The Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning will continue the consistent and ambitious implementation of the Green Deal agenda and pursue the targets set by the Trio (alongside Germany and Portugal), particularly on climate change, biodiversity and circular economy.

Minister Vizjak stressed that Slovenia will continue to pursue the objective of maintaining the EU's leading role on the international level in the fight against climate change and for biodiversity. To this end, the Slovenian Presidency will host an informal meeting of environment ministers on 20 and 21 July to initiate an exchange of views on the Fit for 55 climate and energy legislative package published by the Commission today, starting a political discussion on the issue. It is an important package that includes environmental and other policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels. "We will ensure a coherent and comprehensive consideration of specific dossiers by all relevant working parties and Council configurations," said Minister Vizjak.

Leading the discussion on the Fit for 55 package will be one of the main priorities for the Slovenian Presidency, as will the challenging negotiations at the COP26 in Glasgow, where we will endeavour to ensure that the EU delivers a strong message to the international community.

As a country with a rich natural world and the largest share of Natura 2000 areas in the EU, Slovenia will do its best to keep biodiversity high on the agenda. In accordance with our vision of living in harmony with nature, we will strive for the regeneration, resilience and appropriate protection of ecosystems across the world by 2050. The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is set to begin in October in China, with the aim of setting new global biodiversity targets and strengthening their implementation. "I assure you that the EU will continue to call for urgent action and assume a leading role in protecting and regenerating the natural world both on the local and global level," said Minister Vizjak.

In the area of circular economy, Slovenia will continue to consider the proposal for a regulation on batteries and waste batteries, which is an example of a comprehensive approach to the complete life-cycle of a product. "A lot of time and effort will be devoted to the further consideration of this dossier in the coming months, and we will try to find solutions to the key open questions," the Minister emphasised.

Finally, the Minister thanked the ENVI Committee members, saying that he was looking forward to an excellent cooperation as the European Parliament had a very important role to play in achieving the set goals.