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brussels, february 27, 2003
eu constitution will lose public support
if it forgets the environment
Eight leading environmental organisations
(1), including Friends of the Earth, have
expressed their strong disappointment about
the proposal of the Convention Praesidium for
the first 16 articles of a new
Constitution.
"We were shocked to see a definition of
sustainable development which is only based
on social and economic considerations, and
doesn't even mention the environment," the
'Green-8' said. "We hope that this was an
unintentional mistake which will be corrected
immediately." Moreover, while the existing EC
Treaty in Article 2 aims for "a high level of
protection and improvement of the quality of
the environment," this objective has now been
lost in the proposed Constitution.
Equally worrying is that Art. 6 of the
existing EC Treaty, which obliges the EU to
integrate environmental protection
requirements into all its policies, has also
completely disappeared in the Praesidium
draft. This ‘integration principle’ was a
fundamental achievement, consolidated in the
Maastricht and Amsterdam treaties, ensuring
the coherence of all EU policies with the
overall aim of sustainable development. In
the view of the Green 8, its deletion would
represent an attempt to go 20 years
backwards.
If the environment is taken into
consideration from the very beginning in all
policy areas, this will also lead to improved
efficiency, innovation and competitiveness,
benefiting Europe's economy.
“It is also critical,” added the Green-8,
“that the new Constitution ensures that the
policies and actions of the Union are
coherent with the Union’s objectives of
poverty eradication and promotion of
sustainable development, in particular as
they affect developing countries. For a
majority of EU citizens, the EU's political
initiatives in the field of environment are
one of the best reasons to support European
integration. A European Constitution that
ignores the importance of environmental
protection will not find public support, and
we believe it would not deserve it," warned
the 8 organisations.
The Green-8 have suggested Amendments to
the draft Constitution to address the above
mentioned concerns (2). The proposed
amendments have already won the support of
several Convention members, including
Germany's foreign minister Joschka
Fischer.
For further information, contact:
Duncan McLaren, FOE EWNI, +44 207 566
1682
Martin Rocholl, FOE Europe ,
+32-2-5420180
Lorenzo Consoli, Greenpeace, +32 (0) 496 12
21 12; ;
Ioli Christopoulou, WWF, +32 2 740 0920;
Clairie Papazoglou, BirdLife, +32 2
2800830
Notes
(1) The member organisations of the Green-8
are: BirdLife International, Climate Action
Network Europe, European Environmental Bureau
(EEB), Friends of Nature International,
European Federation for Transport and
Environment (T & E), Friends of the Earth
Europe (FoEE), Greenpeace and the World Wide
Fund for Nature (WWF).
(2) The proposed amendments can be found at:
www.foeeurope.org/press/2003/G8_14_Feb_Convention.htm
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