EU2018BG.BG | Informal Meeting of Environment Council (ENVI)

Informal Meeting of Environment Council (ENVI)

Environment Council (ENVI)

from

10.04.2018

11:15

11.04.2018

11:00

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National Palace of Culture

The informal meeting of EU Environment Ministers will be held in Sofia on 10 and 11 April 2018 at the National Palace of Culture.

The informal meeting will focus on three important issues:

ambient air quality,
better regulation and
climate change.

During the first day of the meeting the discussions will be focused on the protection of human health and the environment and on possible solutions that would improve ambient air quality. Air pollution is a serious environmental and social issue which poses many challenges related to the management and mitigation of the impact from harmful pollutants. This is an issue which needs to be addressed, as all individual EU Member States, as well as the EU as a whole, are facing it.

The next session will be dedicated to finding better solutions for better implementation of the EU environment legislation. The ministers will discuss three main topics: the existing tools for capacity building among which the Peer-to-Peer tool for exchange of good practices among Member States; cross-sectoral cooperation with a focus on the Clean Air Dialogues and the EIR country dialogues; and, last but not least, streamlining reporting obligations and reducing administrative burden. The discussion will specifically stress the need for more coherence between sectoral legislation.

The second day will commence at 10:30 a.m. and will be devoted to international climate negotiations and the Talanoa Dialogue. The year 2018 is crucial for reaching an agreement on the Paris Agreement Work Programme and ensuring that the parallel processes foreseen at the COP24, namely, the political phase of the Talanoa Dialogue, the pre-2020 stocktake and the High Level event on climate finance are also successful and constructive.

*Due to unexpected circumstances the press conference has been rescheduled to start at 15:30 instead of 17:00 as previously announced.

Neno Dimov, Minister of Environment and Water of Bulgaria, doorstep

Arrival, doorstep, handshake

Official signing of the Program Agreement of Environment and Climate Change Programme under EEA Financial Mechanism 2014 – 2021

Roundtable before session I and opening remarks by Neno Dimov, Minister of the Environment and Water of Bulgaria

Family photo

Press conference

Highlights

Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of Germany, doorstep

Photos

Arrival

Handshake

Roundtable

Signing of EEA Program Agreement, Family photo and Press conference

Agenda

10 April 2018 | Tuesday

11:15 - 12:00

Arrival at the National Palace of Culture, Doorstep and Handshake

13:00 - 13:30

Official signing of the Program Agreement of Environment and Climate Change Programme under EEA Financial Mechanism 2014 – 2021

13:30 - 15:00

Session I: Ambient Air Quality – Better Solutions for Higher Quality of Life

Opening remarks by Dr. Neno Dimov, Minister of the Environment and Water ; Moderator: Julian Popov, Goodwill ambassador on climate and energy for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2018 (UK/ Bulgaria); The air pollution is a serious environmental and social issue which poses many challenges related to the management and mitigation of the harmful pollutants impact. This is an issue which all individual EU Member States, as well as the EU as a whole, are facing. The time has come to reconsider the current approaches for solving issues and to switch from visions and ambitions to viable solutions and concrete actions. The effective actions for reducing the air pollution impact require profound changes both in policies, as well as lifestyles and mind-sets.

15:00 - 15:15

Family photo

15:30 - 16:00

Press Conference

16:15 - 17:30

Session II: Better solutions for better implementation

Opening remarks by Dr. Neno Dimov, Minister of the Environment and Water; Moderator: Martin Nesbit, Head of Climate and Governance, Institute for European Environmental Policy ; The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU recognizes the importance of the proper EU law implementation and has set better regulation as one of our key priorities. A discussion will be organized aimed at finding workable solutions for improving environmental implementation. The ministers will discuss three main topics: the existing tools for capacity building among which the Peer-to-Peer tool for exchange of good practices among Member States; cross-sectoral cooperation with a focus on the Clean Air Dialogues and the EIR country dialogues, and, last but not least, streamlining reporting obligations and reducing administrative burden. The discussion will specifically stress on the need for more coherence between sectoral legislation.

11 April 2018 | Wednesday

10:00 - 10:30

Arrival at National Palace of Culture

10:30 - 12:00

Session III: International Climate Negotiations and “Talanoa Dialogue” – the way forward

The session is limited to Environment and Climate ministers of the European Union as well as the European Commission. Opening remarks by Dr. Neno Dimov, Minister of the Environment and Water; Moderator: Julian Popov, Goodwill ambassador on climate and energy for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2018 (UK/ Bulgaria); 2018 is crucial for reaching an agreement on the Paris Agreement Work Program and ensuring that the parallel processes foreseen at the COP24, namely, the political phase of the Talanoa Dialogue, the pre-2020 stocktake and the High Level event on climate finance are also successful and constructive. We need to refine our collective understanding of our essential demands and redlines and to develop potential landing grounds.