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CONTENTS: EU ACCESSION
On Nov. 8, the European Commission posted its annual progress reports
outlining the work that the EU
candidate countries need to do in order to achieve
accession. The reports are online at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enla
rgement/index.htm. These reports generally
carry extensive information about environmental progress that
the countries need to make before
they can join the EU, and
also give an idea of when
membership can be expected. According to most estimates, the environmental
work that is required in bringing the 10 EU candidate countries
from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) up to EU standards is the most
expensive work involved in the accession process. The EU candidate countries
in CEE are: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Environment and transport funding OK'd for projects in the regionDuring Oct. 26-27 meetings, the management committee of the European Commission's Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) gave positive opinions on 37 environment and transport projects in EU candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe, according to a press release. The projects discussed include 27 for the environment and ten for transport, and have a total value of EUR 862.46 million, the release said. At the end of the year, the balance between environment and transport projects are to be equal. Projects were approved in all the CEE candidate countries that ISPA serves: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lit huania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, according to the press release. After Michel Barnier, commissioner in charge of regional policy, has formally approved these projects on behalf of the Commission in the next few weeks, the beneficiary countries can start their implementation, the release said. The next meeting of the ISPA management committee is set for Nov. 24. Contact: Marc Franco, ISPA, fax: (32-2) 296-1096. Conference to address sustainable development, accession
A Nov. 30-Dec. 1 conference organised by the European Environment
Bureau
in Brussels, will look at "The Impact of EU Enlargement on
Sustainable
Development in Europe," according to an announcement. The conference,
to
be held at Palais de Congres in Brussels, will attempt to bring together
the EU's decision makers and environmental organisations to discuss: the
potential impact of the enlargement process for the realisation of a
sustainable development strategy for the EU; the impact of the accession
process on the development of civil society in accession countries; the
pros and cons of the emphasis on the full transposition of the
environmental acquis; t he need or inevitability of a Europe of different
speeds in order to prevent slow down or ineffective compromise policies,
the announcement said. Participants are to include: the (137) Member
organisations of the EEB; (ot her) environmental organisations in
Accession Countries; and others, the announcement said. CLIMATE CHANGE Future of Kyoto protocol depends on crucial climate summit
Ministers and diplomats from about 160 governments will meet in the Dutch
city of The Hague from Nov. 13-24 to accelerate international action to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to an announcement. The meeting
will decide on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement
aimed at reducing pollution from greenhouse gases, which have been proven to
affect the earth's climate. Most governments have not yet ratified t he
Protocol, and it will only enter into force after it has been ratified by at
least 55 parties to the Climate Change Convention, the announcement said.
This means that the vital work of reducing green-house gas emission s to
lower levels set in the Protocol has not yet begun. REC organises event for CEE countries at climate conference
Among the many events taking place during the climate change conference
at The Hague will be two specifically geared toward the countries of Central
and Eastern Europe (CEE). Consultations on Nov. 18 and 22, organised by the
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) and the
World Resources Institute (WRI), will allow representatives of CEE countries
and other nations to discuss climate change issues of particular interest to
the governments of this region, according to an announcement from the REC.
