Statement by State Minister Dr. Werner Schnappauf
Visit by US Governor T. Thompson
Monday, December 1, 1998

Bavarian state Ministry for Regional Development and Environmental Affairs
The Spoken word is applicable

Ladies and Gentlemen,

May I wish you a very warm welcome to Bavaria. We are very pleased to be able to extend a welcome to the Governor of that State, which an old and, at the same time, a young and close friendship unites with Germany and Bavaria.

Wisconsin and Bavaria both have their own history, their own landscapes, their own people, and yet there is still so much that unites them today.

Wisconsin is roughly twice as large as Bavaria. Bavaria, on the other hand, has twice as many inhabitants.

Wisconsin lies in the north of the United States. In Germany, Bavaria really is the "Southern State".

This year, Wisconsin proudly celebrated its 150th anniversary. Let me warmly congratulate you on this jubilee. It is only 127 years since Bavaria joined Germany. Up to now, we have never celebrated this; for us, "Independence Day" would be better reason for a celebration, especially since the last federal elections.

When it comes to motorcycles, our outlook on life is also different. The Governor of Wisconsin celebrates the 150th anniversary of his State on a Harley-Davidson. On such an occasion, the only cycle the Bavarian Minister President could consider riding on would be a BMW.

But the name BMW also brings us to the more important side of the topics uniting us.

The letters "BMW" rank high in this respect and alongside them the words "environmental protection".

Environmental protection in a spirit of partnership

Wisconsin and Bavaria are both rightly proud to play a leading role in protecting the environment in the USA and the Federal Republic of Germany. The policies of the two states have for years focused on conservation of the air and waters as well as protection of nature and the countryside - and with great success too. You, dear Mr. Governor, are the guarantee of this.

Like Bavaria, Wisconsin believes that the goals of ecological protection and economic progress can only be accomplished by joining forces. Economic development at the expense of nature is not possible in the long term, but environmental protection at the expense of industry robs it of its economic, technical and human resources

These policies of our two States were endorsed in the resolutions and guiding principles of the great Environmental Conference of Rio in 1992. In the modem approach to environmental protection, the new guiding principle of sustainable development stresses the inseparable link between protection of the environment, economic progress and social welfare. These goals can only be achieved through combined efforts.

A partnership approach to the goals requires a spirit of partnership between the actors. Modem protection of the environment cannot be rigidly confined in the system of command and control. Adherence to the law on the part of industry is the necessary foundation. But future-oriented environmental protection needs more. It must rely on industry taking the initiative itself and assuming direct responsibility; it must stimulate and reward industry. Agenda 21 of the Conference of Rio therefore assigns a key role to corporate environmental management in the context of sustainable development.

The European Union has created an original European model for cooperation between the state and industry with its EC Eco-Audit Regulation (EMAS). It replaces outside control from above with voluntary self-regulation of industry. More and more companies in Bavaria are now participating in this project: every one in five EMAS-audited location in Germany and every one in six in Europe is in Bavaria. Bavaria is playing a pioneer role.

We are placing our trust in industry assuming direct responsibility. Corporate environmental management can make state supervision and control superfluous. By introducing the "Environmental Pact of Bavaria", we have therefore in Bavaria set ourselves the goal of easing bureaucratic constraints for businesses that have introduced a corporate environmental management system. In a number of pilot projects we have found that under the right basic conditions corporate and state control can be equally effective and pursue the same goals. The projects have demonstrated that EMAS fully deserves the name "Compliance audit".

Conclusion of the "Memorandum of Understanding"

The globalization of industry implies that the standards and instruments of environmental policies should also be globalized. Only by joining forces ran we follow the road towards sustainable development. We should exchange our experiences and coordinate our efforts with our friends in the United States of America in particular. This is what we want to achieve with the present "Memorandum of Understanding".

In the longer term, it will be a matter of improving the basic legal framework. The current draft revision of EMAS therefore proposes combining the European instrument of environmental management with the world-wide system of environmental management in compliance with ISO 14000. The integration of environmental management systems with work safety management systems (occupational health and risk systems) is also being intensively discussed.

But these considerations must first be supplemented and covered by practical tests and the reciprocal exchange of experience on environmental management systems. This Memorandum of Understanding is to contribute towards achieving this end. Joint projects, in particular in the field of integrated environmental management and scientific cooperation, can help us along our common road.

This common road means: globalization of the knowledge, ability and responsibility of our industry for protecting the environment. And the necessary steps are: a sense of trust as well as cooperation between state and industry in a spirit of partnership. In a world of global industrial networks, we want to build up a global partnership based on free responsibility for the environment.