FREE entry to World Effieciency Solutions for all ENEP General Assembly members is included as part of your registration for the 30th General Assembly.

Draft programme

Thursday 14th December 2017 (Venue - Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris)

09:00 - 12:00 FREE participation in World Efficiency Solutions Expo and Conference 12:00 - 14:00 AFITE / ENEP cocktail and buffet reception with partners (TBC) 14:00 - 15:30 ENEP GA side event "The Circular Economy and its effect on jobs at a European level" 15:30 - 19:30 FREE TIME 20:00 ENEP General Assembly dinner

 

Frirday 15th December, 2017 (Venue - AFITE offices, 7 rue Crillon, 75004 PARIS)

09:30 Arrive at the AFITE offices / Registration & Coffee 10:00 - 13:00 ENEP General Assembly meeting 13:00 -14:00 Buffet lunch 14:00 - 15:30 ENEP General Assembly meeting 15:30 End of meeting

 

REGISTRATION OPENS here on 4th SEPTEMBER, 2017 (on this page)

Draft papers and call for candidatures for ENEP General Assembly elections will be circulated on Friday 15th September - 60 days before the General Assembly.  A call for extracts for the ENEP side event will also be circulated at the same time.

Deadline for candidatures will be Friday 3rd November 2017 or 30 days before the General Assembly.

Please book your accomodation as soon as possible via Booking.com in the vicinity of the AFITE offices and the Porte de Versailles.

 

We look forward to seeing you all in Paris for this very important 30th General Assembly.

 

Kristof de Smet, ENEP President and Alain Rousse, AFITE President

 

Tags: Videosupply chainsSINGLE MARKET

The Great Repeal Bill was published last week by the UK’s government as an important part of the BREXIT process. The Bill aims to reassure businesses with certainty as the UK leaves the EU. Theresa May states, “The Government’s first objective as we negotiate a new deep and special partnership with the European Union is to provide business, the public sector, and everybody in our country with as much certainty as possible as we move through the process.” The UK plans to convert all EU law into UK law before the withdrawal actually occurs. This converted law will include all EU regulations, EU treaties, and the CJEU case law. Additionally, the Bill will repeal the ECA.

As evident in the Great Repeal Bill, there is a strong focus on environmental protection as the UK leaves the EU. The enactment of the Bill followed the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which also includes the continuation of existing EU green laws. “The Government is committed to ensuring that we become the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it,” the Bill reads. With the Great Repeal Bill, the UK Government will be sure to include in their legislation all EU environmental laws that are currently in place. EU environmental laws have included cleaner rivers, and reductions in emissions of sulphur dioxide and substances that lead to ozone-depletion.

While the UK Government is planning to include most EU legislation, it is also aware that some changes need to be made. The Bill reads, “The Government recognises the need to consult on future changes to the regulatory frameworks, including through parliamentary scrutiny.”

READ MORE ABOUT THE GREAT REPEAL BILL HERE

Tags: BREXITnewsflash: Issue 54

The European Union recently implemented a draft called BREF, which states the best practices for treating waste. Specifically, it discusses techniques to practice pollution control for waste treatment plants. The document aims to replace guidelines that were created in 2006 and bring new and improved emission limits. The agreed upon numbers are as follows:

• A maximum of 20 milligrams/cubic metre of ammonia emissios for composting and anaerobic digestion
• A maximum of 40 mg.m3 of volatile organic compounds for mechanical biological treatment

However, Sweden and the Czech Republic have expressed objections to the draft. These objections include the belief that BREF should have a larger inclusion of the treatment of animal carcasses and animal waste. The current draft mainly focuses on raising emission levels for composting plants. If all goes well, BREF will be fully implemented and practiced by 2022.

Tags: Implementation reportnewsflash: Issue 54

The European Investment Bank and the European Commission have agreed on a loan arrangement with Rewilding Europe Capital in order to support businesses with nature-focused initiatives. The Natural Capital Financing Facility (NCFF), which was created by the EIB and the Commission, is backing the loan of €6 million. The NCFF will primarily focus on projects regarding biodiversity and climate adaptations, and support them financially. Rewilding Europe Capital is the first rewilding business in Europe and it focuses on providing loans to new and developing businesses. The movement of Rewilding Europe is to raise awareness of sustainably focused businesses while supporting them by partnering with enterprises that are able to give them loans.

