DER 25-26/3 04: Nøglebudskaber fra Sektorrådene vedrørende Lissabon- strategien

The joint report and the above-mentioned priorities, as well as the country-specific messages in the Employment Taskforce report provide the basis for the formulation of the EU recommendations on national employment policies in 2004.

Strengthening the social dimension of the Lisbon strategy requires a closer interaction, through streamlining, of the various strands of social protection, covering social inclusion, pensions, health care and making work pay. It also needs to complement and interact effectively with employment and economic policy coordination.

Strategies to reduce poverty and social exclusion needs to be multi-dimensional, long-term and involve all stakeholders. To meet the Lisbon goal of achieving a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty and social exclusion by 2010, Member States are urged, in particular, to:

1. Promote investment in and tailoring of active labour market measures and education and training systems to meet the needs of those who have the greatest difficulties in accessing employment;
2. Ensure that social protection schemes are adequate and accessible for all and that they provide effective work incentives for those who can work;
3. Increase the access of the most vulnerable and those most at risk of social exclusion, including disabled people, to decent housing, quality health and lifelong learning opportunities;
4. Prevent early school leaving and promote smooth transition from school to work;
5. Develop a focus on eliminating child poverty and social exclusion among children;
6. Make a drive to reduce poverty and social exclusion of immigrants and ethnic minorities.

- Make Work Pay  

With a view to complementing the focus on making work pay within the European Employment Strategy, social protection systems need to strengthen the incentives and supports they offer people moving from benefits to work. This should not call into question their role in providing adequate benefits.

Efforts should focus on removing barriers and disincentives to work and on developing good interaction between benefits and taxation and income from work. Social protection systems should support active job search and the reconciliation of work and family life in areas such as child and elder care and quality of working conditions. The important role of social partners and the views of civil society representatives should be taken into account in policy development in this field.

- Ensure that pension systems support longer working lives

The future sustainability of pension systems and their ability to continue to deliver socially adequate income to retired people and solidarity within and between generations will depend heavily on raising the employment rate of older workers (Stockholm) and the effective retirement age (Barcelona).

To this end Member States are urged to:

1. Focus attention on the incentives of social protection systems to support working longer and continuously monitor their performance with regard to the Stockholm and Barcelona objectives;
2. Examine, jointly with all relevant actors and notably the social partners, policy measures aimed at discouraging early retirement and making longer working lives more rewarding;

Providing accessible, sustainable and high-quality health and long-term care is an important aspect of the Lisbon agenda. As this is a common challenge for all Member States, existing policy cooperation at EU level should be deepened. The Council therefore welcomes the Commission’s intention to put forward a Communication outlining concrete proposals to this end. The Council will then give consideration to the open method of coordination in this area.

Reinforced efforts to promote equality between women and men in all policy areas and to implement a genuine gender mainstreaming approach are essential for the EU to succeed in reaching the overall Lisbon objectives. Despite developments towards equality between women and men in the EU in the past decade, significant gender gaps still exist in most policy fields. Special attention must be given to the implementation of the acquis on equal treatment and the adoption of the new proposals for Directives, to the promotion of women in employment, the elimination of the gender pay gap and to gender aspects of social inclusion, health and pension policies.

To ensure progress on these employment and social policy priorities and towards the agreed EU targets, it is essential to strengthen the evaluation procedures by further developing indicators and other monitoring mechanisms at the national and EU levels and to improve the EU and national statistical capacity. 

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Progress on implementation of the Lisbon Strategy and the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), agreed in Göteborg in June 2001 and which completed the Union’s political commitment to economic and social renewal by adding a third, environmental dimension to the Lisbon Strategy, is the key focus of each Spring European Council. In this regard, this input to the preparations for the 2004 Spring European Council is intended to contribute to the process of developing balanced and mutually reinforcing policies which stimulate growth and employment, while also protecting and improving the quality of the environment, and safeguarding human health, in the enlarged Union, and contributing to the implementation of the EU commitments on sustainable development at global level.

