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Press
Release Ditch the dirty past! GREEN 8 urge Ministers to make Constitution for a cleaner future Brussels, 27 November 2003 The GREEN 8 group of Europe’s largest environmental organisations (1) will be watching EU foreign ministers in Naples this week as they consider the Italian Presidency’s proposals for an EU Constitution. There is a risk that what gets dished up in Italy will be leftovers of treaties dating back to the 1950s and 60s, when environmental awareness was still in its infancy, when quantity came before quality in agricultural production, and when transport and energy policies took no account of the long-term effects of air pollution and climate change. The new Constitution should reflect our present understanding of environmental problems and their solutions. But with all the recent posturing and in-fighting by member states to defend their individual power bases, attention has been distracted from the true substance of the draft text, resulting in the risk that crucial policy areas will be stuck with terms borrowed from outdated treaties. What we are looking for is simple: solid assurances that the draft Constitution’s objective for “a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment” (2) is backed up in its policy sections. This primary objective has already been laid down in the draft Constitution and the existing Treaties . Now it’s a question of consistency: the policies must be brought in line with the agreed goals. “While governments were squabbling over seats in the Commission, they have neglected debate on the policy chapters. These still need to be updated, and a procedure must be allowed for this (3),” said a Green 8 spokesperson. The solution is here. The GREEN 8 have published clear and logical amendments to the draft Constitution (4), with changes to the text highlighted and explained. In a letter to EU Foreign Affairs Ministers today, the GREEN 8 urge immediate adoption of these changes, to avoid basing the new Constitution on a contradiction between its objectives and policies. This also means bringing an end to the institutional promotion of nuclear energy, as contained in the Euratom Treaty, another vestige of the 1950s. Along with Austria and Ireland, the GREEN 8 call on the Council to launch a full review of Euratom in 2004. “The Constitution will define the Union’s identity for years to come. Human health and the environment should be explicit priorities throughout the text, not buried in a mish-mash of conflicting clauses,” said a Green 8 spokesperson. Contact Notes |
