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ENVI-News
- our newsletter
Calendar of meetings and agendas (official)
ENVI meeting dates for 2008
Meeting documents
Adopted reports
Work in Progress (our ITER listing, updated weekly)
Coordinators and decisions of their meetings
Speeches given in Committee
External Expertise
- Environment
- Public Health
- Food Safety
- Impact Assessment
Petitions
STOA
Health Working Group
Implementation of EU law
Delegations of the Environment Committee
Hearings
Members
Secretariat
Photos
Activity Report
Comitology
EP Library - Environment (Intranet only)
Links to the Commission:
DG ENVI
DG SANCO
Links to the Agencies:
EEA - the European Environment Agency
EFSA - the European Food Safety Authority
EMEA - the European Medicines Agency
ECDC - the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
FVO - the Food and Vetrerinary Office
ECHA - the European Chemicals Angency
Other links :
Health and Consumer Intergroup
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 ENVI meeting dates for 2008
The demand that consumer concerns be dealt with at a European level dates back to as early as November 1967, when a Member's written question first pressed the Commission to address the issue. The earliest directive on motor vehicle emissions dates back to 1970, and was a matter of great concern to Parliament before and after its adoption, and subsequent modifications. European environmental protection law dates back to a conference of Heads of State or government in October 1972.
The European Parliament decided to set up an Environment Committee in 1973. It was the twelfth specialist committee, added to those set up since the European Parliament first met in 1952. Its subsequent increase in size (from 36 to 63 members) and in power arose through extended responsibilities in the Union on environmental matters and through greater sensitivity to electoral demands for environmental protection and consumer protection, and later also food safety and public health matters.
The Single Act in 1987 extended the competences of the Union to single market legislation. The Environment Committee took on responsibility under co-operation procedure for a series of legislative proposals on consumer protection and food safety. Under the 1993 Maastricht Treaty certain of these responsibilities fell under co-decision. This procedure was extended to most areas of environmental, food safety and public health under the 1999 Amsterdam Treaty.
A short overview of the policy areas is available in the Fact Sheets prepared by Parliament's relevant services.
The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the sixth legislature has 68 Members, drawn from the political groups in the proportions indicated in the table below. It is served by a secretariat of 10 administrators.
Its competences have been changed only slightly from those of the fifth legislature. Horizontal consumers policy issues are now the responsibility of the Internal Market Committee and the Environment Committee has a explicit reference in its title to its responsibility to food safety issues.
Its most close Commission interlocutors are: DG Environment and DG Health and Consumer Protection as well as DG Entreprise for pharmaceuticals and certain other matters.
The Committee has oversight and political responsibility for the activities of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). It has established a multilayered network of political links in the three areas of its competences and has regular contacts with other European institutions and international organisations. Links with national parliaments' environment, public health and consumer protection committees, and with specialised national agencies have developed.
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