Government Barometer 2014
EU Government Barometer on Illegal logging and Trade - 2014 The EU Government Barometer is a WWF assessment of EU member states' efforts to tackle illegal logging. This 2014 survey is their sixth edition of the barometer, and it assesses each country's progress on the following issues:
- EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) – the legal framework put in place to implement the EUTR
- Actions taken and resources used to enforce the EUTR
- Cooperation among government departments, and with other EU member states, in implementing laws to stop illegal trade of timber products (mainly the EUTR & FLEGT)
- Implementation of the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation, which encourages import of licensed timber from countries that have negotiated a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the EU
- Governments’ contributions to voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs)
- Awareness of the VPA process’s progress, and how they used this information
- Green public procurement – what policies have been adopted, and how strong are they?
- Proof of effectiveness/compliance with national policies on public procurement.
The 2014 barometer was carried out in all 28 EU member states - along with Switzerland - who decided to take part in the survey too. The maximum overall score that could be achieved by any country is 16.
Just Forests coordinated the assessment in Ireland on behalf of WWK-UK
Country Scores
Ireland
Ireland’s score in 2014 has dropped sharply since the 2012 barometer, and it now has one of the lowest scores in the EU. National legislation has been developed for the EUTR, and was awaiting signature of the minister and attorney general as of late April 2014, but no details were provided about the contents or the penalties that will be available. The competent authority (CA) appears to be inactive and currently lacking powers, though it has made some efforts to communicate on the EUTR to operators. No evidence was provided to indicate that any coordination is taking place between the CA and other relevant departments and agencies. Specific legislation to implement the FLEGT Regulation has been drafted but is not yet in force, and no timeline for this was given.
The CA has formed a relationship with customs but, in the absence of legal powers, activities are minor. Ireland is not engaged in the VPA process. Ireland’s first Green Public Procurement (GPP) action plan, Green Tenders, was launched in January 2012. The government has established an Office of Government Procurement (OGP) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, whose role is to procure on behalf of all departments/agencies as well as setting and implementing policy on all aspects of procurement – including rules regarding the inclusion of environmental criteria in the EU procurement legislation.
No evidence was provided to suggest that the policy has so far been effective or implemented at any level of government.
Other EU Country Scores: The following graph displays the overall result achieved by each of the EU countries:
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