proposal.
Step 2: European Commission makes a formal
proposal (includes an impact assessment).
Step 3: Parliament and European Council/Council
of Ministers decide jointly on the proposal based on
the decision making procedures.
Step 4: After formal adoption and publication
national or local authorities implement the policy or
law.
Step 5: European Commission and Court monitor
implementation.
Policy landscape of the EU eco-label
Frameworks
Lisbon
Strategy
Environmental
Action Plan
EU
SDS
Climate
change
CSR
Thematic strategies
and policies
Waste
EU
FLOWER
WEEE
& RoHS
IPPC
REACH
Strategic
Approaches
SCP Action
Plan
Integrated
Product Policy
Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs
• European Council in Lisbon (March 2000) launched a
"Lisbon Strategy“
• making the European Union the most competitive economy in
the world
• achieving full employment by 2010
• promoting sustainable development across the EU
• EU leaders adopted a ten-year programme (2000-2010)
• Europe’s challenges:
• globalisation
• an ageing population
• the emergence of a worldwide information society
• stimulating economic and social reforms
• strengthening the European social model, with its
developed systems of social protection
Three Pillars of the Lisbon Strategy
The Lisbon Strategy rests on three pillars:
• an economic pillar
• preparing the ground for the transition to a
competitive, dynamic, knowledge-based economy
• a social pillar
• designed to modernise the European social model by
investing in human resources and combating social
exclusion
• an environmental pillar
• draws attention to the fact that economic growth
must be decoupled from the use of natural resources
EAP and SDS
• EU Sixth Environmental Action Programme (6th EAP)
• Framework for environmental policy-making and outlines
actions – driver for setting sustainable development framework
in EU
• Aim: full integration of environmental agenda into all policies
and actions
• EU Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS)
• A complentary to Lisbon Strategy and added environmental
pillar
• setting overall priorities, objectives and measures to be met by
all policy proposals – a core of EU policies
• both approaches cover a wide range of policy issues and
linkages with other policy areas
• clear reference to sustainable consumption and
production
Political landscape of the EU eco-label
Frameworks
Lisbon
Strategy
Environmental
Action Plan
EU
CSD
Climate
change
CSR
Thematic strategies
and policies
Waste
EU
FLOWER
WEEE
& RoHS
IPPC
REACH
Strategic
Approaches
SCP Action
Plan
Integrated
Product Policy
Thematic Strategies and Policies - 1
• Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
• To move EU towards a low-carbon economy
 within EU eco-label energy related aspects of products play an
important part for strategy development, product group
selection, criteria development
 new developments: carbon footprint of products and
development of related methodological approaches and
schemes
• Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
• To reduce the environmental impact of resource use while at
the same time improving resource productivity overall across
the EU economy
• for renewable resources below the threshold of overexploitation
• a priority area of the EU Eco-label
Thematic Strategies and Policies 2
 Waste Prevention and Recycling
• Waste hierarchy: prevent, resuse, recycle, recover, landfill
• Long-term objectives – recycling society, avoid waste and
waste as a resource
• waste prevention or waste minimisation are important
objectives for the EU eco-label though recycled material or
recycling products are not priorities under the EU ecolabel so far.
Thematic Strategies and Policies -3
• Waste from electrical and electronic
equipment (WEEE)
• restricting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electric
equipment and promoting the collection and recycling of such
equipment
• provides for the creation of collection schemes where consumers
return their used e-waste free of charge
• extended producer’s responsibility
• Restriction of Hazardous Substances
(RoHS):
• requires heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium
and flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) to be substituted by safer
alternatives
• EU eco-label: both legislations are relevant for product groups
in the field of electrical appliances
Thematic Strategies and Policies -4
• Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control
(IPPC)
• Reduce pollution from industrial base – need for permits
for installations
• Principles: Integrated – i.e overall environmental
performance, BAT – exchange of information, public
participation in permit allocation, flexibility in permit
allocation
• relevance to the EU eco-label:
− production related aspects are key for some product
groups under the EU eco-label scheme, like textiles,
shoes, paper products.
Thematic Strategies and Policies -5
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of
Chemical substances (REACH)
• chemicals and their safe use
• aim :
• Progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals with
suitable alternatives
• to enhance innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU
chemicals industry
 Manufacturers to gather information and register at ECA
(Helsinki) which evaluates and runs a public database
• relevance to the EU eco-label: chemicals are part of any
product so REACH has become a very important
framework for the EU eco-label
Thematic Strategies and Policies - 6
• European Technologies Action Plan (ETAP)
• Role of eco-innovation and environmental technologies in
growth, employment, sustainable resource use
• Aim: to boost development and use of environmental
technologies through overcoming the key barriers
• financing R&D in promising areas
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• CSR is about going beyond minimum legal requirements to
address societal needs
• In EU purely voluntary framework with the aim to increase its
political visibility to acknowledge ongoing and encouraging
more efforts
• Communication, CSR forum, thematic round tables
• Relevance: a supportive framework to promote the EU eco-label
Political landscape of the EU eco-label
Frameworks
Lisbon
Strategy
Environmental
Action Plan
EU
CSD
Climate
change
CSR
Thematic strategies
and policies
Waste
EU
FLOWER
WEEE
& RoHS
IPPC
REACH
Strategic
Approaches
SCP Action
Plan
Integrated
Product Policy
Integrated Product Policy
• a strategic approach on how to advance SCP 
elaborated field of policy implementation - cross-cutting
and mix of voluntary and regulatory policies
• A backbone of SCP concept – a supportive framework to
existing policies and a foundation for a systematic
approach to SCP
• Focus on promotion of voluntary and mandatory
measures to minimise impacts based life cycle
• five key principles for the IPP approach:
• life-cycle thinking
• working with the market (mainly via incentives)
• stakeholder involvement
• continuous improvements
• a variety of policy instruments
• work from the local to the international scale
• IPP toolbox including eco-labelling, public procurement, eco-design
SCP Action Plan
• A core strategy and framework on SCP and
sustainable industrial policy - direct relevance
to the EU Flower
• series of policy proposals to improve
environmental performance and increase the
demand for more sustainable goods and
production technologies
• measures:
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Eco-design based on minimum standards or advanced benchmarks
Product labelling
Public procurement – to include environmental criteria
Smarter consumption – raising consumer awareness and greening
supply chains
• Cleaner and leaner production – optimal production process and
resource use, more value with less resource
• Focus on SMEs – support
• Trade – dissemination of environmental friendly products