The European Commission has adopted its work programme for 2012. Despite a heavy focus on job creation and growth, a number of environment related initiatives are planned to be adopted including on water, energy efficiency, the integration of renewable energy and air quality. A long awaited Communication on adaptation has also been announced. A key strategic item on the Commission’s agenda is the proposal for a new Environment Action Programme, due to be presented in October 2012, and expected to set out long-term strategic orientations of EU environmental policy.

Commission work programme

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The Commission’s draft Energy 2050 Roadmap was leaked in October. A final version is expected before the end of the year. The Roadmap concludes that it is possible to achieve decarbonisation of the energy system, and that the costs of transforming the energy system in this way do not differ substantially from a ‘Current Policy Initiatives’ scenario.

Communication from the Commission - Energy Roadmap 2050, Draft

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On 25 October 2011, the European Commission published its package of initiatives to support entrepreneurship and responsible business. Following a policy process on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) based on merely voluntary mechanisms, the new package proposes a set of legislative measures. This includes amendments to the so-called accounting Directives and the transparency Directive, to decrease administrative burden and introduce a country by country reporting on government payments by companies active in the oil, gas, mining and logging sectors. Additional legislative instruments are proposed as part of the Social Business Initiative and the new CSR strategy, and involve the potential development of a legal framework to improve the transparency of environmental reporting by companies. Furthermore, the set up of a financial instrument to support social business initiatives is envisaged, as well as reforms to public procurement policy.

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On 24 October the European Commission launched a public consultation on the implementation and ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation, which was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. The consultation is meant to provide input to the impact assessment the Commission is currently carrying out to assess the costs and benefits of different instruments that could be proposed and adopted for the implementation of the Protocol. The consultation runs until 19 December.

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The Commission recently published its 28th annual Report on monitoring the application of EU law. The Communication concludes that the environmental policy area remains the most infringement-prone policy area and that late transposition and reporting continue to be a widespread and systematic problem, especially in the case of environmental legislation.

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