Sweden’s Environmental Minister Kjell Larsson yesterday said that his country — which currently holds the European Union presidency — would push hard during its term to make the E.U.’s regulations on toxic chemicals much tougher. Sweden itself is already taking steps to ban chemicals that accumulate in the body, and Larsson thinks the entire E.U. should adopt such a policy. Earlier in the week, Larsson announced that Sweden would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent below 1990 levels by 2010, even though the Kyoto treaty on climate change allows the country to increase its emissions by 4 percent.