These consultations have been designed to build on a similar consultation,
also organised by the REC and WRI, in Lyon, France, on Activists seek to send 10 million messages on climate change
A homepage launched by a coalition of leading environmental organisations
is "the first international web-based initiative to give citizens
around the world a voice in demanding a halt to global warming,"
according to an announcement circulated by e-mail. Sixteen organisations,
including WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have established a
website at www.climatevoice.org in
the hope of sending 10 million messages from the public to world political
leaders, the announcement said. The messages would demand that leaders use
the November summit to reduce the pollution that causes global warming, the
announcement said. The web site, which is in English, French, German and
Spanish, allows visitors to e-mail world leaders or download a petition to
be sent offline. AROUND THE REGION UNEP assessment team to visit DU sites in Kosovo
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is sending a team
of experts to Kosovo to assess the impact of ordnance containing
depleted uranium (DU) used during last year's Balkans conflict,
according to a press release issued Nov. 3 by the UNEP. The team was
to arrive in Kosovo on Nov. 6 and spend two weeks visiting up to six
selected sites to measure radioactivity levels and take soil and water
samples, to test for the heavy metals that result when DU breaks down,
the release said. The aim of the assessment will be to determine if
there are health or environmental risks now or in the future due to
the use of DU during the conflict, and to publish a report on the
findings, the release said. Romanian activists urge letter campaign to save forest
An e-mail circulated by activists in Romania warns that clear
cutting is threatening valuable old forest stands in Calimani National
Park in Mures County and urges the public to join in a letter campaign
to save the forest. The e-mail, from the Rhododendron Environmental
Association, claims that the government is currently developing a
forestry management plan that would allow for clear-cutting, even
though this would be in violation of t he National Territory
Management Law (No. 5/2000). Clear-cutting is a crude practice of
indiscriminately chopping down all mature trees in a forest, leaving
the forest destroyed and incapable of regenerating. The e-mail complains
that, the forest management plan being developed now has not been
approved by the Ministry of Water, Forests and Environment. The e-mail
urges everyone to send letters to the environment ministry asking that
they intervene before it is too late to save Calimani National Park in
Mures County. Hungary to sue mining firm for cyanide spill in Tisza
Hungary said on Oct. 28 that it plans to sue Aurul, the Romanian
gold mining company, for accidentally releasing 100,000 tons of
cyanide into the Somes, Tisza and Danube rivers in a catastrophe that
killed 1,200 tons of fish in Hungary alone, according to a report from
UN Wire. Hungary's lawyers, who are likely to initiate the case in a
Hungarian court, have claimed that outdated technology at the Aurul
mine was responsible for the spill, the report said. According to
Janos Goenczy, Hungary's commissioner for clearing the spill, the
lawsuit will seek to shut down sources of such pollution and make them
safer, the report said. EC considers tougher rules on mining in wake of Tisza disaster
The European Commission said on Oct. 30 it was looking at
tightening regulations on metals mines to prevent environmental
disasters caused by toxic waste spills, in an initiative spurred by
the January cyanide spill that decimated the Tisza River, according to
a report from Reuters. "The Baia Mare (Romania) and Donana
(Spain) accidents made it clear that we need to adapt or further
tighten European legislation rapidly to prevent such accidents from
happening again," Reuters quoted EC Environment Commissioner
Margot Wallsrom as saying in a statement. An EC policy paper published
in late October said the Commission will draft a new law on the
management of mining waste next year if studies currently under way
show a need for new rules, according to Reuters. Poison wipes out fish population of Romanian stream
An unknown chemical that was spilled into a stream in the town of
Beiu, Romania, killed off the entire fish stock in the steam,
according to a transcript of a Nov. 2 radio report monitored by BBC.
The stream, which connects to the Cris (Fekete Koros) River eventually
connects with the Hungarian section of the Tisza River, which was
decimated by a cyanide spill at a Romanian mine earlier this year. But
officials who tested the water said t hat this latest poisoning was
apparently sufficiently diluted, so that after killing fish in the
small stream it was rendered harmless in the larger rivers, the
transcript said. Officials were working to clean the stream, and
attempting to identify the bluish-green non-organic material that
apparently entered the water through a drainage system at the upper
end of the stream, the transcript said. One kilometre oil spill floats down Sava RiverAn oil spill measuring about 20 metres in width and about one
kilometre in length was observed floating down the River Sava in
Slavonski Brod, Croatia, apparently coming from the direction of the
oil refinery in Bosnaski Brod in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the
morning of Nov. 2, according to "Vecernji list" newspaper in
Croatia. "The oil spills along this part of the river are
unfortunately not rare," the newspaper quoted Croatian State In
