Minister Randver also presented the council with views of the analysis that should be undertaken at both the EU and international levels and put forward proposals as to how to prevent environmental catastrophes such as the one which took place in Cote d’Ivoire from happening in the future. “Although the European Union is guided by the principle that member states should never leave it up to developing countries to solve their waste problems, the Probo Koala case shows that blind eyes can be turned,” Randver said in his speech to the council. The Probo Koala incident has made the undertaking of a thorough analysis inevitable at the international as well as the EU level. Following a similar address from Dutch Minister for the Environment Pieter van Geel, Minister Randver referred to environmental representative Stavros Dimas in stressing that Estonia considers the implementation of a complete ban on the existing transport of dangerous waste to developing countries to be of the utmost importance. “We would also invite the European Commission to assess the EU’s legislation in this area as well as its implementation and to make any necessary changes,” Randver added. Minister Randver also made reference to the earlier agreement between the Estonian and Dutch Ministers for the Environment designed to guarantee in-depth cooperation between the law enforcement authorities of the two countries in processing the criminal case. The Estonian and Dutch Ministers for the Environment met unofficially prior to the council session to discuss the measures that need to be reinforced in order to ensure that dangerous waste from European Union member states no longer ends up in developing countries. |
