ENVIRONMENT: EU POLICY IS NOT KILLING JOBS, SAYS REPORT.

According to the report, environmental policy can create new demand for environmentally-friendly goods and services, allowing eco-industries to expand their business and take on new workers whereas other firms will employ fewer people as policy shifts demand away from polluting goods and services. The Commission acknowledges that the full impact of environmental policy is difficult to quantify but bases its theory on an analysis performed by the OECD which finds that "available evidence suggests that the net employment effect of environmental policy is slightly positive, albeit limited". The report continues that there is no evidence of jobs "moving" to outside the EU in response to environmental policy over the last five years and that what job losses there are can be accommodated by member states.

Environmental policy shifts resources from polluting products and processes towards environmentally-friendly parts of the economy. The Commission emphasises that member states will need to anticipate and manage the social impacts of this structural shift just as they do for other sectoral shifts. This evolution will be more marked in the new member states and will be most easily tackled if win-win solutions can be found, for example, investment in energy efficiency which could generate jobs, growth and be good for the environment.

The report equally concludes that combined environmental and employment...