During the Dutch Presidency, the following Councils will meet to discuss this policy area:

- 16-07-2004 t/m 18-07-2004 - Maastricht - The Netherlands
- 14-10-2004 - Luxembourg - Luxembourg
- 20-12-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
Click here for a full list of upcoming meetings

The Environment Council convenes formally four times a year. There are also two informal meetings. The Council brings together the environment ministers from the EU Member States. During the Dutch Presidency, this Council will be presided over by Pieter van Geel, State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. Meetings are planned for 16/18 July (informal), 14 October 2004 and 20 December 2004.

About Environment
The Single European Act (which came into force in 1987) explicitly added environmental policy to the Community’s activities. Under Article 174 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, as amended by the Treaties of Maastricht (1992) and Amsterdam (1997), Community policy is to pursue the following objectives:
- preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment;
- protecting human health;
- prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources;
- promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems.

Early in 2000 the European Commission presented a White Paper on Environmental Liability, based on the principle of 'the polluter pays’. The objective is to develop a Community regime on environmental damage. National legislation is often based on the idea that the environment is a 'public good' for which society as a whole should be responsible. With the White Paper, the Commission is taking a new approach: whoever causes damage must bear responsibility. This culminated in January 2002 in a Community framework directive on environmental liability, which focuses on both prevention and restoration of environmental damage. This principle is an important element in the Sixth Environment Action Programme 'Environment 2010: Our future, our choice' (2001-2010), which the Council approved in June 2001.

In the private sector the Commission wants to work with business and consumers to achieve more environmentally friendly forms of production and consumption. Important instruments include statutory forms of environmental liability, fiscal measures and better information for consumers, who expect business to behave in an environmentally friendly way. The European Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström, talks about ‘greening the market’. The Commission stresses that good (i.e. environmentally friendly) behaviour must be rewarded.

The EU has also drafted a whole range of environment directives in the past few years, for example setting limits on harmful emissions from personal and commercial vehicles, on industry and on wastewater discharges.

In the energy sector the main emphasis must be on improving energy efficiency and on formulating strategic programmes with a view to developing technologies to reduce the use of fuels with a high carbon content. The key is to encourage the use of renewable energy sources. To minimise the environmental effects of the liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets, the Council has agreed that national and Community measures will be taken where necessary.

On the agricultural front, the aim is to strike a better balance between agriculture, rural development and natural resources. Specific objectives in this area include reducing the nitrate content of groundwater and restricting the use of pesticides. In November 1999 the Council approved a strategy to integrate environmental requirements into the Common Agricultural Policy as part of the Agenda 2000 reforms.