I thank the Chairman and the members of the committee for their invitation to meet with them today to discuss the agenda for the next meeting of the EU Environment Council, which takes place next Monday in Luxembourg. This will be the final Environment Council of what has been a very active Danish Presidency. With each passing Council we move ever closer to our own EU Presidency in the first half of next year, just under seven months from now.
When I met with the committee here last December I mentioned the opportunity that the Presidency of the Union presents to Ireland to restore our reputation in the EU and beyond. Following the positive result of the recent referendum on the fiscal treaty, we are now well placed to make a real and positive impact in the EU and international arenas during our Presidency.
I will not dwell too long on Presidency-related issues as today's debate is focused on the business of next Monday's meeting. Suffice to say that we are well advanced with our planning for the Presidency within the Department. Work has been in train for the past two years, with a very significant level of engagement with the EU institutions at both the political and official levels. This work is now clearly intensifying and will continue to do so as we head into the final Presidency warm up period during which our Cypriot colleagues will hold the Presidency baton for the second half of 2012.
As well as a heavy internal EU agenda, the Presidency will also require Ireland to play a lead co-ordinating role for the EU in the international sphere. That will be a particular priority for my Department as many of the international environmental issues are dealt with at United Nations level. This will be evident during our Presidency when a number of international negotiations are set to take place. That will include the follow up to the Rio +20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro which takes place later this month and which I will attend.
The programme for the Irish Presidency will be refined in the second half of this year and I look forward to coming back to the joint committee to brief its members on our plans for the Presidency prior to its commencement.
Turning to the agenda for Monday's Council, the sole substantive legislative item is a first reading of the proposal from the European Commission for a decision on accounting rules and action plans on greenhouse gas emissions and removals that result from activities related to land use, land use change and forestry, or LULUCF for short. This proposal is particularly important for Ireland in view of the fact that it relates to the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forestry and from agricultural land, both croplands and grazing lands. Given the size of our agriculture sector relative to our economy, and the fact that Ireland already faces a demanding 2020 greenhouse gas mitigation target under existing EU legislation, the potential implications of the proposal require careful consideration.
This first reading takes the form of an orientation debate around questions which the Presidency has tabled to evaluate the level of political support for two of the key elements of the proposal. The first question relates to the proposed phased approach to the regulation of the greenhouse gas emissions and removals concerned. The second question concerns the proposed immediate introduction of a requirement to develop LULUCF action plans at member state level.
In view of the significance of the proposal for the agriculture and forestry sectors in Ireland, I will be finalising my input to the debate in consultation with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney.
In the discussions on the proposal so far, Ireland has raised serious concerns on a number of the key elements. For example, the proposed introduction of mandatory reporting requirements for cropland and grazing land management seems premature on a number of grounds. Mandatory requirements do not exist at an international level under the UN Convention on Climate Change or the Kyoto Protocol, and are unlikely to be introduced for some time. It is also questionable whether adequate and robust data on emissions and removals related to cropland and grazing land management is available - not just in Ireland, but across the EU - to underpin the introduction of a mandatory reporting regime at this stage.
Ireland has also raised concerns regarding the proposed introduction of a mandatory requirement on member states to produce LULUCF action plans by mid-2013. Apart from the difficulty of producing action plans in such a short period of time, there are also concerns regarding the proposed degree of oversight envisaged for the Commission. Similar concerns regarding the proposed level of delegated authority, which the Commission is seeking, also arise in other provisions, including in relation to definitions and accounting rules. I intend to reflect these concerns in my contribution to the debate and I will finalise the position in consultation with my ministerial colleague, Deputy Coveney.
On non-legislative items, the Council will discuss two sets of conclusions: one on the EU positions for the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, or COP 11, of the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD, which takes place in Hyderabad, India, in October 2012; and a second set of conclusions on the upcoming seventh Environment Action Programme.
My colleague, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, as Minister with responsibility for nature and biodiversity matters, will also attend next Monday's Council to represent Ireland in the discussions on the preparations for the Convention on Biological Diversity, COP 11.
In terms of the conclusions which have been tabled for this agenda item, the main issues of note are around the advancement of resource mobilisation - that is, the provision of capacity to developing countries to protect their rich biodiversity, and the achievement of the CBD's targets, also known as the "Aichi" targets, by 2020. The outcomes from COP 11 will constitute a significant element of the international biodiversity issues which Ireland will seek to progress during our Presidency.
The second set of conclusions are concerned with providing political guidance to the development of the seventh environment action programme. We see this programme, which is expected to be published by the Commission this November, as one of our flagship projects for the Irish Presidency.
The Danish Presidency has been active on the next EAP and has hosted a number of seminars and workshops, as well as making it the main theme of their informal Environment Council in Denmark which I attended in April. We have been proactive on this issue, as well. In January last, I spoke on this issue at a workshop of the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. I have also met with the chairperson of the committee as well as the committee member who will act as rapporteur for the proposal. We will be aiming to prioritise work on the seventh programme following its publication by the Commission later in the year.
The seventh environment action programme will be the key driver of environmental and green economy initiatives for the decade ahead, particularly those envisaged under the Europe 2020 strategy. It has the potential to serve as a crucial bridge between the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainable development, and to support the aim of embedding sustainability principles in every sphere of economic, environmental and social policy.
Integrating environment and economy is not just an EU priority. It has also been the object of considerable attention and study by the OECD, culminating in its Towards Green Growth strategy. The bridging role envisaged for the next EAP at EU level very much mirrors the role envisaged for a new framework for sustainable development for Ireland, which has now been approved by the Government. I am pleased to say that the new framework will be launched this afternoon by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and myself. As well as guiding public policy along a sustainable pathway over the years ahead, the framework will also serve as Ireland's key contribution to the Rio+20 conference later in the month.
Some of the more significant draft conclusions include the following: the seventh EAP should build on the vision of other relevant strategies and roadmaps in setting out an overarching strategic framework for the environment that is designed to achieve an ambitious and compelling 2050 vision for an inclusive, green, competitive and resource-efficient European economy, the seventh EAP should also identify priorities and objectives, as well as realistic and achievable targets, indicators and actions for 2020 that set the course for the 2050 vision; better implementation is seen as an essential part of the seventh EAP, providing the opportunity for the Commission and member states to further develop and implement the objectives and initiatives set out in the March 2012 Commission communication on the implementation of environmental legislation; the Commission is invited to carry out fitness checks of existing EU legislation to ensure that it is coherent and still fit for purpose, and to present reviews and proposals where appropriate. The Commission should also support ongoing initiatives and develop new ones where relevant; improved integration of the environment, including the value of biodiversity and natural resources, into relevant policies and a shift towards a green economy through more sustainable production and consumption patterns; and the seventh EAP should also propose suitable indicators and timetables with the aim of developing realistic and achievable targets for resource efficiency, decoupling of resource use from economic activity and the associated environmental impacts.
While some small areas of disagreement exist between member states, it is expected that these difficulties will be resolved and agreed, broadly in line with the draft conclusions.
Over lunch on Monday, Ministers will have an informal discussion on climate issues. There will also be a brief progress report during the Council on the current state of play concerning the EU's low carbon economy roadmap to 2050. At the end of the day's business, the Council will consider a small number of items under the "any other business" heading. Detailed debate is not expected on any of the items listed.
That was a brief run through the main items for next Monday's Council agenda. I will be happy to deal with any questions that the Chairman or other committee members may have.