1. RECALLING the EU's strategic goal established in Lisbon of building the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, characterised by economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and its aim of becoming a highly eco-efficient economy that respects the carrying capacity of the environment;
2. NOTES with great concern the conclusion in the Commission's 2004 Spring Report, that despite important advances, negative trends in the environment, especially in areas such as climate change, energy, transport and biodiversity, have not been reversed;
3. EMPHASISES, in this context, the need to ensure effective balance and promote synergies between the three pillars of sustainable development, in particular through decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, and to clarify the interaction between the SDS, the Lisbon Strategy and the Cardiff process, to give renewed momentum to the integration of environmental concerns into sectoral policies;
4. EMPHASISES also the need to integrate better the three dimensions of sustainable development in an ambitious, revised SDS that provides a long-term and comprehensive policy framework as well as general principles for action;
5. STRESSES that it is urgent to ensure effective, timely implementation of EU environmental and environmentally relevant legislation and policies in all sectors; and BELIEVES that further EU and national measures are necessary to meet the key sustainable development targets to which the EU is committed at internal and global levels;
6. AGREES with the conclusion in the Commission's 2004 Spring Report that growth is still not sustainable enough and EMPHASISES that progressive environment policy and measures, in line with the 6^th EAP, result in higher environmental standards that protect and enhance quality of life, are an investment in the present and in the future, and can give rise to significant economic and social opportunities, notably in terms of competitiveness and quality employment, i.a. through:

- acting as a context and a catalyst for innovation and greater efficiency,

- protecting the quality and ensuring the responsible use of the natural resource base of economic and social development, and

- improving degraded areas and environments, thus contributing to the prevention and reduction of social exclusion;

II. A RENEWED MOMENTUM FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION OF THE LISBON STRATEGY

7. TAKES NOTE of the Commission's 2004 Spring Report; INVITES the Commission to provide a more detailed analysis of progress in the implementation of the EU SDS in future Spring reports from next year onwards; and AGREES that a key challenge is to reinforce and exploit the positive synergies between environmental protection and competitiveness;
8. INVITES the Commission, in consultation with the Member States, to identify and pursue win-win opportunities where the environment can help achieve the economic and social goals of the Lisbon Strategy, to identify also the potential implications for the environment, the economy and society from the failure to reverse the current unsustainable trends and to address the potential costs of delaying action in the sectors concerned;
9. WELCOMES the 2003 Environment Policy Review (EPR) and CALLS UPON the Commission to ensure that future EPRs provide, each year in due time for full consideration by the Council (Environment) at its December meeting, strategic and action-oriented reports feeding into the preparation of the Spring European Council and better reflecting developments at national and international levels;
10. WELCOMES the emphasis, in the EPR, on integration of environmental concerns in all policy areas, on implementation of environmental legislation, and on environmental information to foster behavioural change, in accordance with the overall objectives of the Aarhus Convention;
11. Looking forward to the Communication on the use of market-based instruments for environmental policy; UNDERLINES the role of appropriate, flexible market-based mechanisms, such as well-targeted economic incentives, and the need to encourage reform of subsidies that have considerable negative effects on the environment and are incompatible with sustainable development, in supporting environmental policies and measures, including in the field of environmental technologies;
12. INVITES the Commission to establish, by the mid-term review of the 6^th EAP, a list of criteria allowing such environmentally negative subsidies to be recorded, with a view to gradually eliminating them;

Natural resources

13. STRESSES the need to manage, in a sustainable manner, the natural resource base on which economic and social progress depends and WELCOMES in this regard the Commission's emphasis on the close linkages between the future thematic strategies on natural resources and on the prevention and recycling of waste and the Integrated Product Policy initiative, which should result in an important contribution to changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns as agreed in Johannesburg;
14. AGREES that the thematic strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources should target its efforts at reducing the environmental impacts of resource use, thereby enabling overall and sector-specific decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation, and contributing to sustainable development at EU and global levels;
15. CALLS UPON the Commission to present by June 2005 a comprehensive and result-orientated natural resources strategy and to co-ordinate, in consultation with the Member States and stakeholders, a strategic European capacity for the gathering and pooling of knowledge about resource use and impacts and related policy assessment, which should also cover environmental impacts;
16. WELCOMES the progress made on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy; NOTES the importance of the rural sector in achieving sustainable development targets; and CALLS UPON the Commission and the Member States to ensure that EU rural development funds contribute effectively to such targets;

