For the preparations of the informal Council of Environmental Ministers under the Austrian EU presidency, Ecologic contributed to a discussion paper on the urban environment and environmental technologies. The paper discusses in particular the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment of the European Commmission and the potential for the use of environmental technologies in cities.

The Commission adopted the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment (TS) on 11 January 2006. The TS can serve as an important tool to improve the coherence and efficiency of urban, national and EU policies, to push environment objectives and requirements on the same level as social and economic tasks, and to reduce costs by better management and planning. The Informal Meeting of the Council of Environment Ministers under the Austrian EU-Presidency, scheduled to take place on 19-21 May 2006, will discuss the strategy and draw conclusions. In addition, this informal Council will focus on environmental technology and their application in urban areas, as technological solutions for urban problems create a win-win situation for the environment and the economic welfare of people. For the preparations of this Council, Ecologic contributed to a discussion paper of the Austrian Presidency.

The discussion paper is available for download [pdf, 224 KB, English].