Welcome back! We hope your summer holidays were refreshing enough to help the network cope with a politically hot winter!  Greece still struggling to stay in the euro, Spain getting closer to a full and painful bailout programme and all eyes focused on the ECB’s intervention to save the Eurozone from breaking apart, the environment is clearly drifting away from the policy and economic priorities of most EU member states. ...

Amidst the frenzy to comply with the demand of the Troika (EC, IMF, ECB) for a drastic reduction in the number of public entities, the Greek Government announced its intention to abolish 15 out of the 29 protected area local management agencies....

The serious budgetary cuts on all public services critically undermine the operational readiness of the Fire Brigade to combat wildfires. As stated in Parliament by Minister of Public Order Nikos Dendias, in theory, the Fire Brigade has 21 firefighting aircrafts available, of which three are out of order and cannot be repaired due to the ensuing high cost....

Having affected important protected areas, including many national parks, this summer’s wildfires that scorched almost 150,000 hectares, revealed the difficulties that the Spanish Fire Brigade is facing due to the serious budget cuts.  Important woodland areas, including parts of the national parks of Garajonay in Canary Islands and Cabañeros National Park in Central Spain, were lost to the flames. ...

Following the path of Italy, Spain and Portugal, the Greek Transmission System Operator is also entering a phase of crisis, after years of profitable operation. In March 2011, the Greek Operator reported a deficit of €100 mi., which more than doubled within only one year, and is expected to reach €400mi by the end of 2012.  This so-called “black hole”, that is putting at risk Greece’s ability to afford fuel imports, has been attribute...

Claiming to aim at restoring liquidity in the electricity market, the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change halted the approval procedure for all solar power projects, excluding only those large investments that are promoted under fast-track procedures and roof-mounted PV installations - the latter having already suffered, however, a 46% reduction in support tariffs....

A slight decrease in the total quantity of hazardous waste generated in the EU 27 was recorded by the EC, in the framework of Regulation 259/93. The report, which analyses the data submitted by member states to the Basel Convention Secretariat and the Commission, covers the period 2007-2009 and concludes that the decrease is most probably a result of the economic downturn....

August 1, 2012 was Day One of France’s new financial transactions tax (FTT).  In a politically significant move, the Government of Francois Hollande legally introduced a 0.2% tax on financial transactions. The French FTT is expected to raise half a billion € in the first year. According to President Hollande, a yet unclear part of the revenue will go towards combating AIDS. In total, about 10% of the revenues will be allocated to “develop...

Economic sentiment faces depression in the EU | EC survey (July 2012) “In July the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased by 1.4 points in the EU, to 89.0, and by 2.0 points in the euro area, to 87.9.” “While three quarters of the Member States witnessed a drop in economic sentiment, this was only the case for three out of the seven largest Member States: The ESI registered sharp falls in Germany (-3.7) and France (‑2.3) and a...

Jürgen Habermas, Peter Bofinger and Julian Nida-Rümelin: Only deeper European integration can save the eurozone | The Guardian (9 August 2012) Füle: Enlargement brings ‘positive news’ in times of crisis | Euractiv (13 August 2012)...