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GREEN EIGHT VOICE SERIOUS CONCERNS OVER DRAFT FOR EUROPE’S CONSTITUTION Brussels (May 13, 2003) – The eight largest environmental NGOs in Europe, the “Green 8”, have issued a letter to the members of the Praesidium of the Convention on the Future of Europe outlining serious concerns about the Convention’s draft for a European Constitution. The organisations – the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, WWF, Friends of Nature International, the European Federation for Transport and Environment, BirdLife International and Climate Network Europe – with more than 20 million members and supporters in Europe, urged Convention members to make crucial changes to the draft Constitution during the final few days of their work. The G8’s open letter focuses on the following five key elements: Firstly, the lack of an ambitious approach to environmental protection and a definition of sustainable development that fully recognises its environmental dimension. Substantial improvements are needed to draft article 3 defining the objectives of the Union. Secondly, the possible deterioration of the principles of environmental policy integration and policy coherence. Article 8 needs to be expanded to ensure that environmental policy integration – enshrined in Article 6 of the current EC Treaty – and the commitment to development objectives remain real requirements for the Union. Thirdly, the latest draft contains vague and incomplete requirements for participatory democracy. Participatory Democracy must become a matter of course in policy-making and practice in the EU institutions. Fourthly, outdated chapters on policies should not be simply adopted and minimally adapted; they must be revised properly to ensure that they reflect the EU’s objectives of environmental policy integration, improving the quality of life and sustainable development. Fifthly, the legitimisation of Euratom would be a pro-nuclear decision, and as such is an unacceptable promotion of one single, heavily disputed form of energy production. Please see the attached Open Letter or view it at the EEB’s website on www.eeb.org for the full text from the Green Eight. For more information, contact: Clairie Papazoglou, Acting Head, BirdLife International, tel. +32 2 280 08 30; fax +32 2 230 38 02; E-mail: clairie.papazoglou@birdlifeeco.net Tony Long, Director, WWF European Policy Office, tel: +32 2 740 0925; Email: tlong@wwfepo.org; also see www.panda.org/epo Jorgo Iwasaki-Riss, EU Policy Director, Greenpeace European Unit, tel: +32 2 274 1900; fax: +32 2 274 1910; email jorgo.riss@diala.greenpeace.org Beatrice Schell, Director, T&E European Federation for Transport and Environment, tel: +32 2 502 99 09, email: info@t-e.nu Manfred Pils, Secretary-General, Friends of Nature International, tel: 00431 892 38 77; fax: 00431 812 97 89; e-mail: nfi@nfi.at Martin Rocholl, Director, Friends of the Earth Europe, tel.: +32-2-542-0180, martin.rocholl@foeeurope.org Karla Schoeters, Director CAN-Europe, tel: 0032-22295224/0; fax: 0032-22295229; email: karla@climnet.org
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