EU Regional Policy, EU – Baltic States, Latvia

According to the European Commission's report, increased investments are required to put in place infrastructure to improve separate.

waste collection, as the large amount of household waste that is disposed in landfills can keep Latvia from attaining its waste management targets set by the EU.

By fully implementing the EU environmental legislation, the EU economy might save EUR 50 bln in health care and direct environmental protection costs, the authors of the report say.

More than 75% of European citizens find EU environmental legislation necessary for protecting the environment in their country, and nearly 80% agree that the EU institutions should be able to check that environmental legislation is being applied correctly in their country.

Also, full compliance with EU waste policy by 2020 could create an additional 400,000 jobs and an additional annual turnover in the waste management and recycling industries of EUR 42 bln, the European Commission says.

"While there has been progress in many areas and there are local success stories, there are significant gaps in implementation, financing and policy integration. At the current rate of efforts, biodiversity loss would continue in the EU with potentially serious consequences for the capacity of natural ecosystems to provide for human needs in the future," according to the report.