Provincie Utrecht
Provincie Utrecht
The provincie of Utrecht is one of the 12 Dutch Provinces being the sub-national level in the Netherlands.
ID: 52022129231-93
Lobbying Activity
Response to Measures to better manage and coordinate international rail traffic to increase the modal share of rail
9 Nov 2023
In de voorliggende verordening capaciteit spoorweginfrastructuur wordt onvoldoende rekening gehouden met de impact die intensief gebruik van het spoor kan hebben op de omgeving, met name vanwege het vervoer van (gevaarlijke) goederen. Ik pleit er daarom voor dat de verordening de lidstaten voldoende ruimte en invloed laat om bij het beschikbaar stellen van capaciteit rekening te houden met veiligheids- en leefbaarheidsaspecten in de omgeving van de spoorinfrastructuur. Enkel zo kan een goede balans gevonden worden tussen de duurzaamheids- en bereikbaarheidsdoelstellingen op het spoor en leefbaarheids- en veiligheidsdoelstellingen rond het spoor (brede welvaart).
Read full responseResponse to Revision of EU Ambient Air Quality legislation
14 Jan 2021
The Commission states that it is unlikely that an implementation plan is needed as the Ambient Air Quality Directive already is in force, and that the implementation structures are already in place within the Members States with the competent authorities appropriately designated.
We would like to state that, besides impact assessments, in our opinion an implementation plan is in fact very important. We’ve seen that the achievement of the current Ambient Air Quality Directives goals is hampered by ineffective implementation efforts and asymmetrical enforcement.
An implementation plan on air quality can put forward a dedicated vision for each specific air quality (pollutant)indicator by setting ambitious targets to be reached in the next years/decade(s) with the overall goal to place Europe in the forefront as an environmentally conscious continent.
An implementation plan will present the activities that will contribute to the implementation of the Air Quality directives for the next period (2025-2030). It will make more clear the delivery of goals.
An implementation plan can facilitate the optimum use of synergies with sector-specific policies such as energy, agriculture and transport, and prevent tensions between sector-specific policies.
An implementation plan will facilitate meetings on how to reach the targets as mentioned within the Air Quality directives.
An implementation working group(s) can develop a working and a reporting methodology, based on indicators, to monitor the progress of actions under the implementation plan and report relevant information into the monitoring systems.
Such a thorough monitoring process ensures that implementation efforts can be assessed and evaluated.
Read full responseResponse to 8th Environment Action Programme
9 Dec 2020
The COVID-19 crisis has underscored the importance of a healthy living environment. Recent developments have shown the need for an ambitious environmental policy that places the health of our citizens and our ecosystems at its core. The context in which the 8th EAP is launched is radically different from previous editions. Through the European Green Deal and all its facets the EU seems to embrace the large environmental challenges touched upon in the 7th EAP. Thus it is important that the 8th EAP functions in a complementary fashion in regards to the policy proposals already made or alluded to by the EC through the Green Deal. Hence the prime objective of the 8th EAP should be to entrench the goals of the Green Deal in a clear regulatory agenda. This regulatory agenda should be focused on achieving results and strengthen the capacity of lower and regional authorities pertaining to these matters.
In line with the previous advice written by CoR-Rapporteur Cor Lamers the Dutch provinces call for an 8th EAP that gives emphasis to the fundamentally multi-faceted and inter-related nature of the environmental challenges we face. Traditional environmental policy-making, no longer accommodates the complexity of the problems we are confronted by. Whilst there must always be a place for clear limit values on pollution it has now become clear that even when these are adhered to there is still much to improve upon. This ‘healthy living’ approach should promoted and implemented through all levels of government. Only by adhering to such a common perspective across all levels of government can policy coherence be safeguarded.
Therefore the 8th EAP should include assistance-mechanisms and stimulate new approaches and innovations in policy-interventions so as to make the striving towards the WHO guidelines on pollution a more realistic endeavour.
The aforementioned integral nature of current day environmental challenges necessitates a wider integration of environmental considerations across other European policy areas. It is of crucial importance that the ambitions stipulated by the 8th EAP resonate across policies such as the CAP. In line with the broadly shared ambition to come out of the COVID-crisis in a more sustainable, environmentally conscious, fashion, the 8th EAP should address the way Next Generation EU funds can be utilized by member states and regional governments to ameliorate both the environmental and economic conditions we find ourselves in. In those instances where said funds cannot be applied to environmental causes the 8th EAP should promote the ‘do no harm’ principle. Only when we regard the economic, social and environmental domains as inter-related and inter-dependant can the EU effectively address the challenges of the 21st century.
It is furthermore of great importance that the 8th EAP enables and empowers regional and local governments to take policy-interventions customized to their unique circumstances. Such an embrace of tailor-made environmental policy needs to go hand in hand with a rigorous multi-level governance structure.
In evaluating the 8th EAP the EP and other stakeholders often touch upon the fact that the ambitions stipulated therein have not always resulted in effective policies. Consequently we call for the 8th EAP to more thoroughly address questions of implementation: which policy interventions have proved effective and perhaps even more importantly how can these policies be financed in a sustainable manner? Such attention for questions of implementation should be complimented by an ambitious monitoring framework.
In conclusion it is imperative that the 8th EAP faces head on the large societal transitions the regional governments are confronted with. The environmental policies of the EU should address the transition away from fossil fuels and towards a more circular economy in general and agriculture specifically in the context of ever-increasing urbanisation and steady population growth.
Read full responseMeeting with Diederik Samsom (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)
8 Oct 2020 · Speech on the European Green Deal at the Online seminar "Utrecht Region Get Connected "