A3-0112/94

Resolution on the need to assess the true costs to the Community of "Non-Environment"

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Task Force report on the Environment and the Internal Market: "1992, the Environmental Dimension",

-having regard to the Commission's Fifth Environmental Action Plan: "Towards sustainability" (COM(92)0023),

-having regard to its resolution of 17 November 1992 and the Council's resolution thereon,

-having regard to Articles 2 and 130r(2) of the EC Treaty,

-having regard to Chapter X of the Commission White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Collins, Mrs Schleicher, Mr Iversen and Mr Amendola on the need to assess the true costs to the Community of "Non-Environment" (B3-0836/93),

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A3-0112/94),

A.whereas not internalising external environmental costs leads to premature exhaustion of natural resources and environmental depletion and is not in line with the principle of sustainable growth as laid down in Article 2 of the EC Treaty,

B.whereas not internalising external environmental costs leads to unacceptable differences in competitiveness and therefore distorts the internal market,

C.whereas the Parliament is of the view that not all environmental costs can be internalised and questions how the disappearance of natural species can be calculated in monetary terms;

D.whereas, according to the principle of subsidiarity, the best level to tackle this issue is at Union level,

E.whereas necessary measures to arrive at a sustainable economy will result in temporary adjustment costs for certain parts of the population of the Union on a regional as well as on a national level,

F.whereas the polluter has to be confronted with the costs of the damage he is causing as soon as possible, as this has a very powerful preventive effect;

G.concerned at the ever growing environmental problems which are gradually depleting the natural and human resources on which we rely for our economic growth; aware that the composition of the atmosphere has changed since the Industrial Revolution, with an increase of 50 % in CO2 and 400 % in methane, that an estimated 2 % increase in skin cancer and 1 % drop in agricultural production will result if the ozone layer deteriorates by a further 1 %, and that an estimated 35 % of the total European forest area has been decimated leading to a decline in biodiversity and timber resources;

H.whereas 20-75 species are destroyed daily and at this rate at least 150,000 species will be lost by 2015, and whereas the extinction of each species results in economic loss to the planet and to mankind;

I.whereas unsustainable land use leads to an enormous loss of land for agricultural production (as well as to the loss of many habitats for flora and fauna), thus endangering the world food supply;

J.whereas the costs of environmental damage are growing more quickly than economic growth measured in a traditional way;

K.whereas many insurance companies have taken account of the environment by increasing their premiums following the increase in natural disasters over the last few years;

L. whereas natural catastrophes (particularly storms) have led to insurance claims in 1992 of USD 22.5 billion (a 108 % increase on the 1991 level) and 13,284 lives lost and whereas the actual overall loss and national economic damage came to several times this amount; whereas there is a strong possibility that the rising number of natural catastrophes is at least in part due to climatic change;

M.whereas accidents involving ships on the high seas have polluted these waters not only with more than a total of 2 million tonnes of oil from 1987 on but also with many other chemicals, causing tremendous pollution, and affecting local ecosystems and contributing to their extinction;

N.whereas the total cost to clean up the German part of the Rhine for the 1966-1989 period amounted to about ECU 30 million;

O.whereas the availability of qualitative good water for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes is becoming an extremely important political issue in many parts of the world, not least because of the fact that in the past water has been wasted, mismanaged and overused on a large scale;

P.whereas at the moment 26 countries, home to a total of 232 million people, face water scarcity due to non-sustainable use;

Q.whereas the over-use of water leads to shrinking groundwater reserves, falling water-tables and droughts in many countries; whereas water scarcity will probably lead to political and/or military conflicts in the near future;

R.whereas, by using technology currently available, the agricultural sector could reduce its water use by 10-50 %, the industrial sector by 40-90% and cities by about 30 %, with no sacrifice of economic output or quality of life;

S.whereas the treatment of contaminated soils and groundwater in Eastern Germany, polluted mainly by industry, is estimated to involve expenditure which will reach ECU 16 billion by 2005;

T.whereas the cost of repairing damage to the environment is usually a multiple of the cost of prevention as e.g. the Eastern German experience shows;

U.whereas latest estimates of the total environmental damage to the German economy caused by the former East German regime amount to ECU 305 billion, reducing the net value of goods and services produced to the level of the early 1980s;

V.Whereas 80% of the 50,000 or so industrial chemicals have not yet been evaluated for their possible toxic effects and whereas accidents involving hazardous substances have caused, since 1985, 2,905 deaths and more than 20,500 injuries;

1.Requests that the Commission undertake a comprehensive study, as repeatedly requested by Parliament in its resolutions on the third, fourth and fifth action programmes on the environment, the Single Act and the Treaty on European Union, on the relationship between economy and environmental degradation and natural resource depletion, taking into consideration at least four scenarios for the future of the Union to include greater environmental protection: 1) business as usual, 2) reinforced environment policy, 3) an environmentally centred economic development scenario and 4) a sustainable development scenario;

2.Requests that the Commission ensure that this study focuses on practical ways environmental damage can be internalised in a market economy, and how best economic instruments can be used to achieve better environmental protection;

3.Requests that the Commission present a detailed strategy and a timetable that would bring about a comprehensive change of tax systems, shifting the burden of taxation from labour and income to the use of energy, natural resources and environmental damage;

4.Requests that the Commission take into account the wider implications of new environmental policy instruments, such as liability for environmental damage, whether through insurance or banking sectors, and the inclusion of environmental information when listing companies on the stock market;

5.Requests that the Commission assess how measures already taken, such as eco-labelling, environmental auditing, and environmental impact assessments, can be extended and made more systematic and transparent in order to allow consumers to make their choices with full knowledge of environmental consequences;

6.Requests that the Commission, in co-operation with the European Environment Agency and Eurostat, present proposals for the establishment of a coherent system of environmental statistics, on a regular basis at Union, national and regional level, including key indicators relating environment to the economy, ensuring the harmonization of the procedures and methods of analysis, processing and consolidation of data;

7.Calls on the Commission to tighten up its monitoring of the implementation of environmental directives in the Member States and to set up a corps of Community inspectors;

8.Invites the Commission to consider the use of other instruments in their environmental policy such as public procurement drafting, convenants with certain industrial sectors, tradeable permits, and least-cost planning, paying special attention to demand-side policies, especially in sectors where Union action is particularly relevant such as agriculture, energy, transport and tourism;

9.Suggests that some case studies, for instance in the areas of energy, agriculture, transport, tourism and the chemical industry, should be made on how to implement a policy mix of the abovementioned instruments and legislative measures in order to achieve substantial environmental gains and correct the present imbalances caused by national and European policies in these areas;

10.Asks the Commission to take into consideration in the above mentioned sectoral studies options for action outside the European Union whenever investment in pollution reduction or recovery of degredated areas would be more cost-effective in attaining the environmental objectives then the equivalent action inside EU borders;

11.Requests that the Commission propose additional measures to ease temporary adjustment costs if serious imbalances occur at regional level or for certain social sectors;

12.Stresses the fact that for suggested measures to be acceptable to the business community, they must be predictable, clear, and long term, and allow for a well-defined transition period;

13.Invites the Commission to evaluate thoroughly the environmental consequences of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as stated in the final declaration of the Uruguay Round, and in the statutes of the proposed World Trade Organisation;

14.Instructs its President to forward this Resolution to the Council and the Commission.