            Rewilding Europe Capital was founded in 2013 and has been successful, having given 420,000 euros in loans to 16 different enterprises. The ‘rewilding areas’ that REC has focused on are Portugal, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany/Poland, and Sweden. Rewilding Capital Europe has a goal of reaching between 20 and 30 new loans to businesses across Europe. This includes 38 sites that are part of Natura 2000, which is a ‘network’ of environmentally protected areas in the world. 18% of land in the EU is comprised of the Natura 2000 areas. Natura 2000 supports the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, which both value the protection of endangered species.

The total budget the NCFF has sums to €100-125 million until 2019, with an additional €50 milllion that will come from the European Commission. Karmenu Vella specified that the rewilding project will the beginning to many new projects focused on sustainability and she is looking forward to the future, “Nature is essential for our lives, and our economy. The recent successful evaluation of the EU nature directives illustrated this.” The agreement between the EIB, the Commission, and the NCFF will certainly have positive affects on European sustainability initiatives.

READ MORE HERE

Tags: Nature Conservationnewsflash: Issue 54

The development replacing the linear economy with a circular economy is believed to have positive impacts on the economic sectors of production, consumption, environment and society. As it is a recently established project, there is currently a lot of research being conducted to ensure that there is a clear understanding of what a circular economy is and the actions that it entails in order to succeed. Vasileios Rizos, Katja Tuokko and Arno Behrens wrote a paper entitled The Circular Economy: A review of definitions, processes, and impacts, which aims to critically analyze the circular economy in past, present, and future terms.

There are various definitions of what exactly the circular economy is, but the principle is the focus on recycling and re-using the ‘inputs of the economy’ in order to have a more sustainable and productive economic sector. A popular definition of the circular economy is “where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste minimized.” The idea of the circular economy was created based on the three critical relationships between the economy and the environment: resource supplier, waste assimilator, and source of utility. It is an interesting concept because it combines industry and environment with the belief that the two can complement each other in ways that will positively impact the economy. The most difficult part of developing the circular economy has been completely replacing the linear economic model, which has been present since the Industrial Revolution.

The review of the Circular Economy paper came to the conclusion that there is a small amount of available information regarding the indirect effects on the economy of the major adjustment that has occurred. These indirect effects would include what kind of impacts it has had on the value change and what kind of changes there have been on consumption and spending patterns. The paper also concludes that because of the fragmentation of the research surrounding the circular economy, it is difficult to compare results on studies that have been conducted. There are strong arguments that the switch to the circular economy will have long-term positive impacts on the economy, but researchers are having a hard time expressing those effects right now.

READ MORE ABOUT THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY HERE

Tags: circular economynewsflash: Issue 54

This year, the LIFE Programme and the EU Habitats Directive are happy to celebrate their 25th anniversaries. The LIFE Programme is an organization created by the European Union that supports projects based on environmental, nature conservation, and climate action initiatives. The organization has been incredibly successful since it was founded in 1992, expecting to have contributed 3.4 billion euros to the cause between 2014-2020. The EU Habitats Directive is another impressive movement created by the European Union. It aims to conserve wild areas that consist of threatened or endemic animal and plant species. The Habitats Directive works continuously with the Birds Directive and the EU Natura 2000, which also raise awareness and protection of endangered environments.

Both the LIFE Programme and the EU Habitats Directive were approved on 21 May 1992 and this year is the 25th Anniversary of both initiatives. 21 May, according to the European Union, will officially be ‘European Natura 2000 day’ to celebrate the achievements of the programs. There will be an event in Brussels to celebrate the day. The purpose of this day is not only to celebrate the organizations, but also to raise awareness throughout Europe about the initiatives that they practice. Organizations that are interested in registering for an event are invited to on www.life-25.eu.

