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Climate & Environment

EU’s REACH chemical review flags small business fee cut [fr]

EU’s REACH chemical review flags small business fee cut

Mon, 2013-02-04 18:24

“Our main message will be that so far REACH is functioning well, but there is a need to reduce the impact on SMEs (small and medium enterprises),” a Commission source told EurActiv.

“It has been costly for them to fully implement REACH and the review will highlight the need to address this issue,” the source said, adding that the statute was essentially working well, and would not be changed by the review.

A European Commission’s review of the REACH regulation on Tuesday (5 February) calls for a cut in charges to small businesses under the world's most far-reaching environmental law.

European Commission

Business and industry

NGOs

Press articles

Arthur Neslen
No

Auditors slam Europe’s waste system – for waste

Auditors slam Europe’s waste system – for waste

Mon, 2013-02-04 09:28

The average European citizen generates around 500kg of municipal waste per year, a source of environmental degradation unless properly collected, treated and disposed.

Refuse can contain important raw materials and resources, and the EU has introduced directives to enforce common waste management standards and targets. It has also co-financed waste management infrastructures in specific regions.   

The European Court of Auditors has criticised the EU’s waste management infrastructure, which has received €10.8 billion in structural funding since 2000, for its "limited" effectiveness.

European Union

Press articles

EurActiv.com
No

Small businesses unite for action against gas-guzzling vans

Small businesses unite for action against gas-guzzling vans

Mon, 2013-02-04 08:56

EU plans to set a CO2 emission limit for vans of 147 grams per km (g/km) from 2020 are “insufficient,” says a letter to the European Parliament’s rapporteur for CO2 legislation, Holger Krahmer, signed by the European Small Business Alliance, Athlon car lease, and EuroCommerce.

A coalition of three small business associations has issued a call for tougher fuel economy standards to be imposed on Europe’s fume-chugging light commercial vehicles.

European Commission

NGOs & Think-tanks

Business & Industry

Press articles

EurActiv.com
No

old van

old van

Fri, 2013-02-01 17:15

waste and landfill

waste and landfill

Fri, 2013-02-01 12:42

Romania reverses course on shale gas [fr]

Romania reverses course on shale gas

Fri, 2013-02-01 09:57

The Romanian authorities reversed their decision from last April to suspend Chevron from gas exploration activities.

The decision takes place nine months after protests in southeast Romania, in particular in the town of Vama Veche, where shale gas exploration is due to take place. 

>> Read: Chevron suspends shale gas exploration to 'reassure' Romanians

In a widely expected U-turn, Romanian authorities yesterday (31 January) gave the American energy giant Chevron the certificates it needed to start exploring for shale gas in the eastern part of the country.

Press articles

EurActiv.com
No

Plan Bee: Brussels pitches two-year pesticide ban [fr]

Plan Bee: Brussels pitches two-year pesticide ban

Fri, 2013-02-01 09:51

The EU has launched a rescue plan for Europe’s dwindling honeybee colonies: a 24-month ban on three widely-used neonicitinoid pesticides that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says pose “high acute risks” to pollinators. 

European Union

Business & industry

Press articles

Arthur Neslen
No

WHO air pollution review prompts new EU policy promises [fr]

WHO air pollution review prompts new EU policy promises

Fri, 2013-02-01 08:44

A new WHO scientific report, the 'Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution', is causing a stir among EU policy circles in Brussels.

Published on Thursday (31 January), the report found that long-term exposure to fine dust particles, known as PM2.5, can trigger atherosclerosis, adverse birth outcomes and childhood respiratory diseases.

The European Commission has promised a review of the EU's clean air standards later this year after new research by the World health Organization (WHO) suggested links between air pollution and health conditions ranging from neurodevelopment disorders to cardiovascular and respiratory deaths.

EU official documents

International Organisations

Governments

Press articles

Timothy Spence and Frédéric Simon
No

honeybee

honeybee

Thu, 2013-01-31 18:08

How planting trees can prevent violence in Africa's drylands

How planting trees can prevent violence in Africa's drylands

Thu, 2013-01-31 09:43

“Agroforestry is the future of agriculture in the drylands and sub-humid regions”, Dr Chris Reij of the World Resource Institute told a conference of EU officials in the European Parliament on Tuesday (29 January).

With EU-backed forces advancing across Mali, the need for European and other donors to accelerate the development process in Africa’s poorest regions appears ever more pressing. For development experts a simple, yet unheralded solution exists - planting trees.

EU official documents

NGOs and international organisations

Marc Hall
No

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