jump to content of this page Bized logo linked to homepage
You are here: Home > Educators > Business Studies > External Influences > The EU: Its Role in Environmental and Social Policy

Educators

Advanced

The EU: Its Role in Environmental and Social Policy

This resource is designed specifically for Units 26 and 29 of the Edexcel BTEC National qualification, 'Business Ethics' and 'Business and Markets'.

Aim:

The aim of this resource is to enhance your understanding of how European Union policy influences business activity. By the end, you should be able to:

  • Identify the role of the EU in influencing business activity
  • Understand the way in which EU policy is developed and enforced
  • Identify the reasons for EU involvement
  • Research into the application of EU policy in two areas

Resources:

Activity:

In the PowerPoint Presentation we referred to a Biz/ed resource on the enlargement of the EU(http://www.bized.co.uk/current/research/2003_04/010304.htm). In this Activity, we'll focus on two areas of EU activity:

  • The use of landfill as a way of dealing with recyclable household waste
  • The adoption by the UK of the EU's Working Time Directive

Using Landfill to Get Rid of Plastic Waste

Background:

A pile of plastic bottles

Image copyright: Byron McTaggart, stock.xchng

  • On average, every UK household uses 440 plastic bottles each year, of which just 24 are recycled
  • The UK used 24.65 million plastic bottles per day in 2003
  • 9.1 billion plastic bottles were disposed of in 2003
  • 486 million plastic bottles were recycled in 2003 (24,300 tonnes)
  • 5.5% of household plastic bottles are currently recycled
  • The energy saved from recycling one plastic bottle could power a 60 Watt lightbulb for up to six hours

Source: Recoup Recycling (http://www.recoup.org/business/default.asp)

The Legislation:

The European Council's Directive (1999) states:

"Member States must ensure that existing landfill sites may not continue to operate unless they comply with the provisions of the Directive as soon as possible. Member States must report to the Commission every three years on the implementation of the Directive. On the basis of these reports, the Commission must publish a Community report on the implementation of the Directive."

The EU's Europa site has more on the Landfill Directive. (http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/landfill_index.htm)

This led to the Landfill (England & Wales) Regulations 2002 being brought into force in the UK. This, in turn, was implemented through the Government's Waste Strategy 2000:

  • Landfill Regulations require a reduction in the quantity of biodegradable and recyclable household waste being disposed of via landfill.
  • Local councils are required to increase recycling and composting of household waste to meet rising targets over a number of years. How they achieve this is their responsibility.
  • Recycling/composting targets (2005: 25%, 2010: 30%, 2015: 33%)

Task 1: How Green is Your Council?

Is your local council promoting plastics recycling through this scheme? Find out via the Recoup Recycling Web site(http://www.recoup.org/business/default.asp) - use the left hand navigation to go to 'About Recoup', then go to the 'Our Members' page to find out about your local council.


Social Policy: Investigating the EU's Social Policy Agenda

Task 2: How Well is the EU Doing?

You want to find out what progress is being made to making Europe a better place to live and work. You are especially interested in unemployment and poverty levels. These were identified as being a problem area in 2000. Find out about how the EU views the progress it has made by going to its scoreboard of achievement of the Social Policy goals, published in March 2004, available in the EU Social Policy Agenda 2004 update(http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/social_policy_agenda/com_2004_137_en.pdf) [PDF, 206 KB]. See page 4, on the social situation of this report for details.

The original objectives were set out in the Social Agenda of June 2000(http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/social_policy_agenda/com379_en.pdf) [PDF, 137 KB]. See page 11, section 2.3 of this report for details of the social situation.


Task 3: Long Hours Work Culture in the UK

Go to Biz/ed's Business Profiles(http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/business_profiles.htm). Find the TUC's profile and find links to a key area of their work: the 'It's About Time' campaign. This page contains information and links about this campaign. It gives you the chance to research into the two opposing views on the EU's Working Time directive.

Working in small groups, take one of the two sides of the debate: either the TUC or the CBI, and draw up a list of arguments in favour of your viewpoints. Carry out a role play with a group representing the opposite view. Write up the findings of your research and a short account of the role play.