Chapter 12: Romania
(continued)
One of the most significant and important achievements for which the civil society has struggled is to provide citizens and NGOs with the right of access to environmental information and the right to be consulted. Identically, the locus standi given to the individuals and/or NGOs is a major achievement in the field of public participation. The Environmental Protection Law is supposed to be complemented by other sectorial laws which will regulate aspects of the dangerous substance, pesticide, radio protection and environmental liability regimes.
It is obvious that in the field of environmental law the process of the legislative approximation has begun and it will continue.
However, it must be stressed that these legal provisions are more substantial than procedural. The lack of specific proceedings is a very serious limitation in the implementation of the substantial public participation provisions. The lack of specific procedural provisions are the reason that the specific mechanisms of public participation are not developed.
It must also be stressed that the authorities - especially after the 1996 elections - are supposed to be more open.
It is positive practice that at the level of parliament, the Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection and local authorities persons have been nominated to be responsible for relations with NGOs. This is an important step in the democratization of the public authorities.
There are still some aspects which need to be answered - whether they have a detailed job description; whether they have developed short-, mid- or long-term strategies; as representatives of public authority, are they accomplishing their obligations regarding public participation? From this point of view, implementation still needs much development.
The improvement of public participation is, at least theoretically, one of the principal objects of activity for many NGOs . Despite a few cases in this context, the NGO community is still not very active. This is due mainly to some of the above listed criteria (see the explanation under the charts).
The lack of real cooperation and collaboration between the two parties, the Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection and other environmental authorities and the NGOs is still lacking. The reason is that in many cases the authorities do not recognize the capacity, commitment and expertise of the NGOs. In addition, the NGOs are not very active in pursuing their relationship with the authorities.
The existence and development of public participation depends on both the legal framework and its enforcement.
As mentioned above, there is an existing legal frame which assures public participation in the environmental decisionmaking processes. The enforcement of the legal provisions regarding public participation can be improved by the authorities by initiating and creating the procedural framework for public participation (Article 64 Environmental Protection Law).
At the NGO level, the effectiveness of public participation is due more to an active presence, from the initiations till the post-decision stage, in the decisionmaking processes. At the same time, the improvement of the legal provisions which entitle NGOs with legal standing might be a very important tool. In other words, the NGOs should effectively take advantage of these legal provisions.
