Europeans want EU to set environment laws

A new survey has found that the majority of Europe’s citizens want environmental laws to be set in Brussels rather than being left for member states to decide.

The survey was undertaken by Eurobarometer, the EU’s own pollster group It found that more than two thirds of those polled believed that environmental laws would be more effective if they were set by the EU rather than by national governments.

The survey also asked respondents about their biggest environmental fears. Climate change came top, followed by pollution, human-caused disasters, and dangerous chemicals in consumer products.

Nearly three quarters claimed that they would be willing to spend more on a product if they knew if was environmentally friendly.

Stavos Dimas, the EU’s Environment Commissioner, said of the results: “Most Europeans say that the European Union should do more for the environment and that decisions on the environment are best made at European level.

“An overwhelming majority of Europeans see harmonised European environmental legislation as necessary, and believe that the EU should help other countries improve their environmental standards.”