Environmental technologies

17. AFFIRMS that the EU should become a world leader in the field of environmental technologies and aim at gradually increasing its global market share in this field, and that stronger emphasis should be given to removing barriers to their full take-up, having regard to the potential of such technologies as a driving force in a knowledge-based economy to boost competitiveness and growth, increase employment and strengthen environmental protection (including in the critical area of climate change);
18. RECALLS that the European Action for Growth covers investments in innovation and R&D including environmental technologies; and STRESSES the need for strong links between the ETAP, LIFE and the 7^th Research Framework Programme;
19. WELCOMES in this context the Environmental Technologies Action Plan proposed by the Commission as a key instrument both for pursuing the goals under the Lisbon Strategy and for achieving sustainable development, in particular through the contribution of such technologies to realising decoupling objectives and developing an environment-driven business sector;
20. WELCOMES the Action Plan as providing a framework, objectives, and support measures that are appropriate in the field of environmental technologies and URGES all concerned to work for its rapid implementation; STRESSES the role of environmental technologies in achieving internationally agreed development and environmental goals and targets and the need to foster collaboration with developing countries on technologies;
21. INVITES the Member States, the Commission, industry and the research community to work together to improve the focus and co-ordination of environmental technologies-related research to fast-track the commercial application of its results;
22. REQUESTS the Commission, the European Investment Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as Member States to explore on a priority basis how to broaden the range and increase the magnitude of financing instruments, including venture capital, which can be used to promote environmental technologies;
24. WELCOMES the proposed establishment of a European Panel on Environmental Technologies to help take forward the future work in this area and REQUESTS the Commission to monitor implementation of the Action Plan and to report to the European Council, regularly from 2005, on progress, including on any need for additional measures;
25. SUPPORTS the Commission’s intention to review the framework for environmental State aid and decide on any necessary adjustments to the existing Guidelines to adapt to the increasing sophistication of investments in environmental technologies and to new forms of public/private partnerships; CALLS for this review to be completed by the first semester of 2007 on the basis of annual progress reports starting in 2005;

Review of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy

26. CALLS UPON the Commission to finalise, by the end of 2004, the planned review of the SDS, on the basis of consultations with the Member States and stakeholders and in the perspective of the 2005 mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy, and to report in due time for appropriate action at the Spring European Council 2005, having regard in particular to i.a.:

- measuring progress towards the objectives of the SDS and the need to define further action, including by enhancing the development and use of relevant indicators for the environment and sustainable development,

- the need to give renewed impetus to the SDS, also by developing new overall and sectoral objectives, including decoupling targets, as appropriate,

- the results of the stocktaking of the Cardiff Process of environmental integration,

- the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in the context of enlargement,

- the linkages to be made between the national and the EU sustainable development strategies,

- incorporating the external dimension of sustainable development to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs and implement the commitments made in Doha, Monterrey and Johannesburg, i.a. through better coherence between internal and external EU policies and measures,

- updating the "Road-map on the Follow-up to the Göteborg Conclusions";

27. AFFIRMS that the planned mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy in 2005 should take full account of the revised SDS and of the 6^th EAP as the EU's environmental agenda, refocus on the imperative of greater environmental integration, notably in the transport and energy sectors , including through the development of overall and sectoral objectives as well as of effective monitoring mechanisms, and review and promote progress towards agreed targets;
28. CALLS UPON the Commission, together with the Member States, to examine the extent to which the open method of co-ordination could be used to spread best practice and achieve greater convergence towards the main EU environmental goals, including in the area of environmental technologies, and to report at the 2005 Spring European Council;
29. WELCOMES the Commission's intention to examine the possibilities for integrating public health into the Lisbon Strategy by 2005, as a contribution to growth and sustainable development;

Transport

30. WELCOMES the efforts made in the EU to ensure sustainable mobility; NOTES with concern, however, that there are no signs of a significant decoupling of the environmental impacts of transport growth and GDP growth and REFERS to the Commission's 2004 Spring Report in this context;
31. STRESSES the need, in future decisions, to take fully into account the Göteborg conclusions regarding sustainable transport, and to consider all the costs of current patterns of mobility for the economy, the environment and health; EMPHASISES the need for swift consideration of the Eurovignette Directive;
32. UNDERLINES the need to promote cleaner vehicle technologies, notably cleaner and alternative fuels, and to decide on a new stage of European standards for motor emissions, including diesel motors, in the context of ongoing work in this regard; CALLS on the Commission and industry to reach early agreement on significantly reducing fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions;
33. Recalling the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council, WELCOMES the efforts deployed in the EU to enhance transport safety, in particular in maritime transport; and CALLS ON the Member States and the Commission to continue playing a leading role in this respect, both at EU and international level;

Climate change

34. Recognising that climate change requires a comprehensive and global response, REAFFIRMS that entry into force and timely implementation of the Kyoto Protocol remains a key EU priority, and UNDERLINES the determination of the European Community and its Member States to respect their commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol,  and to demonstrate progress by 2005;
35. RECALLS the necessity of attaining the objectives of the Lisbon Process and those of the Göteborg Strategy on Sustainable Development and RECALLS that the European Council in December 2003 asked that further cost effective ways of implementing EU decisions in the field of climate change and the potential cost of inaction should be considered; INVITES the Commission to undertake an evaluation of Member States' National Allocation Plans in the framework of the EU ETS and to provide an assessment to the Council of the effects of the scheme;
36. UNDERLINES the importance the EU attaches to the ratification process of the Kyoto Protocol and to its early entry into force;
37. CALLS UPON the Commission to report annually to the Spring European Council, starting in 2005, on progress in the implementation of measures aimed at meeting Kyoto commitments and to report on implementation of measures adopted under the European Climate Change Programme in all relevant Council formations; and AGREES to review progress each year;
39. ACKNOWLEDGES that to meet the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, overall global temperature increase should not exceed 2ºC above pre-industrial levels; and CALLS UPON the Community and its Member States, as a contribution to global efforts towards this objective, to consider mid- and longer term emissions reduction strategies, including targets for greenhouse gases in preparation for COP 11, with a view to a broad agreement among UNFCCC Parties, taking into account the findings of the IPCC;
40. INVITES the Commission to provide, as the basis for the above-mentioned consideration and in time for informed decision-making at the 2005 Spring European Council, provisional analysis of the costs and benefits arising from the implementation of such strategies, including mid- and longer term targets, as well as to propose as soon as possible further specific measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including measures to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from air transport, in accordance with the 6^th EAP and with the work undertaken by the ICAO;
41. CALLS UPON Member States to co-operate in considering the new options to tax energy products supplied for use as fuel for the purpose of air navigation according to the Council Directive restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity;
42. LOOKS FORWARD both to the timely start of the Community emissions trading scheme as a major innovation enabling flexible and cost-effective implementation of the Protocol, and to a first reading agreement this Spring between the Council and the European Parliament on the proposed amendment to the Directive on the Community scheme linking it to the Kyoto Protocol’s project mechanisms, thereby allowing companies within the ETS to use such project credits for compliance purposes, and supporting sustainable development on a global basis;
43. REAFFIRMS the continuing need for deployment of policies and measures in the field of climate change, including flexible, market-based instruments to secure economically-efficient and substantive climate action, and for fuller integration of climate objectives into other policy areas;
45. EMPHASISES that the EU should spare no effort to bring to the attention of countries that have not yet ratified the Kyoto Protocol, including the Russian Federation, the benefits of doing so in a timely manner;

Energy

46. STRESSES the need to secure greater energy efficiency with consequent economic and environmental benefits; SUPPORTS, to that end, the establishment of effective market-based policies as well as the setting of an ambitious EU-wide indicative target for energy efficiency, implying that the Union's energy intensity should decrease by at least one percent per year as a long term average, to be reached in a cost efficient manner and with a minimum of distortionary effects, taking into account the guidelines contained in the Action Plan to Improve Energy Efficiency in the European Community;
47. NOTES in this respect the potential of the proposed Directives on Energy end-use efficiency and energy services and on Eco-design requirements for energy using products and LOOKS FORWARD to the adoption of these key instruments;
48. STRESSES the need to:

