Eurobrief April 2009

EDITORIAL European cement industry recognised as vulnerable to carbon leakage April 2009 - On 29 April the European Commission publicly confirmed that the European cement industry qualifies as a sector vulnerable to carbon leakage under the criteria laid down in the revised Emission Trading Directive. The list publicised by the Commission is based on a quantitative assessment carried out by DG ENTR which looked at 231 sectors - not only ETS sectors - at NACE 4 level.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU participation in NOx-SO2 stakeholder consultation On 3 April, CEMBUREAU participated in DG Environment’s first stakeholder consultation on a study carried out by ENTEC on the implementation of an EU-wide NOx-SO2 trading scheme.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Council adopts climate-energy legislative package The European Council adopted the climate-energy legislative package, designed to help meet the EU’s target of a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases and a 20% share of renewable energy in the EU’s total energy consumption by 2020, earlier this month.

OTHER NEWS Working time Directive: conciliation fails For the first time since the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty on 1 May 1999, no agreement could be reached at the conciliation stage of a piece of legislation.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Carbon capture & storage Directive adopted in first reading The Proposal for a Directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide has been adopted by Council in first reading.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Potential reorganisation of future commission on energy & climate change An internal Task Force of the European Commission is looking at the organisation of the future Commission to be appointed next year.

ENVIRONMENT Adaptation to climate change: white paper published The European Commission published a White Paper on Adaptation to Climate Change on 1 April.

ENVIRONMENT Environment Ministers issues adapting to climate change European Union Environment Ministers urged the leaders of other developed countries to match the EU’s ambitious emissions reduction goals in an informal meeting in Prague, Czech Republic earlier this month.

ENVIRONMENT Sweden prepares for Copenhagen climate talks Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren met with EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas...

ENVIRONMENT Eco-design Directive revision adopted in Parliament The Proposal for a Directive establishing a framework for the setting of eco-design requirements for energy related products was voted on 24 April 2009 in the European Parliament.

ENVIRONMENT IEF adopts cement & lime BREF The Information and Exchange Forum (IEF), chaired by the European Commission under the EU’s IPPC Industrial Pollution Directive, has adopted the Cement & Lime BREF.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS Rapporteur pushes for earlier plenary vote on energy efficiency of buildings The European Parliament has adopted Silvia-Adriana Ticau’s (Party of European Socialists, Romania) Report on a Proposal for a Directive on the Energy Efficiency of Buildings by 549 votes in favour to 51 against.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS Energy efficiency buildings PPP lauched A €1 billion initiative to encourage environmental innovation in the construction sector was launched this month following a meeting between EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potoènik and representatives of the construction sector.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS Construction products proposal adopted in Parliament The European Parliament has adopted, in first reading, Catherine Neris’ (Party of the European Socialists, France) Report on the proposed replacement of the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC by a Regulation.

WASTE Establishment of European waste agendy discussed A stakeholder workshop involving Member States, industry and other stakeholders on European Commission plans to strengthen the implementation of European waste legislation was held in Brussels earlier this month.

HEALTH AND SAFETY Updated REACH list of pre-registered substances published The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published an updated version of the list of pre-registered substances on its website.

HEALTH AND SAFETY Council publishes draft conclusions on sutainable industry Draft Council conclusions on an integrated approach to a competitive and sustainable industrial policy were adopted in April.

HEALTH AND SAFETY Commission statement on CO2 and revised Seveso Directive The Commission has issued a statement on whether carbon dioxide should be a named substance with suitable thresholds in a revision of Council Directive 96/82/EC (Seveso Directive).