Assessment of the EU Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

IPOL/A/ENVI/2006-36 PE 375.857 Executive Summary The content of the study report was based on the following questions by the European Parliament regarding “The EC Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources” (TSURE), Communication COM 2005/670 adopted by the European Commission (EC) on 21 December 2005: 1. Does the Strategy, as proposed by the EC, deliver the objectives of the 6E [...] IPOL/A/NT/ENVI/2006-36 Page i PE 375.857 After the introduction the second chapter addresses the relation of the Thematic Strategy and the 6th Environmental Action Programme (6EAP) by assessing how the TSURE delivers the objectives of the 6EAP and answers the question of the adequacy of the proposals put forwards by the EC (questions 1 and 2). [...] Issue-related means that the answer should be guided by the substance of 6EAP objectives, whereas the answer to the political dimension of the question should be guided by an interpretation of the motives behind the European Commission’s Thematic Strategy. [...] Furthermore, the European Commission’s Communication on the 6EAP describes as wider objective: “To ensure the consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources and the associated impacts do not exceed the carrying capacity of the environment and to achieve a decoupling of resource use from economic growth through significantly improved resource efficiency, dematerialisation of the economy, and [...] The insight that sustainable resource use will also be a crucial element for improving the competitiveness of the EU was highlighted in the context of the Lisbon report by the High-Level Group chaired by Wim Kok [11] and became part of the “Integrated guidelines for growth and jobs”8.