Directorate-General for the Environment (European Commission)

The Directorate General for Environment ( DG ENV short ) is a Directorate General of the European Commission, was established with the aim of protecting Europe's environment for present and future generations to preserve and improve. Her main interests include the following areas: nature and biodiversity, natural resources and waste, environment and resources, and climate change.

History

The General Environment was originally a division of the General Industry and 1973 took their work with five staff. Meanwhile, the Directorate-General under are more than 500 employees. Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik is currently, Director of the Environment Directorate-General since 2009, Karl Falkenberg.

Tasks

To achieve its objectives, the Directorate-General Environment designs political strategies (eg the EU biodiversity strategy ) and legislation (eg Natura 2000) for environmental protection in the interest of maintaining and improving the quality of life. These ensure, inter alia:

  • The protection of natural habitats
  • The pollution of air and water
  • Proper waste disposal
  • A deal with global challenges, particularly climate change and the conservation of biological diversity at international level
  • For support for European companies in their efforts towards greater sustainability
  • The integration of environmental concerns into other EU policies
  • Promoting growth in the EU, which takes into account the economic, social and environmental needs of EU citizens as well as those of future generations.

In addition, the Directorate-General provides environmental ensure that Member States apply the existing Community environmental law correctly. Her current mandate includes monitoring of more than 200 environmental laws that are in force at the European level. To this end, it supports the Member States in the implementation of the laws and investigates complaints from EU citizens and non-governmental organizations after. The Commission is entitled to take legal action if there is a suspicion of breaches of European environmental law. In addition, DG Environment, the European Union represents at international conferences on environmental issues, such as at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Directorate-General for Health and Consumers
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