Workshop on the New Approach, Copenhagen, 29-30 Nov. 2001
Preface
This report, The New Approach in setting product standards for safety, environmental protection and human health: Speakers' presentations, is one of two complementary reports published by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) as follow-up to a 29-30 November 2001 workshop that took place in Copenhagen.
The workshop, sponsored jointly by DEPA and the Danish Ministry of Trade and Industry, aimed to bring stakeholders together to discuss potential solutions for various issues with respect to the use of the New Approach in European legislation. Participants included officials from eleven Member States as well as representatives from standards-setting organisations, industry and non-governmental organisations. The workshop was organised around two central themes:
 | Is the New Approach concept able to ensure high levels of protection for humankind and the environment? |
| Can the standardisation process under the New be a useful element for stimulating environmental product innovation in an integrated product policy (IPP)? |
The report at hand, available in electronic format only, is part of the DEPA Arbejdsrapport series. It includes the written contributions of those who made formal presentations at the workshop, whether as full text, overheads or other supplementary reading material. These materials are organised in the order of the workshop agenda, which is also included, along with a list of workshop participants. A detailed list of background reading for better understanding of the issues discussed at the workshop is included as an annex.
The second report, The New Approach in setting product standards for safety, environmental protection and human health: Directions for the future, has been published as a bound volume in the Miljønyt series (Miljønyt No. 66/2002). It provides summaries of the presentations and the subsequent discussions, and general conclusions on the use of the New Approach for securing environmental and (long-term) health protection. It also provides three background papers prepared before the workshop by the consultant Milieu Ltd explaining inter alia the history of the New Approach, the role of standardisation in ensuring product safety, and regulatory tools aimed at achieving environmental innovation. This report can be obtained from Miljøbutikken in Copenhagen or freely downloaded from DEPA's web site (the publication's database) at www.mst.dk.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency hopes that the two reports will contribute to current discussions at European level on the review of the New Approach, and to the preparation of a White Paper on an Integrated Product Policy. For further information, contact DEPA, Division for Cleaner Products.