​On 4 July, the ENVE commission met in Tallinn under the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The topics of environment and climate change were on top of the agenda. ENVE members adopted the opinion of the EA member Andrew Cooper on the ‘Environmental Implementation Review’ (EIR), a tool to improve the implementation of environmental law and policy across the European Union by addressing the causes of implementation gaps.

In his opinion Andrew Cooper highlights the central role of local governments in implementing environmental laws and the need for more support to strengthen their administrative capacity. Moreover he recommends  that new policy areas to be added to the EIR such as chemicals, industrial emissions and action on climate change.

The opinion requests that  ‘the European Commission works with relevant national authorities, the European Committee of the Regions, the EU Covenant of Mayors, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and ICLEI to develop the concept and methodologies for introducing Local and Regionally Determined Contributions, thereby contributing towards climate change targets agreed under the COP21 Paris Climate Agreement.’

"This opinion, said Councillor Cooper,  could form the basis for a template for reporting local and regional action across the globe, giving the opportunity for partnerships with organizations like the US Conference of Mayors who are opposing President Trump’s decision to pull out of the obligations of the COP21 Paris Climate Agreement”.

During the meeting ENVE members also discussed the opinion on climate finance ahead of COP23, that aims at speeding up financial flows and  simplifying access to existing funding schemes,  the space strategy for Europe and the role of waste-to-energy in the circular economy.