Om EU använder sina resurser bättre kan det både gagna framtida tillväxt och miljö, enligt en resolution som Europaparlamentet antog på torsdagen. För att stärka EU:s konkurrenskraft bör exempelvis värdefullt material tas tillvara på i stället för att deponeras eller förbrännas medan skatter ska användas för att straffa slöseri med resurser, säger ledamöterna.

MEPs safeguarded strict conditions for the EU's toxic chemical exports in legislation amended on Thursday. The chemicals are those listed in the UN's Rotterdam Convention, which aims to protect the environment and public health in the importing countries.

The adverse effects of medicinal products will be better monitored in future, to prevent the recurrence of cases like the French diabetes medicine "Médiator" (benfluorex), which led to many deaths. Changes to existing EU legislation, backed by the Public Health Committee on Tuesday, would trigger an automatic EU safety evaluation in the event of a safety alert about a medicinal product in any EU Member State.

A breast implant register, more stringent checks and product traceability, and a pre-market authorisation system are among the measures proposed by the Environment and Public Health Committee on Wednesday to prevent a recurrence of the PIP defective breast implants case. The resolution was passed unanimously.

The EU must do a better job of using and recycling resources for the sake of its future economic growth and the environment, according to MEPs voting in the Environment Committee on Wednesday. Cutting waste landfilling and incineration and smart use of environmental taxation are among the committee's suggestions to improve resource efficiency and boost the EU's competitiveness.

Skydd och återställning av skadade ekosystem måste få högre politisk prioritet. Det säger Europaparlamentet i en icke lagstiftande resolution som antogs på fredagen, 20 april. Då EU misslyckats med att leva upp till sina övergripande mål för den biologiska mångfalden för 2010 anser parlamentet att skydd av den biologiska mångfalden ska integreras i EU:s politikområden. Det föreslår också att bidrag som skadar miljön gradvis ska försvinna fram tills 2020.

The EU's next flagship environment strategy, the Seventh Environment Action Programme, must take steps and set targets to protect the EU's environment and spur more efficient use of energy and natural resources, said MEPs voting on a resolution on Friday. Environmentally-harmful subsidies should be phased out by 2020, they say.

The European Parliament will once again participate in the global WWF initiative 'Earth Hour' in order to raise awareness of the need to combat climate change.

As the EU has failed to meet its 2010 biodiversity target, higher political priority should go to preserving and restoring damaged ecosystems, say Environment Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Wednesday . Other EU policies should take on board biodiversity targets, and environmentally harmful subsidies should be named and phased out, they add.

The EU must harness its energy, transport and agriculture policies to cut CO2 emissions - and improve its Emissions Trading System (ETS) - to make the economy more competitive and dramatically less dependent on fossil fuels by 2050, says a non-binding resolution adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday.