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The Minister emphasised: "Latvia highly appreciates the work done by the previous presidencies and the Parliament. Also during the Latvian Presidency we plan to work in close collaboration with the Parliament, to find common solutions to respond to current challenges in field of environmental protection.''
The Presidency intends to actively work on both domestic and external aspects of the EU’s environmental policy agenda.
“We have set out several significant priorities in the environmental field – climate change policy, actions to improve air quality, resource efficiency and biodiversity,” said the Minister.
At the EU level, one of the top priorities will be the work towards improvement of the EU emissions trading system. The Latvian Presidency aims at reaching an agreement between the co-legislators on the draft decision on market stability reserve.
“Air pollution in Europe remains a major environmental factor associated with avoidable morbidity and premature mortality. The Presidency will therefore continue work on the Clean Air for Europe Programme, advancing discussions on the National Emission Ceiling Directive and strive for agreement on air pollution reduction from medium combustion plants,” said the Minister.
Additionally, the Presidency will focus on resource efficiency and will facilitate transition to circular economy to save natural resources, reduce environmental damage, promote growth and employment within the EU. The Minister expressed conviction that Digital Europe, one of the Presidency’s priorities, promotes efficient use of resources.
Presidency will initiate discussions on challenges to be faced to ensure that targets of biodiversity conservation and renewable energy development are of equal importance. This will be the main topic of the Informal Meeting of Environment and Energy Ministers that will take place in Riga in April.
At the international level, the focus will be on international negotiations towards reaching a new global agreement on climate change at the end of 2015 in Paris.
Year 2015 will be also significant for international sustainable development agenda. The Environment Council in March will therefore include discussions on the environmental dimension and its integration in “post-2015” processes.
