Slovenia

III. Conclusions

The Republic of Slovenia, as a newly independent country, adopted its constitution in 1991, which sets down among other basic rights those related to the protection of the environment. The right to a healthy living environment is enshrined in Article 72 as the central constitutional pillar of environmental protection. Article 73, covering the protection of the natural and cultural heritage, should also be mentioned. Apart from these basic environmental rules, another more general but also very relevant and important provision is Article 44, which provides for the right to participation in public affairs.

The basic framework legislation, the Environmental Protection Act, was adopted in June 1993. This act contains the most important principles and provides for a set of legal instruments which are common to all the environmental spheres. Besides basic principles (polluter pays, the prevention principle), the act contains specific environmental protection measures, environmental protection research, programming and planning, environmental impact assessment, rehabilitation programs, environmental monitoring and protection information systems, financing of environmental protection, the responsibilities of public administration and associations of operators in the Chamber of the Economy.

One of the best known mechanisms for implementation of control within the framework of executive power is inspection, while, in practice, the so-called administrative control carried out by each sectoral administrative unit is also widely used. All these environmental control mechanisms are set down in Slovenian legislation.

While it can be said, on the one hand, that the spheres of environmental authority are clearly defined in Slovenian legislation, and that an environmental strategy exists, it is clear, on the other hand, that work remains to be done in the field of environmental protection before we are able to say that all the objectives set down in the constitution and in the basic legislation have been attained. One of the main problems lies in the fact that several regulations have not been introduced yet. One instance is, for example, the regulation enabling the determination of indemnity in cases of pollution of the environment, which is still missing in spite of its crucial importance for the municipal authorities.

As far as the comparison with EU legislation is concerned, we may conclude that in a number of areas the legislation of the Republic of Slovenia is not structured in the same way as that of the EU. This can be partly explained by the difference in the regulatory approach: while EC directives, as secondary legal sources of EC law, are adopted for each individual field separately, the Slovenian attitude is different and makes use of more general legislative instruments. Thus, for example, the Environmental Protection Act covers all areas and provides for objectives and basic measures and requirements in all fields of environmental protection (air, water, noise, waste etc.,), leaving mainly technical issues to be governed by the regulatory instruments. This is also a reason why we have mentioned the Environmental Protection Act so many times when comparing the Slovenian legislation with individual EC directives.

Before making the early conclusion that Slovenian environmental protection legislation is not in (complete) line with the EU directives, we should, however, consider an important fact: regardless of the different approach, the results are (or, at least, should be) almost the same. Bearing in mind the fact that harmonization of legislation within the EU (even among its Member States) does not imply or require complete uniformity, but rather sets down common aims and results to be attained, leaving to individual countries the choice of methods and means to reach these results, we might conclude that the "generalistic" approach, typical of the Slovenian legal system and reflected in current legislative practice, is not incompatible with such harmonization.

Environmental Regulation of Constitutional Character in Slovenia

criteria	assessment
1. Has the Constitution any direct reference to environmental protection
as a priority state objective?	yes
a human right?	yes
2. Environmental regulation is based upon a framework environmental act?	yes
3. Environmental regulation is based upon
a general environmental policy adopted by the parliament or government?	no
a relatively detailed environmental program adopted by the parliament or government?	no
a general environmental concept that has not really been adopted by a regulatory body?	no
4. Are there any specific provisions in the association agreement concerning the environment?	yes
5. Is there a central government organ specializing in environmental protection
a ministry?	yes
a central authority (inspectorate)?	yes
6. Is there a specific administrative authority system for environmental protection in the country?	yes
7. Is there an advisory body to the government on environmental matters?	yes
8. Are there any specific provisions concerning environmental liability
in the Civil Code?	no direct information
in the Criminal Code?	no direct information
in the general administrative law?	no direct information
in privatization laws?	no direct information