spector Zdenka Bracun as saying. "This latest case cannot be
called a very serious ecological incident and there will be no serious
damage." Germany funds Czech sewage treatment to protect Elbe RiverAs part of ongoing efforts to clean up the Elbe River, Germany has announced it will fund modernisation of sewage treatment plants in the Czech Republic, according to an Oct. 24 report from Radio Prague.Germany's environ ment ministry will contribute over DEM 9 million toward a DEM 24 million project to modernise plants in the Czech border cities of Most and Teplice, the report said. Efforts to improve the quality of the Elbe have shown encouraging results so far, and salmon are again being released into the river, to restore populations which died out 70 years ago, the report said. Contact: Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712-1111. Sustainable development subject of Bratislava conference
A Nov. 27-29 conference in Bratislava entitled "Sustainable
Development -- New Millennium Challenge," will address the issue
of balancing economic and environmental needs for the benefit of
society. The conference is being organised by the Regional
Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), Country
Office Slovakia, in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP),
the Slovak Ministry of Environment and Bratislava
City Hall. The conference is being organised as part of a project
called "Capacity Building for Sustainable Development in the
Slovak Republic," which is being implemented by REC Slovakia,
financed by UNDP and guaranteed by Slovak Ministry of Environment. Bellagio Forum to discuss development at Hungary conferenceThe Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development, a group dedicated to promoting growth that does not hurt the environment, will hold a Nov. 29-Dec. 1 conference in Szentendre, Hungary, entitled "In Praise of Globalisation? " where participants will address the question of what globalisation means for the environment. The conference will be hosted by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). Contact: Janos Zlinszky, REC, tel: (36-26) 504-000; e-mail: jzlinszky@rec.org. NUCLEAR ROUNDUP Temelin talks on hold as border blockades continue
Anti-nuclear demonstrators in Austria were continuing to blockade
some border crossings with the Czech Republic, spurring Czech
officials to say on Nov. 7 that high-level discussions about the new
nuclear plant at Temelin will not take place until the blockades are
halted, according to reports. Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman had
said he would call off discussions with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang
Schuessel about the controversial plant if the activists didn't open
the borders by Monday, but on Nov. 7 softened his line to say that
talks would take place when the protests stopped, according to a
report from Reuters. Cabinet to decide future of Czech uranium miningThe Czech Parliament was set to debate the future of a uranium mine in the Czech-Moravian highlands at its Dec. 7 session, according to a report from Radio Prague. Industry and Trade Minister Miroslav Gregr has urged that the mine should stay active for another two years, but Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart has criticised that plan, saying that the mine is not profitable, and that keeping it open would be a poor diplomatic move because the Czech Republic had informed the EU it would close the mine by the end of 2001. Contact: Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712-1111. EU official: Kozloduy no longer obstacle to accession
The European Union no longer sees Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power
plant as an obstacle to membership negotiations after Sofia agreed
last year to phase out four reactors, an EU official said on Nov. 7,
according to report from Reuters. Michael Leigh, EU's negotiator for
Bulgaria, said that the Bulgarian government has proven it is
committed to complying with EU concerns about the plant, the report
said. In response to pressure from the EU, Bulgaria agreed last year
to close the two oldest reactors at the plant before 2003. Meanwhile,
Russia's Export-Import Bank Rosexim said on Oct. 26 it will provide a
USD 80 million loan to help Bulgaria modernize two reactors at the
Kozloduy plant, which supplies nearly half of the country's power,
Reuters reported. PM of Lithuania's new government wants another reactor
Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas, in charge of Lithuania's newly
formed government, said on Oct. 24 that he supported the construction
of a new nuclear reactor, according to Reuters. As a pre-requisite to
initiating EU NEWS FOR JOURNALISTS Contributions sought for book on sustainability, new economy
Green leaf Publishing has sent out an e-mail announcement soliciting
contributions for a new book on "Ecology of The New Economy:
Sustainable Transformation of Global Technology, Communication, and Electronics
Industries," to be edited by Jacob Park and Nigel Roome. The book will look at
environmental questions raised by information technologies. WHO WE ARE About Green Horizon"Green Horizon" is a free newsletter
designed to help journalists stay ahead of environmental news
in Central and Eastern Europe. We offer tips on upcoming stories
to watch for, as well as information and ideas to help you develop
in-depth pieces about the region's environment. "Green Horizon"
is produced by the Regional Environmental Center for Central
and Eastern Europe. To join the mailing list: Send e-mail to:
GreenHorizon@rec.org. Funded by the European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. |
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