COUCIL OF THE EUROPEA UIO EN 17582/12 PRESSE 521 PR CO 74 PRESS RELEASE 3211th Council meeting Environment Brussels, 17 December 2012 President Mr. Sofoclis ALETRARIS Cyprus minister for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment P R E S S Rue de la Loi 175 B – 1048 BRUSSELS Tel.: +32 (0)2 281 7040 / 6319 Fax: +32 (0)2 281 8026 [email protected] http://www.consilium.europa.eu/Newsroom 17582/12 1 E 17.XII.2012 Main results of the Council The Council held a policy debate concerning the proposal for a decision on a general Union Environment Action Programme (EAP) to 2020 "Living well, within the limits of our planet". The Council adopted conclusions on "A Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources ". Ministers also held an exchange of views on "greening the European Semester", in the framework of the 2013 Annual Growth Survey. The Council also adopted, without debate, two regulations with a view to establishing unitary patent protection for the benefit of EU undertakings throughout the Union. 17582/12 2 E 17.XII.2012 COTETS 1 PARTICIPATS................................................................................................................................ 5 ITEMS DEBATED Safeguarding Europe's water resources................................................................................................ 7 Greening the European Semester......................................................................................................... 7 7th Environment Action Programme ................................................................................................... 9 Any other business............................................................................................................................. 11 OTHER ITEMS APPROVED ITERAL MARKET – Unitary patent protection - Innovation for EU companies..................................................................................... 16 ECOOMIC AD FIACIAL AFFAIRS – VAT on bridge tolls on the Danube - Bulgaria and Romania................................................................................ 17 – Cross-border transport of euro cash....................................................................................................................... 17 JUSTICE AD HOME AFFAIRS – EU-Armenia visas agreement................................................................................................................................ 17 EVIROMET – Doha Climate Conference .................................................................................................................................... 18 – Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution.......................................................................................... 18 ELARGEMET – Association with Montenegro................................................................................................................................ 18 1 Where declarations, conclusions or resolutions have been formally adopted by the Council, this is indicated in the heading for the item concerned and the text is placed between quotation marks. Documents for which references are given in the text are available on the Council's Internet site (http://www.consilium.europa.eu). Acts adopted with statements for the Council minutes which may be released to the public are indicated by an asterisk; these statements are available on the Council's Internet site or may be obtained from the Press Office. 17582/12 3 E 17.XII.2012 CUSTOMS UIO – Tariff quotas for certain agricultural and industrial products ................................................................................ 19 – Duties on industrial, agricultural and fishery products.......................................................................................... 19 17582/12 4 E 17.XII.2012 PARTICIPATS Belgium: Mr Philippe HENRY Minister for the Environment, Regional Planning and Mobility Bulgaria: Ms Nona KARADJOVA Minister for the Environment and Water Czech Republic: Mr Tomáš CHALUPA Minister for the Environment Denmark: Mr Jonas BERING LIISBERG Deputy Permanent Representative Germany: Mr Peter ALTMAIER Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety Estonia: Mr Clyde KULL Deputy Permanent Representative Ireland: Mr Phil HOGAN Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government Greece: Mr Stavros KALAFATIS Deputy Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Ms Maria EVAGGELIDOU Secretary General for Environment Spain: Mr Miguel ARIAS CAÑETE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Environment France: Ms Delphine BATHO Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Italy: Mr Corrado CLINI Minister for the Environment, the Protection of Natural Resources and the Sea Cyprus: Mr Sofoklis ALETRARIS Minister for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Ms Egly PANTELAKIS Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Ressouces Latvia: Mr Einārs CILINSKIS Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Lithuania : Mr Valentinas MAZURONIS Minister for the Environment Luxembourg: Mr Marco SCHANK Minister for Housing, Minister with responsibility for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure Hungary: Mr Péter KOVÁCS State Secretary Mr Olivér VÁRHELYI Deputy Permanent Representative Malta: Mr Mario DE MARCO Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Environment etherlands: Ms Wilma MANSVELD State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment Austria: Mr Harald GÜNTHER Deputy Permanent Representative 17582/12 5 E 17.XII.2012 Poland: Mr Marcin KOROLEC Minister for the Environment Portugal: Ms Assunção CRISTAS Minister for Agriculture, Maritime Affairs, the Environment and Regional Planning Romania: Ms Rovana PLUMB Minister for the Environment and Forestry Slovenia: Mr Franc BOGOVIČ Minister for Agriculture and the Environment Slovakia: Mr Vojtech FERENCZ State Secretary, Ministry of Environment Finland: MrVille NIINISTÖ Minister for the Environment Sweden: Ms Lena EK Minister for the Environment United Kingdom: Mr Rupert DE MAULEY Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Mr Paul WHEELHOUSE Scottish Minister for Environment and Climate Change Commission: Ms Connie HEDEGAARD Member Mr Janez POTOČNIK Member The Government of the Acceding State was represented as follows: Croatia Mr Hrvoje DOKOZA Deputy Minister for Environmental and Nature Protection 17582/12 6 E 17.XII.2012 ITEMS DEBATED Safeguarding Europe's water resources The Council adopted a set of conclusions ( 17872/12 ) on "A blueprint to safeguard Europe's water resources" in response to the recent Commission communication on the subject (16425/12 ). This communication sets out key actions to improve governance by those involved in managing water resources, namely: improving land use, addressing water pollution, increasing water efficiency and resilience. The Council conclusions underline the need for better implementation of the current water legislation and increased integration of water policy objectives into other policy areas, such as the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and the Cohesion Policy. The conclusions also call on the EU and its member states to ensure the sustainability of all activities that impact water, thereby contributing to securing the availability of good-quality water, which will also have positive effects on halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems, as well as on combating desertification and adapting to climate change. Finally, the Council considers that the Blueprint constitutes a significant policy instrument to improve the EU water policy and contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Agenda 21 and the Rio+20 outcome, and invites member states to contribute to its implementation, involving all relevant stakeholders. Greening the European Semester The Council held an exchange of views on the "European Semester" proceedings, based on the Commission communication on the Annual Growth Survey 2013 (16669/12 ), with a view to preparing the Environment Council contribution to the Spring European Council in March 2013 . The Annual Growth Survey identified five economic and social priorities where national and EU efforts should be concentrated. The debate focused on two of those priorities mostly affecting environmental issues: pursuing differentiated, growth-friendly fiscal consolidation and promoting growth and competitiveness for today and tomorrow. Most member states welcomed the Commission recommendation that the tax burden on labour should be substantially reduced in favour, inter alia, of consumption taxes and environmental taxes. 17582/12 7 E 17.XII.2012 Many member states were in favour of phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies, as well as reducing or eliminating tax exemptions. Several member states also underlined the economic benefits of other environmental measures, such as investing in green infrastructure and renewable energies and improving air and water quality. Several member states underlined the importance of having resource-efficient indicators, allowing for data comparability that would improve planning at national and European level. Most member states acknowledged that promoting energy efficiency can already generate important savings and job creation in addition to environmental benefits. Concrete measures such as improved waste management and recycling, water management, increased