The European community's environment policy: Meeting the challenges of the 90's

Abstract

AbstractNext year the European Commission will release its Fifth Environmental Action Plan, which will set out its plans for environmental policy over the next five years. In an all embracing speech to the European Environment Conference, Philip Ryan of DG XI proposes that it is time for the EC's environmental policy to move into a new gear, suggesting that this will involve a fundamental reappraisal of socio‐economic activity and the application of a significantly broader range of instruments.Against the background of deepening concern for the environment and natural resources, and the realisation of the negative economic effects of environmental degradation, it is now clear that environmentally sound industry is no longer a matter of luxury but rather a matter of necessity.