1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,200 When it comes to quality of life, Europeans have a major concern, the environment. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:13,800 In April 2005, a Eurobarometer survey looked at the concerns and desires of citizens in the Union's 25 member states. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:19,800 It identified three major worries, water pollution, air pollution and climate change. 4 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:25,400 The survey also shows that Europeans would welcome better application of legislation, 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,900 as well as economic policies which increasingly integrate the environmental dimension. 6 00:00:30,900 --> 00:00:37,900 In each of these areas, which are cross-border by definition, the European Union is taking action. 7 00:00:37,900 --> 00:00:43,900 For more than 30 years, it's been establishing environmental policy and legislation, 8 00:00:43,900 --> 00:00:48,900 which offers the added value that no single member state could supply on its own. 9 00:00:53,900 --> 00:00:56,900 Pollution is the major concern for Europeans. 10 00:00:59,900 --> 00:01:01,900 A picture is worth a thousand words. 11 00:01:01,900 --> 00:01:07,900 This is the pine forest in the Karkonoszy National Park in Poland, which had fallen victim to acid rain. 12 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:14,900 This is the same national park ten years later, with vegetation entirely restored, 13 00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:21,900 thanks to a project aimed at drastically reducing air pollution, notably from sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide. 14 00:01:23,900 --> 00:01:25,900 So how was all this achieved? 15 00:01:26,900 --> 00:01:33,900 The forest is located in what was called the Black Triangle, where Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic meet. 16 00:01:35,900 --> 00:01:39,900 Until the early 90s, it was one of the most polluted areas in Europe. 17 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:41,900 All three countries were affected. 18 00:01:41,900 --> 00:01:43,900 These are pictures from that time. 19 00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:47,900 Factories and enormous coal-fired power stations are working at full capacity, 20 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:50,900 to the detriment of the environment and public health. 21 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:54,900 This is the other side of the border, in the Czech Republic. 22 00:01:55,900 --> 00:02:01,900 In this seriously affected area, air pollution still remains a major concern, as in all the new member states. 23 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:06,900 Doris Andilova knows the Black Triangle well, because she still lives in the region. 24 00:02:06,900 --> 00:02:07,900 She remembers. 25 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:23,900 There was a lot of ash everywhere. 26 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:27,900 It was impossible to breathe, because there was a lot of dirt. 27 00:02:27,900 --> 00:02:31,900 Children could not go outside, because of the fog. 28 00:02:31,900 --> 00:02:35,900 It happened once that we could not see next to the house, 29 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:39,900 and we did not even notice the huge fog and smoke. 30 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:44,900 In 1991, with the prospect of enlargement, 31 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:47,900 the three governments, under the auspices of the European Union, 32 00:02:47,900 --> 00:02:50,900 began a joint action to clean up the region. 33 00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:54,900 The power stations were equipped with desulfurization installations. 34 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:57,900 The mines and chemical factories have been closed down. 35 00:02:57,900 --> 00:03:02,900 Coal-fired domestic heating has been converted to natural gas, which is much cleaner. 36 00:03:04,900 --> 00:03:07,900 Air quality is permanently monitored. 37 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:24,900 Not surprisingly, over 14 years, sulfur dioxide levels have reduced by 93%, 38 00:03:24,900 --> 00:03:29,900 nitrous oxide by 79%, and dust by 97%. 39 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:32,900 The impact of Europe's action in the area is undeniable. 40 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:35,900 The Black Triangle has changed color. 