Friends of the Earth Europe

Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and just societies and for the protection of the environment, unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.

Pesticide risks to bee decline identified - Friends of the Earth reaction — 16 January 2013, 23:55 CET

Reacting to news today [Wednesday 16 January 2013] that European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientists have identified a number of risks posed to bees by three neonicotinoid insecticides, Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said:

Biofuels capped but still likely to starve and pollute — 17 October 2012, 23:08 CET

Reforms announced today by the European Commission will not stop biofuels pushing up food prices and accelerating climate change, says Friends of the Earth Europe.

Good Food March heads for Brussels as global food crisis deepens — 05 September 2012, 17:14 CET

Cyclists arrive in Strasbourg today for the start of the final leg of the Good Food March's journey to Brussels to call for a radical change of direction in European food and farming policy.

Weaknesses found in MEP ethics rules — 19 July 2012, 13:57 CET

First analysis casts doubts on accuracy and transparency of data with quarter of MEPs declaring no prior occupation

Europe steps towards resource efficient future, but must still address overconsumption — 24 May 2012, 23:10 CET

As pressure on world’s natural resources increases rapidly, European Parliament showed overwhelming support today for measuring Europe’s use of resources, in a step towards a resource efficient future, including full incorporation of resource efficiency into the Europe 2020 economic agenda.

Europe ready for environmental and economic benefits of resource efficiency — 26 April 2012, 22:59 CET

European politicians laid foundations for a resource efficient Europe today, with wide political support shown for the need to measure Europe’s resource use. This is a crucial first step towards reducing Europe’s resource use, according to Friends of the Earth Europe, but the European Commission must follow suit in order for Europe to gain the benefits greater resource efficiency brings.

Climate action must not be postponed, ministers told — 08 March 2012, 16:32 CET

Proposals for how Europe might tackle climate change over the next 40 years are on the agenda of a meeting of Europe's environment ministers tomorrow (March 9) in Brussels.

Stalemate on tar sands — 23 February 2012, 17:25 CET

Representatives from European governments met today to vote on plans to keep tar sands out of Europe, but intense lobby pressure from Canada and the oil industry has brought about a stalemate, according to Friends of the Earth Europe.

Organic farming dwarves GM crops in Europe as public rejection hits biotech firms — 09 February 2012, 19:53 CET

Public resistance to genetically modified crops has ensured that the area grown in Europe in 2011 remained at 0.1 per cent of all arable land, shows figures released today by Friends of the Earth Europe. In comparison, organic farming accounted for 3.7 per cent.

Biodiversity on the brink: environment ministers back down on greening farming — 20 December 2011, 18:27 CET

urope’s Environment Ministers met yesterday in Brussels with three of Europe’s, and the world’s, most pressing environmental challenges on the agenda – biodiversity, resource-use and climate change. On all three fronts, their responses are inadequate to address the scale of these global challenges, says Friends of the Earth Europe.

Parliament vote on MEP code of conduct - ALTER-EU reaction — 17 November 2011, 23:24 CET

Transparency campaigners have welcomed today's vote of the European Parliament constitutional affairs committee (AFCO) on the proposed Code of Conduct for MEPs, but warned that an important loophole on the definition of gifts risks undermining the core of the proposals.

EU warned: biofuels will drive biodiversity loss — 17 November 2011, 11:44 CET

Increasing the use of biofuels in Europe will have devastating impacts on wildlife a new scientific assessment has shown.

CSR Communication: EU must take further steps to hold companies accountable — 26 October 2011, 17:23 CET

A Commission plan about how the EU can make companies more accountable is a step towards ending the global damage European businesses cause people and planet, according to the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ). However, the plans to improve corporate social responsibility (CSR), unveiled by the European Commission today in the CSR Communication, miss the opportunity to make real progress that would help victims of EU-based companies find justice and hold companies accountable for their impacts.

Stronger political focus needed for future of farming — 20 October 2011, 16:58 CET

Agriculture ministers must not jeopardise a fairer and greener future for farming in Europe by pushing for industrial farming

CAP reform: too little to protect environment and greener farming — 13 October 2011, 13:53 CET

European Commission’s plan unlikely to tackle food, farming and biodiversity crises without major improvements

FoEE comment - Europe defies Canadian pressure on tar sands — 05 October 2011, 00:07 CET

Friends of the Earth Europe has welcomed a decision by the European Commission to take steps to prevent oil from tar sands entering the European market.

Europe’s resource reduction plan doesn’t measure up — 22 September 2011, 23:23 CET

A plan unveiled on 20 September to tackle Europe’s dependency on imported resources does not go far enough to end the region’s over-consumption of the world’s water, land and other materials.

European Court protects honey from GM contamination — 06 September 2011, 23:50 CET

The European Court of Justice today upheld the rights of beekeepers and consumers to keep honey free from GM contamination.

Feeble EU Energy Efficiency Directive set to fail — 22 June 2011, 21:03 CET

A new draft European Directive on energy efficiency published by the European Commission today (Wednesday 22 June) is too timid even to deliver on the EU's own modest ambitions for energy savings, Friends of the Earth warned today.

Time to start phase out of nuclear across Europe — 26 April 2011, 11:45 CET

On the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Friends of the Earth Europe stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and neighbouring countries, remembering those affected by the catastrophe. Friends of the Earth Europe also stands with those still affected by the tsunami and ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan – where the severity level of the nuclear crisis has been raised to maximum, on a par with Chernobyl.

EU maps out road to climate catastrophe — 09 March 2011, 23:21 CET

Two important climate and energy papers were released today by the European Commission in Brussels amid criticism from Friends of the Earth Europe.

FoEE comment on Commission resources initiative — 27 January 2011, 11:31 CET

The scale of the challenge posed by Europe’s unsustainable use of the world’s natural resources has been acknowledged by the European Commission. Lawmakers in Brussels published an initiative outlining how Europe plans to tackle its resource use which affects global resource prices, natural ecosystems and people – particularly the poor – across the world.

Worst EU lobbyists 2010 revealed: RWE, Goldman Sachs and ISDA — 02 December 2010, 14:52 CET

RWE (npower), Goldman Sachs and derivatives lobby group ISDA have been given the dubious honour of being named the Worst EU Lobbyists of 2010. The results of the dual climate and finance categories of the Worst EU Lobbying Awards 2010 were revealed today during a ceremony outside the ISDA office in Brussels.

New GM proposals could open Europe's doors to risky unauthorised crops — 04 November 2010, 13:52 CET

Leaked European Commission documents obtained by Friends of the Earth Europe reveal new proposals that would open Europe’s doors to the import of unauthorised genetically modified (GM) feed. The proposed change in EU policy is a direct response to industry pressure to weaken Europe’s safety laws.

European Commission proposals to ban GM crops: an empty and dangerous deal - New plans could open Europe's fields to GM crops — 08 July 2010, 23:18 CET

New proposals due to be introduced in the coming days that are supposed to allow European countries more autonomy over the decision to ban genetically modified (GM) crops form an empty and potentially dangerous deal for member states, according to Friends of the Earth Europe.