Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and the members for the invitation to discuss Ireland's forthcoming Presidency of the European Union and the agenda for next Monday's meeting of the EU Environment Council in Brussels.

In only 19 days from now, Ireland will be in the hot seat as we take over the Presidency of the European Union on 1 January, a date which will also mark the 40th anniversary of our accession to the European Union or, as it was then known, the European Economic Community. It is our seventh time taking on this challenge and over the past four decades we have garnered an excellent reputation for running successful presidencies. We have been planning for this for over two years and, as they say in racing parlance, we are ready for the off.

In terms of the environment agenda for the Presidency, we intend to accept the baton from the Cypriots, with much work under way at various working parties. We aim to accomplish much in the six months of our Presidency and our level of ambition, in terms of strategy, legislation and international agenda is high. We face many challenges in realising those ambitions, but we believe our aims are achievable. At the end of June 2013, I hope to be able to come back to the committee and account for this high level of ambition with a number of achievements under our belts.

In preparing for the Presidency, we have had extensive engagement on our emerging agenda with my colleague Ministers on the Council and their Departments, and we have had much discussion with the European Parliament and the Commission. I have met the Chair of the Parliament's environment committee on a number of occasions and I have also been engaging actively with the relevant MEP rapporteurs for the files we have been prioritising in the past 15 months or so. Needless to say, I have also been liaising closely with the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Janez Potočnik, who met the committee a few weeks ago, and with the Commissioner for Climate Action, Ms Connie Hedegaard, on the pipeline of policy and legislative proposals emerging from the Commission. My team of officials have been in intensive rounds of engagement with the Commission for the past 18 months. It is fair to say that solid foundations have been laid on which I am confident a successful Presidency can be built.

I will broadly outline for the committee our Presidency priorities, focusing on the key dossiers we wish to advance during our six month tenure. As the incoming Presidency, there will be some degree of overlap between many of the dossiers on our Presidency programme and the items that feature on Monday's Council meeting agenda.

Therefore, it might be best if I were first to outline the Council agenda for next Monday's meeting and then provide further detail on the status of dossiers as I discuss the Presidency programme. Next Monday’s Council, which will be the last environment Council under the Cyprus Presidency, will discuss two non-legislative matters. First, the Council will adopt conclusions on a blueprint to safeguard Europe’s water resources. While the water framework directive put forward an integrated approach to water policy a number of years ago, additional actions are needed to protect and improve EU waters. The blueprint sets out a range of policy proposals intended to address the obstacles and challenges in the way of meeting the water quality objectives of the directive and maintaining them into the future. It has the long-term aim of ensuring sufficient availability of good-quality water for sustainable and equitable water use. The blueprint includes over 40 discrete actions to achieve its aim. Most of these are voluntary measures, such as new guidance for member states in areas such as better calculation of costs and benefits and maximising the use of green infrastructure, such as wetlands, in water management. The blueprint objectives will be achieved in the main by improving the implementation of current EU water policy and fostering the integration of water and other policies. The blueprint proposes EU actions only where this offers added value and takes fully into account the very significant differences between and within member states.

There will also be an exchange of views on greening the European semester. This is the process through which the progress of EU member states in delivering on the targets and objectives of the EU 2020 strategy is assessed. As the central mechanism for reporting on policy implementation, it is a key objective of the Environment Council to ensure that environmental considerations are fully integrated into the process in line with the key priority of ensuring that environmental considerations are at the heart of policy making, not least in the area of budgetary and fiscal policy. Members will recall that I dealt in depth with this issue at an early stage in the current Oireachtas term, during Dáil statements on the new sustainable development framework, Our Sustainable Future, which the Government published during the summer. This debate is part of a series of debates taking place in a number of Council formations, the outputs of which will be co-ordinated by the General Affairs Council and then feed into the European Council in March 2013.