Tags: Life Programme; EU funding; environment; climate;newsflash: Issue 54

The European Court of Auditors from the European Commission has recently expressed concerned that Member States are not investing enough in the numerous Natura 2000 sites throughout Europe. The European Commission has to now reevaluate the numbers to determine if the current funds are enough to make an impact on Natura 2000. The main concern by the Auditors is that the Member States evidently do not know how to correctly allocate the funds that they have set aside for the initiative of Natura 2000. The Auditors stated that there is little focus on keeping the funding organized and monitored, which directly affects the Natura 2000 sites because they are not being properly supported. The European Commission has claimed that it will improve the execution of the initiative through a detailed plan that will include legal instruments for Member States to follow. The Auditors recently visited 24 of the Natura 2000 sites, in countries including France, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Romania. Among the conclusions was that Member States were not up keeping their management plans nor had all of them even been ‘designated as special conservation areas’.

The Natura 2000 network covers 18% of the EU’s land with roughly 27,000 sites throughout Europe. It is a critical initiative for Europe as it protects endangered animals and habitats that require more attention than they have been given in the past in order to survive. It is compulsory for Member States to keep up with the sites that exist in their countries and ensure that they are being maintained appropriately. It is unfortunate that the Auditors had to conclude that the Natura 2000 initiative has not been implemented properly by Member States, but there will be extensive work done in the future to change this by 2020.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE

Tags: Natura 2000newsflash: Issue 54

The European Union is incredibly focused on providing appropriate funds for environmental needs across Europe, namely for the Natura 2000 initiative. The EU funds nearly 5.8 billion euros per year to implement the directive and ensure that it is being carried out properly. The European Court of Auditors recently analyzed the initiative and concluded that five member states are not living up to expectations of the goals that should be met for Natura 2000. The Auditors found that the funds were not being properly allocated to the sectors of the Natura 2000. The Auditors also concluded that the EU is only meeting 20% of the funding that is necessary for Natura 2000 to be implemented efficiently.

            After the disappointing results, the IEEP is considering what to do next in order to improve the implementation of Natura 2000. A larger budget from a new fund is one option, but some believe that it could have adverse affects on the aggregate funding level in the end. IEEP would also like to create more stakeholder cooperation through awareness events consistently throughout the year.

READ MORE HERE

Tags: Natura 2000newsflash: Issue 54

On 31 May 2017, the European Commission is holding an event dedicated to the LIFE Programme. This event will discuss funding opportunities for the organization in 2017 and give information about the project. The event will be from 10:00-16:00 in Brussels and registration is first come, first serve. Representatives of businesses are all welcome to join, as well as from NGOs, industry, and local and regional authorities. There will be opportunities to meet European Commission specialists and discuss implementations. The LIFE event is part of EU Green Week 2017, and those interested are able to register on the Green Week website.

FIND MORE INFORMATION HERE

Tags: Life Programmenewsflash: Issue 54

The European Environment Bureau has announced that it is holding a photo competition in order to raise awareness of the importance of nature. The purpose is to remind people of what nature does for us, including giving us air, water, food, clothing, and also lessening the intense effects of climate change. The photo competition is called ‘NATURE@work’ and the EEA encourages widespread participation.

READ MORE HERE

Tags: European Environment Bureaunewsflash: Issue 54

In the midst of the transition to the circular economy, there is a significant amount of change that needs to occur in order to ensure that progress will be made. The Circular Economy Package, released by the European Commission in 2015, stated that there will be actions taken to launch a project with various banks and the European Investment Bank to provide more financial support to the new circular economy. “The group”, which is specifically the Support the Circular Economy Financing Expert Group, will carry out tasks similar to the Commission’s Register of Commission expert group. It will primarily advise the Commission on how to fund the circular economy on behalf of the Member States as well as being the main body to make decisions on the financial aspects of the circular economy.

            Currently, the Commission is accepting applications for members of the expert group. The categories that will be represented in the group are as follows:

• European Investment Bank
• National promotional banks or institutions
• Organizations, specifically with circular economy focuses: NGOs, financial institutions, universities, law firms
• Various public entities: EU agencies

READ MORE ABOUT THE APPLICATION HERE

Tags: circular economynewsflash: Issue 54