Survey for Public Consultation
Introduction: European Green Deal, and the Role of Industry in Cleaning and Greening the EU
The European Green Deal sets the overall strategy on dealing with climate-related and wider environmental challenges whilst achieving “greener” EU economic growth. In parallel, the Industrial Strategy for Europe highlights the need for new processes and technologies, innovation and investment to strengthen our industrial competitiveness and facilitate industry’s shift to a climate neutral, clean and circular economy.
Since 1996, integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) methodologies and legislation has been the way in which the EU’s Member States have issued environmental permits to govern the operation of larger industrial plants. The latest version of the EU legal rules is called the Industrial Emission Directive (IED) - Directive 2010/75/EU. The IED is effective in controlling pollution to air, water and soil from larger industrial and agricultural plants in an integrated way, and in pushing forward the incorporation of innovative “Best Available Techniques”.
Working hand-in-hand with the IED, the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) Regulation (EC) 166/2006 (as amended) is the Europe-wide register that provides easily accessible key environmental data from industrial facilities in European Union Member States and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
The new European Green Deal and the Zero Pollution Ambition for Europe
The European Green Deal, adopted in December 2019, seeks to go way beyond the current policies to control emissions to air, water and soil. It sets out a long-term pathway to 2050, to ensure a climate-neutral, clean and circular economy, optimising waste management and minimising pollution over this timeframe.
The Green Deal commits inter alia to:
1. adopting an action plan towards a zero pollution ambition. Separate consultations on the Zero Pollution Action Plan initiative are ongoing.
2. revising EU measures to address pollution from large industrial plants, including both the IED and the E- 2 PRTR, to:
- Look at the sectoral scope of the legislation and at how to make it fully consistent with climate, energy and circular economy policies;
- Ensure that industry sectors maintain their role in improving the EU’s environment;
- Increase the take-up by industry and agricultural sectors of novel and proven techniques to create a more sustainable EU economy, at the same time as achieving a cleaner environment that improves public health;
- Improve public access to environmental information.
The scope of the revisions mentioned above are summarised in two brief documents: the IED inception impact assessment and the E-PRTR inception impact assessment.
CONTINUA A LEGGERE
