European Community (EC)

The EC is made up of 12 member states at present: Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Britain. This is the order in which they take the chair of the European Council, the governing body of the EC. Under the Single European Act 1987 the aim of the EC is to work towards European unity.

The EC is home to 340 million people. About 80 per cent of the combined territory is agricultural, 15 per cent is urbanised. The average population density of 139 persons per square kilometre hides very wide variations, from less than 20 to over 700 per square kilometre. The proportion of urban to rural population shows similar differences; for example, 97 per cent of the Belgian population is urban, but only 32 per cent of the Portuguese is urban. The economic structure of the EC shows equally important variations, and marked differences in gross domestic product (GDP) per head with significant regional differences (Commission of the European Communities, 1992a).

The EC has recognised that environmental concerns are a priority inseparable from most other policy areas; the EC has thus come to adopt a broad approach to environmental policy formulation within the EC, complemented by reflection and action on global issues. The first EC environment program was adopted in 1973, shortly after the UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm (1972).