Environmental Technologies and Eco-innovation in the Czech ...

the 2002–2012 period. In 2007, its validity was confirmed until 2012 based on its
continuous assessment.
The 6 th EAP lays out 4 key priorities in the areas of climate change; nature and
biological diversity; environmental human health and quality of life; natural
resources and waste.
The strategic approaches to reaching the environmental goals of the 6 th EAP
explicitly contain support for sustainable production and consumption patterns
and improving cooperation and partnership between companies with the goal
of focusing on sustainable production patterns. This mainly includes support of
an integrated product policy that reflects environmental protection requirements
throughout the entire life cycle of products, support of the expansion and utilization
of environmentally friendly production processes (technologies) and products and
the stimulation of product innovation from the perspective of their environmental
impact. Among other steps, the goals and priority areas related to reducing climate
change explicitly impacts the support for energy efficiency and the introduction of
environmentally efficient methods and technologies in industrial production.
A desirable effect that the implementation of the 6 th EAP has and that contributes to
fulfilling the concept of sustainable development is the creation of new jobs – green
jobs 2 .
The mid-term review of the implementation of the 6 th EAP in 2007 showed that it
contributed to the development of the environmental technology sector (eco-industry),
which is responsible for 2.2% of the GDP in the EU and employs 3.4 million people.
The integration of environmental concerns into corporate strategies fosters
productivity and the innovation potential of companies and creates new market
opportunities (e.g. green public procurement 3 ). Environmental protection also requires
coordinated interdisciplinary research and development focusing on innovations, which
was one of the main impulses for the creation of the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology.
The recommendations for the future of EU environmental policy imply: “The
Commission and the member states need to continue supporting eco-innovations and
environmental technologies because industry can substantially contribute to solving
environmental problems. The tool will be a full implementation of the Environmental
2 green jobs – employment opportunities in the agriculture, industry, research and development, services and administration
sectors that significantly contribute to the protection and restoration of the environment; in particular, they are jobs created
in order to protect and rejuvenate eco-systems and biodiversity, to lower the consumption of energy, water and other
resources by increasing efficiency and savings, to decrease the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, to
prevent and to reduce all kinds of waste and pollution
3 green public procurement – environmentally friendly public procurement (governmental and public administration bodies
preferably purchasing environmentally friendly products and services)