Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

8 November 2011, Brussels

On 22 September 2011 the European Commission presented its Roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe. This document closely follows the Commission’s Flagship Initiative on resource efficiency, presented in January 2011, calling for a decoupling between economic growth and the use of resources. How realistically can this perspective be achieved in a context of sluggish growth? How determined is the EU to impose serious binding targets on Member States and the different industrial sectors, and will it be ready to implement sanction mechanisms to ensure compliance with such targets? Are binding targets sufficient, or should other devices such as price mechanisms comparable to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) also be contemplated in the field of resource efficiency? What are the measurements and indicators that exist, and how reliable are they? What about the risk of outsourcing the problem of over-consumption of resources outside of the EU, and what would be the impact on European industries’ competitiveness? 

A Citizen's Controversy with Karl Falkenberg, Director General of DG Environment, European Commission, and Claude Turmes, Member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA). 

The debate was moderated by Pierre Defraigne, Executive Director of the Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation. 

  Report