WRITTEN QUESTION No. 102/98 by Caroline JACKSON to the Commission. EU-wide standards for environmental protection
C 223/112 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 7. 98 3. As set out in its report, the Commission considers that unilateral action by the Community would put Community carriers at a competitive disadvantage. The Council, in response to the Commissionís report has adopted a Resolution requesting the Commission to provide further information on all aspects of the introduction of taxation of aircraft fuel. To meet this request, the Commission has launched a study to examine the various effects of the introduction of taxation within the Community. The consortium carrying out this study is due to produce its final report during the summer of 1998. 4. With the exception of customs duties, indirect tax revenues have traditionally been retained by individual Member States and any proposal to divert revenues from aviation fuel taxation into Community own resources would require the unanimous agreement of all Member States. This is unlikely to be forthcoming. (1) OJ C 139, 6. 4. 1997. (98/C 223/142) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0102/98 by Caroline Jackson (PPE) to the Commission (30 January 1998) Subject: EU-wide standards for environmental protection Can the Commission state whether it has any plans to propose a directive establishing standards for the training and performance of environmental inspectors throughout Europe, since varying standards are currently endangering the universal application of EU environmental legislation? Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (23 February 1998) The Commission attaches considerable importance to inspection and enforcement in the Member States in order to achieve the proper application of Community environmental legislation in practice. In its communication on implementing Community environmental law of 22 October 1996 (1), the Commission recognised that variable standards of enforcement in the Member States could be a problem. It therefore proposed various measures to deal with this, some of which would specifically concern inspectors and other environmental enforcement officials in the Member States. Following the Parliamentís and the Councilís resolutions on the communication, the Commission, together with IMPEL (the informal Community network of Member Statesí environmental law enforcement officials) have been working on preparing a set of minimum criteria for environmental inspections in the Member States. It is the Commissionís intention to make appropriate proposals setting down standards for the form, content and publicity to be given to inspections of polluting installations within the framework of the environmental acquis communautaire. It will cover the planning of inspections, the carrying out of site visits and anlysis of findings, reports and publicity for the results. This is the first, and most critical, element in the Commissionís staged approach towards dealing with improving environmental inspections of installations on the ground in the Member States. As for standards for the training and performance of environmental inspectors throughout the Community, IMPEL is carrying out work on training and the promotion of ábest professional practiceí for inspectors, as well as further work on the frequency of inspections and the functioning of environmental inspectorates. This work includes exchange programmes, workshop meetings on specific technical questions arising from certain industries or processes and the development of a reference book and a training course for inspectors. This will clearly assist the improvement and harmonisation of standards of training and performance across the Member States. The results of these programmes will be given in the annual survey to be published by the Commission. (1) COM(96) 500 final