To date, the EU’s environmental action programmes have effectively had two main purposes: They suggest specific proposals for legislation that the Commission intends to put forward over the next few years; and they provide an occasion to discuss some broad ideas in environmental policy and suggest new directions for the future. The first five action programmes (see Figure 2.1.3), were merely political statements of intent. However, as a result of the Maastricht Treaty (1992), the Sixth Environment Action Programme (6EAP) takes the form of a Decision, adopted jointly by the Council and the European Parliament under the ‘co-decision’ procedure (see section 2.6)2. Proposed by the Commission in January 2001, and adopted in July 2002, it is the result of a formal inter-institutional decision-making process embodying a commitment of all three institutions.

Unlike previous programmes, the 6EAP takes a thematic and 'strategic' approach to environmental issues. It contains no new targets and timetables, and few direct references to specific legislative proposals. Instead, it provides for details to be set out in seven Thematic Strategies covering: soil; the marine environment; pesticides; air quality; the urban environment; the sustainable use of natural resources; and waste prevention and recycling. These Thematic Strategies, which were elaborated during the period 2002-2006, mark a different approach to the development of EU environmental policy, but it remains to be seen how effective they will be, and how they will be implemented in practice. For more details about the 6EAP and the Thematic Strategies see section 2.7.