Brussels, 1 July 2009 – Today, BirdLife International [1] presented its five top priorities for the Swedish EU Presidency, that starts today. Launching its restyled biannual publication ‘Greening Europe’ [2], BirdLife asks the Swedish government for strong leadership in difficult times – where a global environmental and economic crisis meets the institutional limbo of the European Union.

The five BirdLife keys to a successful Swedish Presidency are:

- Ensure Europe and the world set sail towards an ambitious and effective new biodiversity policy after 2010

- Secure the EU is in the driving seat for a successful Copenhagen deal on climate change

- Set the foundations for a reformed Agricultural Policy that delivers public goods

- Put the environment at the heart of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy

- Be a firm voice for sustainability when addressing the economic crisis with public funds

“Sweden has always been at the forefront of the European environmental policy. We really hope that this Presidency will lead the way out of the current crisis, by showing how inseparably linked economic and environmental problems are. There is no bail-out for the planet, we have to act now and finally take sustainability seriously”, stated Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager at BirdLife International European Division.

“In six months’ time BirdLife will assess how the Swedish government has used its Presidency to make the most out of these five keys” concluded Konstantin Kreiser.

For more information, please contact:

Herlinde Herpoel, Media & Communication Manager at BirdLife International -
+32 (0)494542844, herlinde.herpoel@birdlife.org

Notes for the editor

[1] BirdLife International is a global Partnership of nature conservation organisations working in more than 100 countries and territories. BirdLife is the leading authority on the status of birds, their habitats and the problems affecting them, and is working on a wide range of environmental issues. For more information about the work of the BirdLife European Division: http://europe.birdlife.org

[2] The publication “Greening Europe” is issued by BirdLife’s European Division in Brussels in cooperation with SOF (BirdLife in Sweden) (www.sofnet.org). It outlines the main requests of BirdLife to the Swedish EU Presidency, in the fields of biodiversity, agriculture, climate, fisheries and EU budget. It can be downloaded at www.birdlife.org/eu/pdfs/GreeningEurope_Swedish_Presidency_July_December_2...

Herlinde Herpoel
Media & Communication Manager
BirdLife International | European Division
Avenue de la Toison d’Or 67 | B – 1060 Brussels
Tel: +32(0)2 541 07 82 (Direct) | Mob: +32(0)494 542 844
Email: herlinde.herpoel@birdlife.org | Web: http://europe.birdlife.org