Legal provisions of COM(2001)237 - Signature of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2001)237 - Signature of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2001)237  |
| date | May 2, 2001 |
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52001PC0237
Proposal for a Council Decision on the signature, on behalf of the European Community, of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants /* COM/2001/0237 final */
Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the signature, on behalf of the European Community, of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(presented by the Commission)
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(1) The European Community signed on 24.6.1998 in Aarhus the Persistent Organic Pollutants Protocol to the Geneva Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) concluded in the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE). This Protocol currently covers 16 Persistent Organic Pollutants.
(2) On 20 December 1998, the Council authorised the Commission to participate, on behalf of the Community, and in accordance with negotiating directives, in the negotiations of a global legally binding instrument on persistent organic pollutants under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In these negotiations the Community reached all the main objectives set out in those negotiation directives and in subsequent Council Conclusions, in particular those of 7 November 2000.
(3) The text of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was finalised in Johannesburg on 10 December 2000 during the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an International Legally Binding Instrument for implementing international action on certain Persistent Organic Pollutants.
(4) The Convention will be adopted and open for signature in Stockholm during the Conference of Plenipotentiaries from 22 to 23 May 2001.
(5) The main objective of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is the elimination of intentionally produced Persistent Organic Pollutants and the continuous minimisation- or where feasible ultimate elimination of those Persistent Organic Pollutants that are unintentional by-products. Such an objective requires strict obligations on production and use, complemented by trade control measures.
(6) The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants provides a framework, based on the precautionary principle, to ensure the safe elimination/continuous minimisation of the 12 priority Persistent Organic Pollutants, which are also included in the Aarhus UN-ECE Persistent Organic Pollutants Protocol. In future it will also enable Parties to identify other candidates for international action using established criteria so as to prevent and minimise their harmful impact on human health and the environment.
(7) Community policy on the environment shall contribute to the pursuit of the objectives related to the preservation, protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the protection of human health and the environment and the promotion of measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems. Article 174(4) empowers the Community to negotiate and conclude international agreements falling within its sphere of competence on environmental matters
(8) In addition, the Community has exclusive competence for certain matters covered bythe Convention. These include the trade control measures on chemicals and waste, which fall within the scope of the common commercial policy referred to in Article 133 of the Treaty Furthermore, the Community has competence for matters relating to the ban and/or restriction of dangerous substances and the elimination/reduction of emissions.
(9) The Decision to sign should therefore be based both on Articles 174(4) and 133, in conjunction with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300 (2).
(10) The Commission considers that by signing the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants at the earliest possible opportunity in Stockholm in May, the European Community would not only give its agreement to the final text of the Convention but also give an important political signal to other countries that signature and ratification of the Convention should be an absolute priority
(11) Linked with the principle of unity in the international representation of the Community this militates in favour of simultaneous signature and eventual deposit of the respective instruments of ratification or approval by the Community and its Member States
(12) In view of the above, it is convenient for the Community to sign, subject to subsequent conclusion, the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Stockholm in May 2001.
(13) The Commission therefore requests the Council to authorise the President to designate the persons empowered to sign the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants on behalf of the Community and to confer on them the necessary powers.
Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the signature, on behalf of the European Community, of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 133 and 174 paragraph 4, in conjunction with Article. 300 paragraph 2, first sentence of the first subparagraph thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1 ],
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Whereas:
(1) Community policy on the environment shall contribute to the pursuit of the objectives related to the preservation, protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the protection of human health and the environment and the promotion of measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide envrionmental problems. Article 174(4) empowers the Community to negotiate and conclude international agreements falling within its sphere of competence on environmetal matters
(2) the Commission, which was authorised in 1998 to negotiate on behalf of the Community, and the Member States, participated in the negotiations for a Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants;
(3) the text of the Convention was finalised in Johannesburg on 10 December 2000;
(4) the Convention provides a framework, based on the precautionary principle, to ensure the safe elimination/continuous minimisation of the initial 12 priority Persistent Organic Pollutants;
(5) the Convention will in future also enable Parties to identify other candidates for international action using established criteria so as to prevent and minimise their harmful impact on human health and the environment;
(6) the Convention shall be adopted and open for signature by States and regional economic integration organisations during a Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Stockholm from 22 to 23 May 2001;
(7) The principle of unity in the international representation of the Community militates in favour of simultaneous signature and eventual deposit of the respective instruments of ratification or approval by the Community and its Member States
(8) It is convenient that the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants be signed, on behalf of the Community during the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Stockholm, subject to subsequent conclusion;
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Sole Article
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person or persons empowered to sign on behalf of the European Community, subject to subsequent conclusion, at a later date the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and to confer upon them the powers necessary for that purpose.