The Cypriot Presidency has also scheduled an orientation debate on the seventh environment action programme, which is our Presidency flagship initiative. There are also a number of what are known as any other business matters on next Monday’s agenda which will allow the Presidency and the Commission to update Council on a number of issues. These will include priority substances in water; environmental impact assessment; monitoring and reporting mechanisms for greenhouse gas emissions; indirect land use change; CO2 emissions from new cars and vans; the EU emissions trading scheme in aviation; the carbon market report and proposals to amend the greenhouse gas emission allowances auction time profile, also known as backloading; and, finally, the outcome of the climate negotiations in Doha. I will deal with each one of these in turn as I move through the Presidency priorities.

The seventh environment action programme is a flagship Presidency priority for my Department. The action programme is one of the most fundamental pieces of environmental architecture at EU level and will operationalise the Europe 2020 strategy, including in particular the flagship initiative on resource efficiency. The European Commission published its proposal for a seventh environment action programme at the end of last month. The Cyprus Presidency will open the debate in Council on Monday, a move which I very much welcome as providing important political guidance to the negotiation process for this dossier. We will be working hard on the file from 1 January as we have an ambitious objective to achieve first reading agreement with the Parliament before our Presidency ends. While I recognise this is a stretching target, it is indicative of our own ambition and determination to make real progress on this dossier during our Presidency. Achieving this goal will require focused debate and commitment on our part and will also be dependent on support by the Parliament and member states.

The other key aspect of environmental strategy on which we will be focusing in our Presidency will be the European climate adaptation strategy. If the Commission’s timeline for this major climate policy initiative is adhered to and the proposed publication of the strategy in March 2013 is realised, the Irish Presidency will be aiming to agree Council conclusions at the June Environment Council.

Moving from strategy to legislation, there are a number of files which we will be prioritising and, as I mentioned earlier, the Cypriot Presidency will be providing updates on a number of these at Monday’s Council. The priority substances in water dossier will be a significant priority for Ireland. The Cypriot Presidency was unable to conclude agreement on this file in the light of a postponement by the European Parliament of its vote. It now falls to the Irish Presidency to progress the file and we will be working hard to bring it across the line, with a first reading agreement with the Parliament.

There is also a Commission proposal on ship recycling which is designed to ensure that old ships are recycled in a way that respects the health of workers as well as the environment. Unregulated approaches to ship recycling are common in south east Asia, where old ships are often beached, but can expose workers to a range of harmful chemicals and can also cause environmental damage. We are hoping to achieve a first reading agreement on this dossier so as to facilitate the early coming into force of the Hong Kong convention on a global basis. As the Parliament has published over 100 amendments to the proposal a first reading agreement will not be easy, but we will certainly endeavour to achieve it.

With regard to the Commission proposal to amend the batteries directive to extend the scope of the ban on batteries using certain levels of cadmium, it is our aim to also secure a first reading agreement on this dossier. The two proposals on CO2 emissions from new cars and vans will also mature during our Presidency. These will be given priority and we are working towards achieving first reading agreements on both proposals with the Parliament.

The proposed amendment to the emissions trading directive is an important step in ensuring the legal certainty of the planned proposal to amend the 2013-20 auction time profile. This amendment is designed to defer the auctioning of a significant quantum of carbon allowances until the latter part of the 2013-20 third emissions trading period in order to support the carbon price. We are aiming for a first reading agreement with the Parliament on the underpinning legislative proposal. In a separate emission trading scheme, ETS, development, the Commission has also proposed an aviation ETS stop-the-clock initiative to temporarily defer enforcement of the reporting and compliance obligations on aircraft operators in respect of EU incoming and outgoing flights. The proposal has been introduced to enhance the chances of a successful outcome of the 2013 assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in terms of developing a global market-based measure applicable to international aviation. Again, Ireland is aiming to achieve first reading agreement on this proposal.

