EU to force industries to pay for environmental pollution
European Union governments and lawmakers have reached agreement on a new law that will force industries responsible
for land and water pollution to pay for the clean-up.
EU governments and members of the European Parliament hammered out a compromise text on the "polluter pays" directive
that is expected to become law next month. But environmentalists have attacked the draft law as being too soft, as it
does not cover nuclear pollution, marine oil pollution or biological contamination from genetically modified crops.
EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem, however, said she was delighted that the EU law on environmental
liability was finally in sight of the statute books after 15 years of negotiations.
"The idea that the polluter must pay is a cornerstone of EU environmental policy, and with the new directive, we are,
for the first time, putting the ‘polluter pays principle’ into practice in a comprehensive manner," she
said.
"The new directive should be a strong incentive to prevent environmental damage from happening at all," the Swedish
commissioner added. "I find it particularly important and relevant that the new directive will apply to protected
habitats and species at a time when so many threats adversely impact the world's biodiversity."
The directive targets several specific sectors: industries that generate large amounts of heavy metal waste, chemical
manufacturers, waste disposal and incinerator operators.
It will cover damage to species and natural habitats protected at EU level, to protected waters, and to land
contamination "which causes significant risk of harming human health". But it leaves out sensitive areas such as
nuclear power, and it will not require industry to take out insurance against environmental damage, to the anger of
green groups.
The insurance requirement was the key sticking point, with the EU parliament finally giving in on that demand and
instead agreeing with member states that such coverage should be voluntary for companies.
But the EU governments did agree that the commission should review the issue in six years to see if such insurance
should be made mandatory.
