At a first analysis, the existing EU waste legislation, the directive on waste from extractive industries, the upcoming Industrial Emissions Directive replacing the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, the directive on the control of major accident hazards, the so-called Seveso Directive, and the Waste Framework Directive provide a sufficient framework for regulating potentially dangerous industrial activities and managing waste in a way that does not pose risks to human health and the environment.

32. Calls on the Commission to make progress in devising information and education campaigns on the prevention measures agreed with the Member States in order to reduce the risks and consequences of natural disasters, especially in the areas of highest risk, by making the public aware of the need to care for the environment and conserve natural resources; urges the Commission and the Member States to take measures, including measures to raise public awareness, in support of more sustainable use of water, soil and biological resources ...[+++] and better waste management, the absence of which is often the cause of fires;

26. Calls on the Commission to make progress in devising information and education campaigns on the prevention measures agreed with the Member States in order to reduce the risks and consequences of natural disasters, especially in the areas of highest risk, by making the public aware of the need to care for the environment and conserve natural resources; urges the Commission and the Member States to take measures, including measures to raise public awareness, in support of more sustainable use of water, soil and biological resources ...[+++] and better waste management, the absence of which is often the cause of fires;

Identifying diabetes as a public health challenge in Europe and encouraging networking and the exchange of information between Member States with a view to promoting best practices, to enhancing the co-ordination of health promotion and prevention policies and programmes for the whole population and high-risk groups and to reducing inequalities and optimising healthcare resources; Facilitating and supporting European diabetes research in basic and clinical science and ensuring the wide dissemination of the results of this research across Europe; Examining and strengthening the comparability of diabetes epidemiological evidence by consi ...[+++]dering the establishment of standardised outputs for monitoring, surveillance and reporting of diabetes mortality, morbidity and risk factor data across Member States; Reporting on Member States' actions in order to emphasise health determinants, promote healthy lifestyles, national diabetes plans and prevention measures, on the basis of information provided by Member States, assessing the extent to which the proposed measures are working effectively, and considering the need for further action; Continuing the work on the development of a comprehensive approach to health determinants at European level, including a coherent and comprehensive nutrition and physical activity policy, and addressing the impact on public health of the promotion, marketing and presentation, in particular to children, of energy dense foods and sugar-sweetened drinks; Building on the work of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and encouraging the development and implementation of national diabetes prevention programmes and measures; Taking the health determinants and risk factors of diabetes into account across EU policies.

The Commission is concerned that, by not implementing these laws correctly and in time, Member States will face problems such as rising mountains of waste and inadequately controlled waste disposal and recovery activities, thereby creating risks to human health and the environment.

It follows, given the close interdependence between waste management and many industrial and commercial activities, that unless there is a Community strategy for waste mangement the environment may suffer and the completion of the internal market may even be jeopardized as a result of distortions of competition, unwarranted switching of investment or market compartmentalization.