To maintain Europe’s position as the world’s top tourist destination, the European Commission put forward a series of suggestions for coordinated actions at European Union (EU) level. These are designed to increase the tourism sector’s competitiveness and capacity for sustainable growth and delivering quality.
Europe is the most attractive tourist destination in the world, and tourism plays a major part in growth and job creation in Europe. The sector's competitiveness is closely linked to its sustainability, as the quality of tourist destinations is very much influenced by their natural environment and their local community. For this reason it is necessary to take a holistic approach, addressing not only the economic prosperity of the sector, but also social cohesion, environmental protection and promotion of the culture of European tourist destinations.
Reference Document on Best Available Techniques (BREF) for Large Combustion Plants
Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006 concerning the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register
How far have Member States in the WHO European Region progressed in implementing the European Commitment to Act on climate change and health? This was the question addressed to members of the Working Group on Health in Climate Change (HIC) of the European Environment and Health Task Force in summer 2012. The HIC members were asked to respond to a comprehensive questionnaire to assess the current status of health-relevant climate change mitigation and adaptation actions. A total of 22 Member States answered the questions focusing on eight thematic areas or topics: governance, vulnerability, impact and adaptation assessments, national and subnational adaptation strategies, climate-change mitigation, strengthening of health systems, awareness raising and capacity building, green health services and sharing best practices. This publication describes and analyses their responses.
European Directive relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise.
A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector’, COM(2013) 659 final.
The EU needs a policy framework that coordinates and ensures coherence of forest-related
policies and allows synergies with other sectors that influence forest management. The new forest strategy is a key reference in forest-related policy development. EU forests
and forest sector need to be positioned in a way that ensures their contribution to the EU’s
objectives and targets. This implies to:
• Ensure that the multifunctional potential of EU forests is managed in a sustainable and
balanced way, enabling our forests’ vital ecosystem services to function correctly.
• Satisfy the growing demand for raw material for existing and new products (e.g. green
chemicals or textile fibres) and for renewable energy. This demand is an opportunity
to diversify markets, but poses a significant challenge for sustainable management and
for balancing demands. Demand for new uses in the bioeconomy and in bioenergy
should be coordinated with traditional demands, and respect sustainable boundaries.
• Respond to the challenges and opportunities that forest-based industries face in
resource and energy efficiency, raw materials, logistics, structural adaptation,
innovation, education, training and skills, international competition, climate policy
beyond 2020 and information and communication, to stimulate growth.
• Protect forests and biodiversity from the significant effects of storms and fires, increasingly scarce water resources, and pests. These threats do not respect national borders and are exacerbated by climate change.
• Acknowledge that the EU does not only rely on its own production, and that its
consumption has implications for forests worldwide.
• Develop an adequate information system to follow-up on all of the above.
Transport is the backbone of the economy, an enabler of growth and jobs, essential for the functioning of the single market and the free movement of goods and people. Market integration, economic growth and transport activity are strongly related. The global transition towards a low-carbon economy has started, supported by the Paris Climate Agreement. Transport will need to play an important role in this transition. The transition towards a low-carbon economy also represents a major opportunity for jobs and growth in the transport sector, as markets for low-emission mobility grow globally. This transition will be supported by a number of disruptive trends, such as digitalisation and new technologies. Transport is increasingly becoming an on-demand service as consumer needs and perceptions of mobility solutions evolve. Taken together, these trends also imply important competitiveness challenges and significant effort will be required from businesses and regulators to turn them into growth and employment opportunities for Europe. A forward looking and long-term policy approach with the aim of ensuring a regulatory and business environment that is conducive to meeting the competitiveness challenges that the transition to low-emission mobility implies is a vital precondition. The analysis carried out in this paper provides insights on the necessary tools to do this.
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030 for a resilient Energy Union and to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement and amending Regulation No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and other information relevant to climate change.
The Effort Sharing Decision establishes binding annual greenhouse gas emission targets for Member States for the period 2013–2020. These targets concern emissions from most sectors not included in the EU Emissions Trading System ( EU ETS ), such as transport (except aviation and international maritime shipping), buildings, agriculture and waste.
The Effort Sharing Decision forms part of a set of policies and measures on climate change and energy – known as the climate and energy package - that will help move Europe towards a low-carbon economy and increase its energy security.
The 2015 edition of this publication presents a compilation of data on energy, transport and the environment. The UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Paris in December 2015, illustrates once again the global political importance of climate change, energy security and sustainable transport, three topics that have become increasingly interconnected. This greater correlation creates the need for a comprehensive approach that includes reliable and comparable statistical data, necessary for the better understanding of the complexity of the issues, for sound policy-making and the setting of effective measures.
Conclusions on 2030 Climate and Energy Policy Framework
The European Council endorsed 4 targets:
- a binding EU target of 40% less greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 1990
- a target of at least 27% renewable energy consumption
- a 27% energy efficiency increase
- the completion of the internal energy market by achieving the existing electricity interconnection target of 10% and linking the energy islands - in particular the Baltic states and the Iberian Peninsula
On energy security, the European Council endorsed further measures to reduce the EU's energy dependence and increase the security of its electricity and gas supplies.
The Paris Agreement. Report of the Conference of the Parties on its twenty-first session, held in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015.
Commission Staff Working Document SWD (2012) 101
7th EAP.
ISBN 978-92-79-34724-5
doi:10.2779/66315
Document Actions
Share with others