Brussels, 02/02/05, For immediate release --  The Green 9 group of European environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today called on the EU to put environmental considerations at the heart of new EU spending plans.  The statement comes on the eve of discussions in both the European Parliament's Environment Committee and the Temporary Committee on Financial Perspectives. 

 

If targeted correctly, the group said, EU funds could help meet the major economic and social challenges faced by Europe and key environmental commitments such as the Kyoto greenhouse gas emissions reduction target and the EU's stated objective of halting biodiversity loss by 2010.

 

The Green 9 group put forward three overall recommendations:

• Key programmes that deliver public benefits must not be cut, such as the rural development budget and environmental financing, whatever the outcome of the Member States' debate over contributions to the EU budget 
• The budget should be 'greened' with resources targeted at the achievement of the EU's environmental objectives from all relevant funding lines
• Priorities and objectives should be defined with regard to the economic, social and environmental commitments of the European Union, and funds should only be available to projects that clearly contribute to EU objectives.

                       

Clairie Papazoglou, Head of EU Policy at BirdLife International, said "Environmental protection is not just an afterthought - it is imperative for sustainable human development.  The EU now has a historic opportunity to put its money where its mouth is on the environment - if this opportunity is missed we risk bequeathing an impoverished Europe to future generations."

 

The Green 9 statement also includes eleven challenges for the next financial perspectives which cover specific policy areas including innovation and sustainable development, EU agricultural and rural subsidies, the LIFE+ environmental funding line, funding of Natura 2000 sites, Trans European Networks and EU enforcement of environmental legislation.    

 

The full Green 9 statement can be downloaded from here

 

 

For further information

Dudley Curtis, Communications Officer, Transport and Environment (T&E), tel +32-2-502 9909, email dudley.curtis@t-e.nu

 

 

About the Green 9

The Green 9 consists of nine leading environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active at EU level :  BirdLife International, Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-Europe), European Environment Bureau (EEB), EPHA Environment Network (EEN), European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE), Greenpeace, International Friends of Nature (IFN) and WWF European Policy Office (WWF-EPO)