In a very brief Expert Level Meeting (ELM) held in Madrid, Spain on 2 July 2015, delegates of FOREST EUROPE signatory countries and the European Union gave their formal approval to the decision to be presented at the FOREST EUROPE Extraordinary Ministerial Conference, which will receive the results of the work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe.
At this ELM, delegates formally backed the presentation of a text that had been drafted during a Drafting Meeting held in Madrid on 23-24 March 2015. This Expert Level Meeting represented the final formal milestone in the preparations for the FOREST EUROPE Extraordinary Ministerial Conference.
The draft decision approved at the ELM recognises that the draft negotiating text resulting from the negotiation process that was launched at the 6th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference, should serve as a basis for potential further consideration of an LBA in the future. It also establishes a commitment to explore possible ways to find common ground on the LBA by 2020 at the latest.
In establishing such a deadline, the FOREST EUROPE signatories show their willingness to reach a future agreement that could strengthen the implementation of a coherent forest policy in the pan-European region, as well as the sustainable management of its forests. The decision demonstrates the countries’ interest in continuing to work on solving pending issues in the negotiations carried out thus far.
The decision is expected to be adopted by the ministers responsible for forests at the forthcoming FOREST EUROPE Extraordinary Ministerial Conference, which will take place on 21 October 2015 in Madrid, Spain.
More information about the Expert Level Meeting held in Madrid can be found at this link: http://www.foresteurope.org/events/expert-level-meeting-preparations-extraordinary-ministerial-conference-0