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July 1998 |
European nations sign agreement on environmental information
Environment ministers from thirty-five nations, including many from central and eastern Europe, signed a United Nations convention on public participation in environmental matters. The convention, adopted at the UN Economic Commission for Europe's "Environment for Europe" meetings in Aarhus, Denmark ending on 25 June, commits signatories to broaden public involvement in environmental decision-making. The agreement guarantees public access to most government-held environmental information, expands opportunities for public involvement in environmental and natural resource decisions, and promises access to justice in environmental matters. Notably absent from the signing were the United States, Russia, Canada, and Germany, whose governments said they supported the aim of the treaty but had technical problems with it. Signatories from the east European region included: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
Environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from across the region were heavily involved in the negotiation of the convention, and the agreement is aimed at strengthening the hand of such groups in the transition economies. Delegates were concerned about treaty implementation in parts of eastern Europe and see NGOs as potential tools for change.
Also signed at the meetings were two new protocols limiting heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. The first accord requires signatories to cut emissions of lead, cadmium and mercury to below 1990 levels and to phase out leaded gasoline. The accord on organic pollutants will ban a number of pesticides, limit and eventually phase out several others including DDT, and limit emissions of dioxins. Attendees also discussed international cooperation to improve the environmental situation in the transition economies, though promises of further aid from donor nations were hard to come by. Lastly, both the EBRD and the European Investment Bank came under criticism for their lack of attention to environmental criteria in their transport and energy sector projects in the transition economies. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. |
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June 1998 |
EU presses applicant nations for environmental timetables
The European Commission pressed applicant nations from eastern Europe to submit a list of environmental priorities and an implementation schedule for those measures, in an announcement on 20 May. The timetables for enforcing new environmental rules would become part of these nations' accession treaties with the EU, and would thus be legally enforceable. The Commission also warned that applicant nations needed to harmonize their environmental regulations with EU norms or risk delays in their membership.
EU officials expect that EU aid for environmental projects in the applicant nations would be matched two- or four-to-one by financing from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. The EU is expected to provide up to Ecu 3 billion per year after 2000 in pre-accession aid to the ten associate nations. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. |
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May 1998 |
EU presses applicants on environment; countries assess costs
The European Commission warned prospective members from eastern Europe that they must meet EU environmental standards, and pressed applicants to present plans for harmonizing their legislation with that of the EU. In a press conference on 20 May, EU Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard urged the east European countries to avoid the mistakes of the other industrial countries and implement the best technology and rules now while they rebuilt their economies. Ms. Bjerregaard said that the Commission, the EU's executive body, recognized that the countries in transition would have trouble financing these improvements, and offered EU assistance. But she said that no permanent exemptions would be offered to the prospective members.
The Commission estimated, in a paper issued at the same time, that it would cost the ten east European hopefuls as much as 120 billion Ecus ($132 billion) to meet EU environmental standards, including both revision of legislation and, more importantly, enforcement and technology change. The EU currently grants the applicants 120 million Ecus each year; the Commission urged the member states to provide an extra 2.5 billion Ecus each year starting in 2000 for environmental improvements. Nevertheless, the bulk of the funds will have to come from within the east European applicant nations.
Observers said that, while the EU had strong political and security reasons for wanting to expand, member states would not want to ignore environmental issues in granting membership. No current members would want the east European states to be able to compete without facing the same environmental rules; southern European states, which currently receive the bulk of EU assistance, would not want that aid to be directed eastward for environmental projects after they receive membership. The more environmentally-conscious northern EU members would also find it hard to admit new members which had not met green standards.
The Commission report indicated that the Czech Republic would require a 13.4 billion Ecu investment ($14.8 billion) to meet EU standards. About half of that amount would be needed to cut air pollution and a quarter each for clean water and solid waste.
In a press interview, Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko said that simply revising its laws to meet EU requirements would cost between $35 million and $52 million. He added that over 300 acts covering the environment would have to be revised in that process; on the other hand, all new laws and regulations are reviewed to ensure compliance with EU standards, Mr. Szyszko said. A CBOS poll in mid-May indicated that 62% of Poles would back EU membership; 71% thought it would improve Poland's environment. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. |
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March 1998 |
* Nine east European nations took part in UN-sponsored negotiations that produced draft protocols regulating emissions of several heavy metals as well as persistent organic pollutants. The mid-February agreement resolves negotiations which had dragged on for eight years over differences between industrial and developing countries and between market and transition nations. Participants agreed to reduce emissions of lead, cadmium, and mercury and to phase out leaded gasoline; a number of organic pollutants will be banned and others, including DDT and PCBs, will be phased out over several years. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. |
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February 1998 |
International cooperation agreements focus on environment
Continuing a trend, a number of intergovernmental agreements have been concluded recently to foster cooperation on environmental monitoring or remediation. On 15 January, Poland and the Czech Republic signed an environmental cooperation accord. The agreement promises cooperation in air and water quality as well as protection of forests and wildlife; special attention will be given to projects along the border between the two states.
A Bulgarian-Romanian intergovernmental committee on border environmental problems decided on 22 January to create a unified monitoring system along the Danube river, officials announced. The proposed monitoring network, for which the countries would seek EU financial assistance, would begin by continuously monitoring air pollution. Water and soil quality would be added to the program later. The committee also agreed in principle that both countries' laws should be brought into conformity with EU environmental regulations.
The Czech and Dutch governments signed an environmental cooperation accord on 3 February. Following a history of cooperation between the two countries on environmental matters, this agreement was specifically aimed at providing assistance for the Czech Republic's efforts to bring its laws into line with EU environmental regulations as part of the membership application process. The Dutch environment ministry will host a workshop for EU applicants on assessing environmental policy during the second half of this year.
Finally, in mid-February, Uzbek president Islam Karimov and Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma held bilateral talks that produced several new agreements, including one on cooperation in environmental protection and the rational use of natural resources. Copyright ©1998 by Okno Group. |
