This report provides an analysis of the so-called ‘Cardiff process’, wherein formations of the Council of Ministers of the European Union have been required to develop strategies to integrate environmental concerns into their activities. The European Council has called on three ‘waves’ of Council formations to develop such strategies, as follows:

• First wave - Agriculture, Energy and Transport;
• Second wave - Development, Industry and Internal Market;
• Third wave – Ecofin, General Affairs (or GAC) and Fisheries.

The upcoming Göteborg Summit in June 2001 will review the results to date of this process, and decide what (if any) course of future action is required. This report is intended as an input to the decisions which must now be made. It both examines progress to date and sets out and evaluates a range of options for carrying forward the Cardiff process.

• The EU Council Integration Strategies: The Future of the Cardiff Process PDF 224 KB