The 6th Environment Action Programme (EAP) is a decision of the European Parliament and the Council adopted on 22nd July 2002. It sets out the framework for environmental policy-making in the European Union for the period 2002-2012 and outlines actions that need to be taken to achieve them.
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The Sixth Environment Action Programme
The 6th EAP identifies four priority areas:
- Climate change
- Nature and biodiversity
- Environment and health
- Natural resources and waste
The 6th EAP promotes full integration of environmental protection requirements into all Community policies and actions and provides the environmental component of the Community’s strategy for sustainable development. The link is made between environment and European objectives for growth, competitiveness and employment.
What instruments?
The 6th EAP calls for the development of seven Thematic Strategies in the field of soil and the marine environment (in the priority area of biodiversity), air, pesticides and urban environment (in the priority area of environment, health and quality of life) and natural resources and waste recycling (in the priority area of natural resources and waste). The Thematic Strategies constitute the framework for action at EU level in each of the concerned priorities.
Furthermore, the 6th EAP establishes strategic approaches to meet the environmental goals and sets objectives and priority actions on international issues. The strategic approaches include among others: the development of Community legislation and its effective implementation and enforcement, the integration of environment protection requirements in other Community policies and the promotion of sustainable production and consumption patterns, improving collaboration with enterprises and informing individual consumers, enterprises and public purchasers about the environmental impact of processes and products.
Thematic Strategies
The 6th EAP introduced the concept of Thematic Strategies, to be developed by the European Commission by the third year of operation of the 6th EAP.
The Thematic Strategies are a modernisation of EU environment policy-making, taking a broader, strategic approach. The Thematic Strategies build on the existing EU legal/regulatory framework and include new knowledge on threats to human health and the environment. They focus on an integrated approach (the effects of decisions in one policy area which has consequences on the others) and on implementation issues.
The Thematic Strategies can be seen as key elements of the Commission’s Better Regulation strategy: they are all accompanied by a thorough impact assessment, assessing the economic, social and environmental impacts of different policy options, extensive stakeholder consultations were held and they aim, where possible, at simplifying the existing regulatory framework.
Thematic Strategies cover the following fields :
- Air
- Waste prevention and recycling
- Marine Environment
- Soil
- Pesticides
- Natural resources
- Urban Environment
The Thematic Strategies will be reviewed in 2010.
Source: European Commission