Assessment of the Compliance Level of EU Environmental Legislation in Slovenia

GENERAL POLICY
criteria	score	weight	level of compliance
1. Do the following principle appear in environmental legislation? prevention/precaution rectifying the pollution at source polluter pays Integrating environmental policy into other policies the high level of protection	0.67	0.15	0.1000
2. Is the polluter pays principle embodied or reflected in the framework environmental act? other basic law on the environment? in civil law? in other laws?	0.33	0.05	0.0167
3. Does the polluter pays principle cover the damages? a specific environment damage? the costs of reinstatement? the costs of prevention? the costs of monitoring and control?	0.33	0.10	0.0333
4. Is there an EIA regulation existing in the country in a draft format? in a detailed regulation? in general?	0.67	0.15	0.1000
5. Does the EIA provisions contain the list of activities subject to mandatory EIA? a direct link to permitting? the details of the procedure? public participation?	0.33	0.15	0.0500
6. The free access to information provided for in a legal regulation? covers most of the environmental information in general? provides for an obligation of the public authorities? provides for some obligation of the polluters? is protected by a judicial review process?	0.67	0.15	0.1000
7. Is there an eco-label award scheme embodied in law reflecting the eco-label regulations?	0.33	0.05	0.0167
8. Are there any provisions concerning the development of environmental management schemes? EMAS (voluntary) environmental auditing reflected in law provisions connected with permitting	0.33	0.05	0.0167
9. Is there an environmental fund existing as a separate state fund? as part of other funds?	1.00	0.10	0.1000
10. Is the concept of IPPC reflected in environmental policy/legislation?	0.33	0.05	0.0167
Total			0.55

AIR

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Are there any plans for improvement of air quality? 0.00 0.20 0.0000

2. Are there specific regulations for point sources? 1.00 0.10 0.1000

3. Are there specific regulations for mobile sources? 1.00 0.10 0.1000

4. Does the BATNEC as a general requirement appear in air pollution regulation? 0.67 0.10 0.0667

5. Concerning BATNEC, are there any special policy or strategy implemented for industrial plants? 0.33 0.10 0.0333

6. Are there any specific regulations for greenhouse gas emissions? 0.67 0.10 0.0667

7. Are there any specific regulations for waste incineration plants? 0.67 0.10 0.0667

8. Is there any administrative authorization procedure for industrial plant operations regarding air pollution? 0.33 0.20 0.0667

Total 0.50

CHEMICALS, INDUSTRIAL RISK AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Do the dangerous substances (chemicals) require a specific permit and record-keeping? 0.67 0.15 0.1026

2. Do the dangerous substances (chemicals) require special classification, packaging and labeling? 0.33 0.15 0.0513

3. Are the dangerous industrial activities reported and controlled? 0.33 0.15 0.0513

4. Are internal/external plans for emergency responses for dangerous industrial activities required? 0.00 0.15 0.0000

5. Is the public informed on dangerous activities and emergency response plans? 0.00 0.12 0.0000

6. Are there some similar regulations like Good Laboratory Practice or other qualifications? 0.00 0.12 0.0000

7. Are there any regulations like those in connection with GMOs or GMMOs? 0.33 0.08 0.0256

8. Does the risk assessment appear
in case of chemical substances?
in case of dangerous activities? 0.00 0.08 0.0000

Total 0.23

NATURE CONSERVATION

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Is nature conservation based mostly upon the regulation of protected species and protected areas? 1.00 0.50 0.5000

2. Do the new elements of nature conservation such as natural habitats appear in law? 0.33 0.50 0.1667

Total 0.67

NOISE

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Are there any specific noise pollution regulations in terms of motor vehicles? 1.00 0.50 0.5000

2. Are there any specific product standards for noise emission of household appliances? 0.00 0.50 0.0000

Total 0.50

WASTE

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Is waste management regulated by law? 0.00 0.15 0.0000

2. Do waste management regulations cover waste management plans? 0.00 0.15 0.0000

3. Are waste management regulations developed for
hazardous wastes?
other wastes? 0.33 0.15 0.513

4. Do waste management activities require a specific permit? 0.00 0.15 0.0000

5. Do hazardous waste incineration plants have specific regulation? 0.67 0.12 0.0769

6. Are there specific requirements for the landfill of wastes? 0.33 0.12 0.0385

7. Does BANTEC form a part of the general waste management regulations? 0.00 0.08 0.0000

8. Are there any special regulations relating waste originated from packaging materials, such as beverage containers? 0.33 0.08 0.0256

Total 0.19

WATER

criteria score weight level of compliance

1. Does water protection cover the water discharges? 0.67 0.17 0.1111

2. Are there specific water quality requirements for different water uses, like drinking or bathing water? 0.33 0.17 0.0556

3. Are there regulations for protection of groundwater against pollution? 0.33 0.17 0.0556

4. Are water quality requirements for the general ecological quality of water reflected in national legislation? 0.00 0.17 0.0000

5. Are water quality standards laid down? 0.67 0.17 0.1111

6. Is a monitoring system set up for water quality control? 0.67 0.17 0.1111

Total 0.44

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