As members will appreciate, the programme of legislation I have outlined is significant, but we are aiming to get it across the line to achieve first reading agreements with the Parliament. In addition to that heavy programme of work, we will also be working on a number of other legislative proposals which we will not be able to bring to fruition but will nevertheless progress as much as we possibly can. These include the proposal from the Commission to step up efforts to reduce certain fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions, or F-gases as they are also known, which can have significant climate impacts; a significant proposal on revision of the environmental impact assessment directive, on which an orientation debate will take place at the March 2013 Council, most likely followed by the preparation of a progress report for the June Council; and a Commission proposal for a directive to address indirect land use change, which is both politically and technically complex but which we aim to progress to the point of a progress report which we will then hand over to the Lithuanian Presidency in the second half of the year. I should also mention the LIFE proposal, on which the Cypriot Presidency has made good progress. It was unable to complete the file, however, because the budgetary aspect is much linked to the multi-annual financial framework, MFF. This dossier will now also pass over to us and progress will depend on the degree of movement on the MFF in the early months of next year.

In addition to internal EU business of the kind outlined, my Department will also have to manage the EU’s involvement in a significant international environmental agenda during the Presidency. In that context, there will be four priority areas. The UN Environment Programme, UNEP, has been leading a process of intergovernmental negotiations to agree a global, legally binding treaty on mercury. The fifth and final round of these negotiations will take place in Geneva in January, with responsibility for the co-ordination and negotiation of the EU position falling to the Irish Presidency. The follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June, or Rio+20, as it is known, will be another priority for us at EU and UN levels. Progressing the sustainable development goals will be the key piece of work in this area, but we will also have a lead role in managing the EU input to the 23rd session of the UNEP governing council, which will take place in Nairobi in February, as well as preparing for the establishment of a UN high-level political forum on sustainable development, which is due to have its first meeting next September.

Another of our international priorities relates to the environmental aspects of three UN waste and chemicals conventions. We will be co-ordinating EU negotiations in respect of significant meetings of these conventions, which for the first time will be held back-to-back in Geneva during a two-week period in April and May. This will be a logistical challenge for all of us. This approach is designed to achieve significant cost savings and will demonstrate to other parts of the global environmental agenda how international governance can be enhanced through better co-ordination and co-operation.

The critical issue of international climate negotiations arises under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Both the Cypriot Presidency and the Commission will be updating the Council on Monday on the implications of the outcome of the 18th conference of the parties in Doha last week and the issue will also feature as the topic for the Council’s lunchtime discussion. I would like to set the record straight on a number of issues in this regard. Much has been written in the media in the last two weeks about the latest round of international climate negotiations and the value of sending a delegation from Ireland to help shape the European Union’s policy stance and contribute to a consensus position to which all 195 parties to the convention can sign up.

I take no pleasure in having to say much of what has been written has been ill-informed and involves cheap trivialisation of one of the major challenges the world is facing. If some of those who have commented in such an ill-informed way had gone to the bother of going to Doha and listening to the plight of the least developed countries, especially those that are feeling the effects of climate change in people's everyday lives, they might have a different perspective on how even small countries such as ours can help to shape a global agreement. They might also have seen the extent to which Ireland has worked closely with the former President, Mrs. Mary Robinson, and her Climate Justice Foundation in advancing certain issues within the negotiations. In the week I was in Doha we heard at first-hand about many of the challenges being faced by the developing world. The challenges are wide and varied. At one extreme, on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, rising sea levels and unseasonal storms - not a distant and theoretical risk but a clear and present danger - are threatening their very existence. At the other extreme, in the arid farmlands of central Africa and Latin America droughts are driving farmers from the land.

Climate change is not an academic concept or a scientific process, rather it is an urgent reality for billions of people around the world, with direct human and environmental consequences. It affects all continents and all zones in different ways, whether it be flooding, extreme temperatures and droughts, or seasonal disruptions which directly impact on the food chain and ecosystems. There is limited scope for individual countries acting alone to tackle climate change successfully. Climate change requires a global solution and the UNFCCC process is the only structure within which we can collectively address the issue and take action to reduce emissions and provide the necessary assistance for developing countries to adapt to the already serious impacts. Internationally, strengthening the means of implementation for both mitigation and adaptation is central to effective action to address the challenges of climate change.

