Une stratégie peu ambitieuse pour rendre les villes européennes plus "écologiques"

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) said it regrets that the Commission has not come forward with new legislative proposals. "The Commission has shied away from more far-reaching plans for EU directives," says EEB Policy Officer Kerstin Meyer. "The Strategy basically leaves it up to the member states and cities themselves to improve their environmental performance. This voluntary approach has not worked in the past. This is why most cities are still facing enormous problems with urban sprawl, congestion, air and noise pollution, derelict land and generation of waste and waste-water."  

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) praised the Commission "for giving a strong emphasis on subsidiarity in its strategy". "Each municipality knows best how to improve its own urban environment, this is why we needed this "bottom-up" approach", said CEMPR secretary general Jeremy Smith. CEMR indicated that it opposed the binding legislative measures initially foreseen under the strategy. However, it criticised the strategy for lacking a political dimension. "Without political support - in particular at local level, it could have only a limited impact," says Smith.