EN - Environment Council - Press conference by Sharon Dijksma, Dutch State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, and Commissioners Karmenu Vella (Environment, Maritime Affairs & Fisheries) and Vytenis Andriukaitis (Health & Food Safety) on COP21 Paris Agreement, the circular economy and the endocrine disruptors/glyphosate - 04.03.2016 - European Council, Brussels. Sharon Dijksma, Dutch Minister for the Environment and president in office of the Council: "I would like to Highlight 3 topics: the COP21 Paris Agreement, the circular economy and the endocrine disruptors. Paris was historic, a milestone, but to keep it historic in a positive way, we need to push forward the fantastic momentum we created in December last year. (...) And on April 22nd, we have the signing ceremony in New York ; it's an important political signal of our common determination to implement the Paris Agreement. The Presidency sees a well working ETS system as the needed game changer that accelerates the implementation of the Paris agreement; we strive to a system that is linked to areas outside the EU. Member states committed to the Paris agreement in December and continuous commitment is needed to work on and implement the agreement. During the informal Council meeting in Amsterdam next month, we will have a very important topic stated on the agenda which we will discuss both with the environment and the transport ministers: the reduction of carbon emission within shipping and aviation industry, 2 industries that were not part of the Paris Agreement, while specifically these sectors need and must participate to make a success of the agreement. (...) I was very pleased to hear broad support for the circular economy action plan amongst the ministers. Greening our economy is already happening today and it is happening in our society; there is no choice anymore, there is no alternative if we want to create sustainable economies for the future, if we want to be competitive globally and if we want growth and jobs without exhausting our resources. (...) Regarding waste (...): trash is treasure. So let's raise the bar and close the gap. (...)" Karmenu Vella, Member of the EC in charge of Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries: "The value of the action plan lies in a dressing all phases of the life cycling of products; for a European circular economy, independent studies have identified some savings of around 600 billion euros for EU businesses which is equivalent to around 8% of the total turnover; this would mean the creation of around 500 and 80.000 jobs and a reduction of EU carbon emissions by some 450 million tons each and every year from the transition to the circular economy. (...) On the implementation of the 7th environmental action plan which was also discussed we acknowledged that the task of implementing the 7th EAP is also a joined responsibility between the Commission and the member states. The Commission, for its part, has already taken important initiatives with a view to achieving the 7th EAP commitments; and we also discussed some examples such as the air quality package, the circular economy strategy, the mid-term review of the biodiversity strategy and the adoption of the action plan against wildlife trafficking. (...)" Vytenis Andriukaitis, Member of the EC in charge of Health and Food Safety: "I have confirmed today to the Council that Commission has the firm intention to comply with the judgement of the court and will present before the summer scientific criteria to identify endocrine disrupters based on the WHO definition. The decision to finalize and almost complete the impact assessment has been questioned by some Ministers in the letters addressed to commissioner Vella and myself on this matter; we would like to make full use of the information we gather from different scientific studies and from now almost finalize the impact assessment." From 12:30 Q&A; with the press - Sharon Dijksma on the implementation of the COP 21 and on the signature of the Paris Agreement in New York on April 22nd. Vytenis Andriukaitis on the EU Commission's position on glyphosate , IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon) and EFSA (European Food Safety Authority, Parma). Sharon Dijksma (on glyphosate): "You'ra asking the decision of the Dutch government, there has been a debate in the Netherland's Parliament last week on the issue of glyphosate, and I have to say that there is huge concern (...)and the Dutch Government will in I think a few moments send a letter to the Parliament, where they are asking for postponement of the decision making, because we need more time. And I think that you have to know that the position of the Parliament was to vote against. (...) I am speaking on behalf of my colleague (...) Martijn van Dam (...)" © Frédérick Moulin 2016 - EU2016 - European Council - All rights reserved.

• published: 11 Mar 2016
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