Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and controlOfficial Journal L 257 , 10/10/1996 P. 0026 - 0040 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130s (1) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),1. Whereas the objectives and principles of the Community's environment policy, as set out in Article 130r of the Treaty, consist in particular of preventing, reducing and as far as possible eliminating pollution by giving priority to intervention at source and ensuring prudent management of natural resources, in compliance with the 'polluter pays` principle and the principle of pollution prevention; 2. Whereas the Fifth Environmental Action Programme, the broad outline of which wa...