Stahl, Bresso, Nilsson, Westlake

At midday the Presidents of the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, Mercedes Bresso and Staffan Nilsson, accompanied by their respective Secretaries-General, Gerhard Stahl and myself, jointly signed the Committees’ environmental policy. Through the declaration the two Committees have commited themselves to further reductions in their impact on the environment, in line with the European Union’s overall commitment to this goal. The declaration is a joint one because most of the reductions we can make are in areas governed by our unique arrangement in pooling our resources in joint services. Some important reductions have already been achieved. for example, the Committees reduced their gas consumption by 30% in the 2008-10 period, and electricity by 10% in the same period. We believe further progress can be made and so today we solemnly committed ourselves and our institutions to continue with our efforts.