Environment
Notices and memo
Notice: First ever Eastern Partnership meeting on climate and environment
Slovak Presidency together with the European Commission co-organise the first Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on Environment and Climate Change on 18 October 2016 in Luxembourg.
The political priorities of the EU clearly stress the importance of cooperation with her eastern neighbours to address common environmental issues and to stimulate resource-efficient growth. This need was clearly identified in the declaration of the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2013 and further highlighted at the subsequent Summit in Riga (May 2015). The Informal EaP Ministerial Dialogue on Environment that took place in Minsk in June 2015 and brought together EaP ministers and EU high-level representatives underlined the usefulness of meetings on the environment at ministerial level and agreed to continue with such meetings on a regular basis.
Ministers for environment and climate change from EU Member States and Eastern Neighbourhood countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia) will interact with Commissioners Karmenu Vella and Johannes Hahn on challenges and opportunities of environmental governance and development of green economy.
During the working lunch the EU Member States and Eastern Neighbourhood countries representatives will discuss the ratification and implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate action.
The participants are expected to adopt a Ministerial Declaration to emphasise a renewed political commitment for future cooperation.
The Slovak Presidency, Commissioners Karmenu Vella and Johannes Hahn will debrief journalists on the results of the Ministerial meeting during the press conference on Tuesday 18 October 2016 at 11:45, in the press room of European Convention Centre Luxembourg.