And, turning to Scotland and the Scottish Government’s own Zero Waste agenda – which include targets that surpass those set by the EU – the minister remarked: “they need to take responsibility for that and say it’s us, not Europe”.
The minister was speaking at the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry in London yesterday (20 January) into the impact of EU environmental legislation on UK law.
Mr Stewart went on to praise the relationship between the UK and the EU, reiterating Number 10’s position that he supports its continued membership as long as there is fruitful negotiation.
Commission
Commenting on his own meetings with European Commissioner for the Environment Karmenu Vella, he added Defra was “very comfortable” with the directives from Brussels as long as they did not discredit “good environmental practice”.
The minister said: “My sense is Commissioner Vella has been very open with us. I think many European states would like the UK to remain part of the EU. I have felt that dealing with him there had been quite a lot of flexibility and openness. There is currently a sense that the Commission seems to falling over backwards to be reasonable and that’s a good thing.”
“There is a creative difference in the EU’s relationship with the UK. One of the bizarre things about the Environment Council is it does feel like a bubble, it’s very difficult to feel the bigger Europe debates,” he continued.
Mr Stewart was also asked if Defra had a ‘Plan B’ to protect environmental policy in the scenario that Britain leaves the EU.
He added: “The answer is bland. As a Department we already know which bits of our environmental policy is related to Europe but in that hypothetical case it would be a long tortuous negotiation.”
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