LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - A major environmental protection move in the European Union passed a first hurdle when environment ministers agreed on a general directive to make polluters pay heavily for the damage they inflict.

"We reached an agreement on the fundamental questions but there are still technical issues to be worked out," Vasso Papandreou, minister for current EU president Greece, told a press conference.

The ministers' directive deals with nuclear pollution and pollution of EU waters, including offshore oil spills, as well as specific sectors like the disposal of heavy metals, trash dumps and incineration plants and factories where toxic chemicals are produced.


View: Full Article | Source: Yahoo News

That's good news! Especially if they really enforce it!!
(That insurance will protect the criminals won't it?)

Governments should always be trying to enforce a Polluter Pays Principle. However there are obvious drawbacks to any such scheme. It is hard to accurately measure and quantify the environmental costs of production, and also third parties that are suffering directly from the polluters may not be compensated.

At least this is a step in the right direction I guess.