THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND WASTE MANAGEMENT – PRIORITY AREA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The concernment for environment has reached a distinct character in the context of accelerate diminution of natural resources, quickly deterioration of water, air and soil quality. In the last decades the EU environmental policy has evolved from a group of measures preponderant technicals, regarding pollution limitation, to measures that identifies causes, institutes financial responsibilities for the damage. At the base of environmental policy in the European Union there are the Environment Action Programmes. The Sixth Environment Action Programme of the European Community 2002-2012 identifies four priority areas, and outlines actions that need to be taken to achieve them: climate change, nature and biodiversity, environment and health, natural resources and waste. The paper aims to treat aspects dealing with priority area "natural resources and waste" such as: the sustainable use of natural resources, waste prevention and their impact upon the environment, decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation, the indicators to measure decoupling. The end of the paper presents the stage of approach of this priority area in Romania.