An essential element of the balanced package agreed in Doha is the extension of the Kyoto Protocol until 2020. While we would all like to have seen more emerge from the two weeks of negotiations, the package agreed also includes other very important steps forward that will help to ensure we secure a new global, legally binding agreement by 2015, as agreed in Durban last year. The Doha climate conference was not about starting from scratch but about building on the 2011 Durban agreement and moving towards planning and implementation of various initiatives and actions to prepare for the 2015 agreement and scale up the global response to climate change. Key outcomes from the conference in Doha include: extending the Kyoto Protocol from 2013 to 2020, providing for a continuation of legal binding commitments by some developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; identifying ways for all parties, both developed and developing countries, to enhance climate change mitigation actions in the medium term between now and 2020 when the new global agreement is to come into force; and setting down a work plan with milestone targets to advance work on the Durban agreement.

Identifying this work plan is crucial in guiding Ireland’s EU Presidency work on climate change negotiations in the first half of 2013. As holder of the EU Presidency, Ireland will have a key role to play in mobilising the 27 member states with a single focus and using our collective contacts and good will to inform and help shape others’ perspectives and actions. The European Union is still a leader and consensus builder in the international climate change process and I intend to ensure Ireland continues that role during the coming months in preparation for the next negotiating sessions in Bonn in April and June. Much work remains to be done in the coming years, but in our role as EU President, we will have a pivotal role in advancing these negotiations and resolving outstanding issues in the next six months. Fortunately, I was able to use my time in Doha to meet many of my environment ministerial colleagues, building on the many bilateral meetings I have held with key member state Ministers in recent months, and also members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee to brief them on and seek their support for what will be an ambitious environmental agenda under the Irish Presidency. It was also a chance to hear their ideas and expectations on progressing the international climate change process in the first six months of 2013. This engagement with approximately 14 countries will stand us in good stead as we progress the various legislative and policy dossiers through the Council and the Parliament.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, who has responsibility for nature and biodiversity matters also has a number of dossiers which are dealt with by the Environment Council. A key Presidency priority for him relates to the Commission's proposal for a regulation on access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. This regulation has been introduced to allow the European Union and its member states to ratify the Nagoya Protocol and seeks to allow for regulation of access to traditional genetic resources, particularly in the developing world, and consider how any benefit from these resources should be shared with provider countries and indigenous local communities. The European Union and most member states have signed the protocol and the Environment Council has called for early ratification and appropriate implementation. Ireland will oversee discussions on the recently published regulation during the Presidency, although these discussions are not expected to be finalised until late 2013.

I also have responsibility for atomic and nuclear issues which are dealt with by the EU Energy Council. Ireland will be progressing a couple of important dossiers in this area during the Presidency, particularly the basic safety standards directive and new arrangements for the registration of carriers of radioactive materials.

This is an outline of the main items on next Monday’s Council agenda and our Presidency work programme. I apologise for taking some time, but, as members will appreciate, within weeks of our Presidency commencing there was always going to be a lot of ground to cover. As incoming chair of the Environment Council, I will also be outlining this programme to colleague Ministers at the end of Monday’s Council meeting. I can go into more detail, if members wish. I hope I have outlined how the four items the Chairman mentioned will be dealt with. As part of our Presidency, we will have an informal Environment Council meeting on 22 and 23 April in Dublin Castle. On the agenda will be issues relating to air quality and sustainability of the urban environment. There will be proposals form the Commission in March on the Single Market for carbon products which will be the subject of discussions. As part of our informal meeting we hope to consider our higher level ambitions for the European Union and start the debate on where we want to be in 2030 and 2050.