41 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:41,900 After pollution, it's climate change that concerns Europeans most. 42 00:03:47,900 --> 00:03:51,900 The Arctic Ocean is a region which is essential in keeping our climate balanced. 43 00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:59,900 In 2002, Belgian explorer Alain Hubert set out on a 2,400 km expedition to cross this ocean of ice, 44 00:03:59,900 --> 00:04:02,900 which he had to abandon after 68 days. 45 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:05,900 Why? The quality of the ice. 46 00:04:05,900 --> 00:04:09,900 As these pictures show, it was giving way completely and becoming water. 47 00:04:09,900 --> 00:04:12,900 On average, the ice is no more than 1,50 m thick, 48 00:04:12,900 --> 00:04:19,900 whereas a century ago, Norwegian explorer Fritjof Nansen recorded thicknesses of 5 to 6 m. 49 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:24,900 The term global warming really takes on its true meaning in the Arctic Ocean. 50 00:04:43,900 --> 00:04:47,900 Today, Alain Hubert is the president of the International Polar Foundation, 51 00:04:47,900 --> 00:04:50,900 which will soon move into these offices in Brussels. 52 00:04:50,900 --> 00:04:55,900 He believes that Europe is pursuing the right strategy to counter this extremely rapid climate change, 53 00:04:55,900 --> 00:04:59,900 caused notably by carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. 54 00:05:01,900 --> 00:05:05,900 The Arctic Ocean is a region which is essential in keeping our climate balanced. 55 00:05:05,900 --> 00:05:10,900 The Arctic Ocean is a region which is essential in keeping our climate balanced. 56 00:05:10,900 --> 00:05:13,900 The Arctic Ocean is a region which is essential in keeping our climate balanced. 57 00:05:13,900 --> 00:05:16,900 I believe that Europe has a unique role in this matter. 58 00:05:16,900 --> 00:05:25,900 Its will to bring an end to the Kyoto Protocol, which was signed in February, is historic. 59 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:31,900 Because by doing so, it places the environment at the centre of the economic development of the future. 60 00:05:31,900 --> 00:05:35,900 And that is the only key to being able to move forward tomorrow. 61 00:05:35,900 --> 00:05:39,900 First of all, it is a vision, an international agreement. 62 00:05:39,900 --> 00:05:42,900 And God knows if it is difficult to obtain. 63 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:45,900 And Kyoto, we know, not everyone participates. 64 00:05:45,900 --> 00:05:51,900 So it is truly an initiative that comes from our industrialised countries, 65 00:05:51,900 --> 00:05:58,900 because we have this awareness, because we have this capacity as Europeans to anticipate. 66 00:05:58,900 --> 00:06:03,900 On his scientific expeditions, Alain Hubert sees the effect of climate change first-hand. 67 00:06:03,900 --> 00:06:05,900 And these pictures are evidence. 68 00:06:05,900 --> 00:06:08,900 The Arctic ice is becoming softer and softer. 69 00:06:08,900 --> 00:06:14,900 As an explorer, Hubert is really in a good position to measure the importance of large-scale environmental action, 70 00:06:14,900 --> 00:06:18,900 such as that undertaken by the European Union, on the international scene. 71 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:20,900 He will soon be off to the Antarctic. 72 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:26,900 Nearly one European in two expresses a desire to see environmental legislation better applied. 73 00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:32,900 It is possible for each European citizen to change the environmental stakes in his or her own country. 74 00:06:32,900 --> 00:06:35,900 This has been proven in Ireland, on the Coulee Peninsula. 75 00:06:35,900 --> 00:06:38,900 Over there on the horizon is the small village of Greenor. 76 00:06:38,900 --> 00:06:44,900 It is one of the 12 places from where the European Commission has received complaints about waste management. 77 00:06:44,900 --> 00:06:46,900 James Larkin is one of the protesters. 78 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:50,900 The problem? Two illegal dumps next to the harbour. 79 00:06:50,900 --> 00:06:53,900 After a long struggle, the news has just come in. 80 00:06:53,900 --> 00:07:01,900 The European Court of Justice has found Ireland guilty of persistent general violation of the waste directive at all 12 sites. 81 00:07:01,900 --> 00:07:07,900 The court's decision was delivered a few days ago, on April 26, 2005. 82 00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:12,900 It's a victory for me and for, I suppose, the environment in general. 