7 Amendments of Elisabeth KÖSTINGER related to 2012/0337(COD)
Amendment 12 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 2
Annex 1 – paragraph 2
2. Emissions of pollutants to air, water and soil have been reduced significantly over the past decades, as have greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in recent years. EU chemicals legislation has been modernised and the use of many toxic or hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium and mercury has been restricted in products found in most households. EU citizens enjoy some of the best water quality in the world, and over 18% of the EU’s territory and 4% of its seas have been designated as protected areas for nature.
Amendment 13 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 5
Annex 1 – paragraph 5
5. However, many environmental trends in the EU remain worrying, not least due to insufficient implementation of existing EU environment legislation. Only 17% of species and habitats assessed under the Habitats Directive are in good status, and the degradation and loss of natural capital is jeopardising efforts to attain the EU’s biodiversity and climate change objectives. This has high associated costs which have not yet been properly valued in our economic or social system. Thirty per cent of the EU’s territory is highly fragmented, affecting the connectivity and health of ecosystems and their ability to provide services as well as viable habitats for species. While progress has been made in the EU to decouple growth from GHG emissions, resource use and environmental impacts, resource use is still largely unsustainable and inefficient, and waste is not yet properly managed. As a result, EU businesses are foregoing the significant opportunities that resource efficiency offers in terms of competitiveness, cost reductions, improved productivity and security of supply. Water quality and air pollution levels are still problematic in many parts of Europe, and EU citizens continue to be exposed to hazardous substances, potentially compromising their health and wellbeing. Unsustainable land use is consuming fertile soils, with impacts on food security and the achievement of biodiversity targets. Soil degradation continues largely unchecked.
Amendment 14 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 9
Annex 1 – paragraph 9
9. To live well in the future, urgent, concerted action should be taken now to improve ecological resilience and maximise the benefits environment policy can deliver for the economy and society, while respecting the planet’s ecological limits. This programme reflects the EU’s commitment to transf, as a bloc whose actions have a global impact, to wormking itself innternationally to promote a transition to an inclusive green economy that secures growth and development, safeguards human health and well-being, provides decent jobs, reduces inequalities and invests in and preserves natural capital.
Amendment 18 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 16
Annex 1 – paragraph 16
16. The EU’s economic prosperity and well-being is underpinned by its natural capital, which includes natural and farmed ecosystems that provide essential goods and services, from fertile soil and multi-functional forests to productive landmultifunctional, productive land in all regions and seas, from fresh water and clean air to pollination, flood control and climate regulation and protection against natural disasters. A substantial body of EU legislation seeks to protect, conserve and enhance natural capital, including the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Air Quality and related directives and the Habitats and Birds Directives. Legislation to tackle climate change, chemicals, industrial emissions and waste also contribute to easing the pressures on biodiversity, including ecosystems, species and habitats.
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 19
Annex 1 – paragraph 19
19. Protecting, conserving and enhancing the EU’s natural capital therefore also requires tackling problems at source through, inter alia, better integration of natural capital objectives into other policies, ensuring that policies are coherent and deliver co-benefits. The greening elements set out in the Commission’s reform proposals, notably for EU agriculture, fisheries and cohesion policy, backed by the proposals for greening the EU budget under the Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2014- 2020 (MFF) are designed to support these objectives. For instance, aAquatic ecosystems in rural areas should benefit from the linking of farm payments to compliance with relevant requirements of the WFD as set out in the Commission's proposals for the reform of the CAP. Gfinal transposition of the WFD. Further greening of the CAP will also promote the environmentally beneficial agricultural practices of crop diversification, the protection of permanent grassland, and the establishment and maintenance of ecologically valuable farmland and forest areain connection with direct payments and with rural development programmes.
Amendment 39 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 26 – subparagraph 2 – point e
Annex 1 – paragraph 26 – subparagraph 2 – point e
(e) Increasing efforts to reduce soil erosion and increase soil organic matter, – inter alia by preserving and expanding tried and tested agrienvironmental programmes in the rural development of the CAP – to remediate contaminated sites and to enhance the integration of land use aspects into coordinated decision-making involving all relevant levels of government, supported by the adoption of targets on soil and on land as a resource, and land planning objectives.
Amendment 42 #
Proposal for a decision
Annex 1 – paragraph 26 – subparagraph 2 – point g
Annex 1 – paragraph 26 – subparagraph 2 – point g