This Memorandum reflects on the issues that the EEB would like to see advanced during the Austrian Presidency. The most important issues are highlighted in the Ten Green Tests.

These were adopted by the EEB Board which has representatives from more than 30 countries and several European networks. At the end of December 2018, the Ten Green Tests will be used to evaluate the Presidency’s performance over the coming months. This document has been prepared in cooperation with BirdLife Europe and Seas at Risk

While the Memorandum is directly addressed to the Presidency, we recognise that progress depends upon the cooperation of the European Commission, the European Parliament and other Member States, as well as the Council President. However, Presidencies can often make a difference if they invest their political and technical capacities in the right issues and if there is sufficient political will.

Jeremy Wates, Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) said:

“There are opportunities for the Austrian EU Presidency to make a difference. Sustainability principles can be applied and mainstreamed in the EU Budget; negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy can drive it towards offering genuinely sustainable food and farming policy. Austria can also help drive EU Climate and Biodiversity leadership, stimulate a transition to a resource efficient, circular economy, catalyse progressive biodiversity commitments on the international stage, help push countries to clean up their air and water, and take harmful chemicals off the market, out of our soils and out of the products we and our children use every day.”