83 00:07:12,900 --> 00:07:14,900 I always knew it was a dump site. 84 00:07:14,900 --> 00:07:20,900 Our authorities in Ireland felt it wasn't, and basically what this is is an independent judgment to say, 85 00:07:20,900 --> 00:07:23,900 yes, the evidence suggests this is a dump site. 86 00:07:23,900 --> 00:07:26,900 Alongside the harbour is Greenor Beach. 87 00:07:26,900 --> 00:07:28,900 This is what it's all about. 88 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:35,900 This is how the beach in Greenor has looked for hundreds of years, a gently sloping beach down to the sea. 89 00:07:35,900 --> 00:07:45,900 And here behind me is the result of years of dumping by a private company onto what is a public beach. 90 00:07:45,900 --> 00:07:56,900 It was a naturally sloping beach, a great place for anglers and well used for fishermen, until this dumping started in around about 1990. 91 00:07:59,900 --> 00:08:03,900 This construction materials dump continued to operate until 1997, 92 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:09,900 when James' association, Tidy Tunes, took its complaint to the European Commission. 93 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:14,900 After several warnings, the commission brought the case to the European Court of Justice. 94 00:08:14,900 --> 00:08:22,900 14,000 cubic metres of concrete and gravel are still here, and at a second site at the other end of the harbour. 95 00:08:23,900 --> 00:08:29,900 It's a protected zone, a shellfish designated area, and a national heritage site. 96 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:34,900 But the company running the dump has never been bothered by the Irish authorities. 97 00:08:34,900 --> 00:08:42,900 The Court of Justice has now ruled against the situation, and there's new hope of cleaning up and rehabilitating these sites. 98 00:08:42,900 --> 00:08:45,900 The judgment is very positive, yes. 99 00:08:45,900 --> 00:08:50,900 It basically shows what the power of one can do. 100 00:08:51,900 --> 00:08:55,900 We took it to Europe, we won the case. 101 00:08:56,900 --> 00:09:00,900 For James, Europe clearly brings added value at the environmental level. 102 00:09:00,900 --> 00:09:03,900 The judgment has double significance for him. 103 00:09:03,900 --> 00:09:07,900 The first benefit is that the two days after the court judgment, 104 00:09:07,900 --> 00:09:15,900 the Minister for the Environment in Ireland issued a diktat to his councils not to allow this type of dumping in the future. 105 00:09:15,900 --> 00:09:24,900 The second one is that even if the Irish authorities are not in a position to reply to your correspondence or deal with the problem, 106 00:09:24,900 --> 00:09:27,900 there is another avenue through the European Court of Justice. 107 00:09:27,900 --> 00:09:35,900 A double lesson that he shares with the other complainants, citizens' associations and NGOs whom Europe has judged to be in the right. 108 00:09:37,900 --> 00:09:43,900 Another lesson, for the vast majority of Europeans, the environment is above all a driver of innovation. 109 00:09:44,900 --> 00:09:50,900 Gorinja is the domestic appliance brand in Slovenia, producing ovens, refrigerators and washing machines, 110 00:09:50,900 --> 00:09:55,900 whose electrical components are traditionally synonymous with substances that are dangerous for the environment. 111 00:09:56,900 --> 00:10:04,900 Gorinja produces 3 million appliances a year and sells them not only in Slovenia, but also in 21 other countries in Europe as well as in Russia. 112 00:10:05,900 --> 00:10:11,900 In 2004, turnover increased by 8.8% and profits by 3.5%. 113 00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:16,900 In short, the business is doing well, despite the difficulties this sector is facing internationally. 114 00:10:28,900 --> 00:10:33,900 This is what Gorinja is doing by offering its customers not only environmentally friendly products, 115 00:10:33,900 --> 00:10:37,900 but also by producing their domestic appliances in an ecological way. 116 00:10:38,900 --> 00:10:42,900 Gorinja has adapted its production process to satisfy European legislation, 117 00:10:42,900 --> 00:10:46,900 which is becoming increasingly strict in terms of environmental standards. 118 00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:13,900 Today, 80% of environmental legislation applied in the Member States is European. 119 00:11:14,900 --> 00:11:18,900 The increase in the level of environmental protection and the introduction of strict norms 120 00:11:18,900 --> 00:11:23,900 results in a general improvement in the quality of the lives of all Europe's citizens. 121 00:11:37,900 --> 00:11:42,900 www.gorinjaproductions.eu