3.6.   Other international obligations on the environmental front



Protection of the marine environment is largely regulated through international treaties, and EC regulations therefore play only a minor role. The reason for this is the nature of shipping and the seas: Shipping is international, both as regards its tasks and with respect to the registration of ships. Regulation of ships therefore makes most sense if the rules are adopted as general international rules, e.g. the Marpol Convention on pollution by ships. The condition of the seas is also best suited to regulation through general international agreements, e.g. the London Convention on dumping, or through more specific agreements between the coastal states adjoining a given marine area, e.g. the Baltic Convention, in which the Baltic States participate.

These regulations are described in detail in Section 6.10. In the present context it should just be noted that Denmark has ratified most important international agreements in this area.

Because of the transboundary nature of air pollution, Treaty legislation also plays a role in this area. The effort to combat air pollution in Europe is regulated by the Geneva Convention of 1979, and there are specific protocols concerning SO2 pollution, NOx pollution and VOC pollution. Denmark has ratified the Convention and the former two protocols, and is expected to ratify the latter protocol. These three protocols have not been particularly expensive for Denmark because the reductions we are obliged to undertake correspond to those already planned at a national level. In addition, a new protocol on SO2 pollution based on the levels that can be tolerated by nature was signed in 1994; according to this protocol, Denmark binds itself to reduce SO2 by 80% with respect to the 1980 level by the year 2000. In order to comply it will be necessary to implement new measures to reduce SO2 emissions not only from power stations, but also from other sources.

The effort to combat thinning of the ozone layer, which is a global problem, is regulated by the Vienna Convention of 1985 and subsequent protocols; these too have been ratified by Denmark.

The problem of CO2 and the greenhouse effect is dealt with by the Climate Convention of 1992, which has been ratified by Denmark. The Convention’s criterion that CO2 emissions be stabilized at the 1990 level is not expected to give rise to any difficulties for Denmark.

Certain international conventions, e.g. the Basel Convention of 1989, become binding for Denmark by being incorporated in EC law. It is open to discussion whether the individual Member States still have the right to act independently at Convention meetings. Denmark is of the opinion that they can, whereas the Commission is of the opinion that it has the right to act on behalf of all Member States. A specific dispute in 1995 on the putting forward of a proposal to completely ban the export of hazardous waste to developing countries was resolved in the following way: The Commission agreed to put forward the proposal at the next Convention meeting and in return Denmark agreed not to put forward the proposal independently.

In addition to the treaty obligations mentioned above, Denmark has also entered into agreements with neighbouring countries. However, as these do not play a very great everyday role, I will not go into them further.