Tag: Janez Potocnik

The EU and China's State Forestry Administration are to sign an agreement today (18 July) to help combat the illegal trade of wildlife products, such as elephant and rhinoceros horns, the EU’s top environment official, Janez Potočnik, has told EurActiv.

If European Union countries implemented existing waste-management regulations, they could create some 400,000 jobs and save diminishing resources, a senior Commission environment official said.

The European Commission has hailed a UN agreement that will establish the first global treaty to cut mercury pollution. Specific household items will be blacklisted and new controls on power plants and small-scale mines will be introduced, the United Nations said on Saturday (19 January).

EU member states may be falling short of waste management commitments according to data in a new report on management of municipal waste, highlighting stark differences across the union.

One way of meeting the European Union's goal of ensuring sustainability and competitiveness of the farming sector is through green technologies, says Janez Potočnik, the EU’s environment commissioner.

The EU's Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik says he will “test the waters” on his priorities for the June Earth Summit during ministerial meetings in Nairobi that began today (20 February).

Compared to other policy areas, environment still remains the Cinderella of the European budget, where allocations amount to just over €2 billion compared to research which gets more than €50 billion for the FP7. Negotiations on the next EU budget 2014-2020 will be crucial, said Commissioner Janez Potočnik in an interview with EurActiv Slovakia. 

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik wants 2013 to be the “Year of Air” and is pushing for stronger air quality laws across the European Union. But with many member states failing to enforce current rules, the commissioner could face an uphill battle.