Environment and Climate Change

Among the main topics:

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• The Directive 2010/75/EU, or Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), is the primary EU instrument to control and mitigate environmental and human health impacts from industrial emissions in the EU. It sets out the main principles for the permitting and control of installations based on an integrated approach and the application of best available techniques (BAT). To define BAT and the BAT-associated environmental performance at EU level, there is an exchange of information with experts from Member States, industry and environmental organisations organized by the Commission and co-ordinated by the European IPPC Bureau - EU Joint Research Centre in Seville. This process results in BAT Reference documents (BREFs): BAT conclusions are the reference for setting permit conditions.

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• The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is part of the EU's policy to combat climate change: it is currently the key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively.