23-25 July: Environment Ministers' Informal

EU ENVIRONMENT ministers agreed on the need to put pressure on the countries bidding for Union membership to step up their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or at least keep them at current levels. The call was led by Finland's Satu Hassi, who argued that this was necessary to ensure the Union could meet its long-term climate change commitments. "The EU enlargement or accession is one of the major factors influencing the European environmental policies in the future," said Hassi in a paper distributed to fellow ministers. She argued that eastward expansion offered genuine prospects for improving the environment throughout Europe, but cautioned that "economic growth may have detrimental effects on the environment unless measures are taken to avoid this".