Greens/EFA & EMAS: Let's green the European Parliament!

What is the Greens/EFA Working Group on EMAS about?

The Greens/EFA Working Group on EMAS, the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, unites political advisors in the field of EMAS policies (environment, energy, transport, climate policy and IT) as well as all other interested

staff. The Working Group elaborates the group's position and initiatives to be fed in to the work of the European Parliament and its daily operation. In meetings we discuss the Greens/EFA Group's input to Green Week, new proposals for EMAS policies, internal awareness raising and much more.

What has the working group achieved so far?

Our group has pushed for EMAS policies since the very beginning: Dutch MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg (Greens/EFA) was the rapporteur of the EMAS Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 (2001).
Some examples of our group's successes in the EMAS process include:

• a free bike rental service in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg
• a resolution containing the Kyoto-Plus Plan for the EP by the Belgian MEP Bart Staes (Greens/EFA) adopted in plenary 2007 that put the EMAS process under pressure to adopt more ambitious targets and to launch a CO2 reduction strategy
• a very comprehensive report on mobility and the environment, notably through the co-authorship of the Greens/EFA transport adviser in charge, enumerating best practises throughout Europe, "soft measures" on green mobility, as well as information on CO2 emissions (2008)
• a display of the departure times of the Luxembourg train station
• a change of the guidelines for the renewal of Parliament's cars
• an inclusion of our suggestion to replace plastic bottles with fountains in meeting rooms into the CO2 action plan adopted by the bureau of the EP (2009)
• the installation of a mobility desk in the EP, giving information on public transport, cycling and walking paths (2010)

What will the working group focus on for the future?

Our working group will continue pushing for more energy efficient buildings (and the display of its consumption), green electricity, the reduction of travel (especially to Strasbourg), an upgrade technical facilities to encourage video conferencing, double sided printing and automatic switch off of unused devices, as well as recycling, separation of waste and the reductions in the use of water, electricity, paper etc. We would also like to request a study on green procurement of food in the canteen of the European Parliament.