• increase the share of renewable energies in the EU in accordance with the EU-wide targets for 2010,

1. LOOKS FORWARD to the forthcoming International Conference for Renewable Energies in Bonn (June 2004) which is intended to facilitate the development of a global action plan with national and regional goals for the speedy worldwide development of renewable energies, encompassing in particular the support of developing countries;
3. Noting the reporting requirements in directive 2001/77/EC, CALLS on the Commission to present a communication considering targets, policies and measures for increasing the share of renewable energy for the EU beyond 2010 as well as the global development of renewable energy markets, in due time for the Bonn Conference;
4. WELCOMES and ACKNOWLEDGES that partnerships such as the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition (JREC), the Mediterranean Renewable Energy Partnership (MEDREP), the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and the Baltic Sea Region Energy Co-operation (BASREC) contribute to the sustainability of our energy systems and CALLS UPON Member States and the Commission to develop and maintain active involvement in such partnerships;

Biological diversity

5. RECOGNISES the essential importance of the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive to the achievement of the EU objective of halting biodiversity decline by 2010; LOOKS FORWARD to the review of the EU biodiversity strategy and, in that context, CALLS FOR strengthened action to meet the 2010 target, including:

- implementation of the necessary technical and financial instruments and measures  required for the full implementation of NATURA 2000 and for the protection, outside the NATURA 2000 areas, of species protected under the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive,

- identification and carrying through of the necessary measures for implementing NATURA 2000 in the marine environment,

- improving the set of biodiversity indicators to assist in evaluating the impact of policy measures and actions to halt biodiversity decline,

- fully exploiting the potential of environmental technologies in relation to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity,

- reviewing annually, starting in 2004, the progress towards meeting the 2010 biodiversity objective, on the basis of a report from the Commission,

- ensuring consistency in the implementation of MEA policies, in particular those under the UNCBD, at Member State and Community levels,

- timely identification and development of a European Biodiversity Index;

Chemicals

6. EMPHASISES that the new chemicals Regulation now under consideration must contribute to sustainable development and ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment, while promoting innovation and the competitiveness of the European industry concerned, in particular SMEs, and LOOKS FORWARD to its timely adoption;

International sustainable development commitments

7. EMPHASISES that, while progress has been made in relation to the priorities agreed at the Spring European Council 2003 for pursuing the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, implementation of WSSD commitments must continue to have a high priority and be integrated into all relevant internal and external policies of the EU;
8. STRESSES in particular the need to close the finance gap in implementing international development goals through delivery of the commitments made at the European Council in Barcelona in 2002, notably on ODA;
9. WELCOMES the European Commission Communication on "The World Summit on Sustainable Development One Year On: Implementing Our Commitments"; and EMPHASISES that such reporting on and monitoring of progress in implementing the WSSD commitments should be provided for at regular intervals in the future, with particular focus on implementation gaps;
10. CONFIRMS its support for and RESOLVES to make an effective contribution to the practical, action-oriented, multi-year work programme of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development 2004-17, in particular the focus on the thematic cluster of water, sanitation and human settlements and the relation with cross-cutting issues, to be addressed at CSD 12 and CSD 13 in 2004 and 2005; and in this context URGES the further development of the EU Water for Life Initiative, including clarifying next steps and modalities for its funding, and outlining measures to ensure that the initiative fulfils its broader objectives and enhances stakeholder participation;
12. SUPPORTS a strengthened role for UNEP, including in the follow up to WSSD, and STRESSES that the 5^th Special Session of the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, in Jeju, Republic of Korea, from 29 to 31 March, should ensure that UNEP is in a position to develop its contribution on environment-related aspects in the fields of water, sanitation and human settlements;
13. EMPHASISES the contribution of voluntary multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives that are part of the action-oriented outcomes of the WSSD and LOOKS FORWARD to the International Forum on Partnerships (Rome, 4-6 March 2004), the purposes of which are to enhance the contribution of partnerships to the implementation of sustainable development goals and objectives and to the development of models of technology transfer and use of innovative financial mechanisms.