The main reason for this situation is the lack of information about the Sofia Guidelines document. NGOs and the general public only learnt about the document after EPAC organized an environmental NGO roundtable, as suggested by the REC. There were even employees of the Ministry of Environmental Protection who were unaware of this international document. The roundtable showed that governmental officials (ie. those not from the Ministry of Environmental Protection) were against the provisions of the Sofia Guidelines which were concerned with access to environmental information. The government took a strong stand. Government delegates were not even pretending to be democrats. They considered decentralization of the bigger part of their powers, and transfer of the powers to public, as an unacceptable step in the present situation, and an act which undermines the basis of stability of the state organization.
The government delegates were against broad access to environmental information for the citizens. In their opinion, it is not necessary for everybody to have the right to apply to the government for information. In the government's opinion, it is necessary in each case to decide which information is secret and which is environmental.and therefore it is obligatory for citizens to prove their interest in environmental information. The issue of the access to environmental information irrespective of citizenship, nationality etc. was specially mentioned. The possibility of access to information for foreign citizens is not accepted by the Armenian Government, even though this contravenes the constitution (Article 24), which asserts the freedom to seek and disseminate information regardless of state borders.
According to the government, participation of the public in the process of decisionmaking in environmental areas has be permitted only in cases that the government finds necessary. There may be other examples as well.
In summary, the discussion has revealed the hardline position of the government in regard to the main issues of the convention.
At the end of 1995, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of the Republic of Armenia was passed. It specified the instigation of public hearings for intended activities. This presented a unique opportunity in the national legislation for the implementation of the Sofia Guidelines. This implementation did not happen. The procedure of public hearings, as well as the status of public hearings, has not yet been identified. The law did not provide for either an alternative independent assessment of projects or for access to environmental information for the affected community and other interested parties. Consequently, there is no possibility of having an effective influence on legislation regulating this field of public relations.
One step forward, however, is found in the openness of the Ministry of the Environment in this period. Justification for this is the fact that each NGO may meet with the minister and discuss problems with regard to the Sofia Guidelines, as well as identify possibilities for cooperation. The ministry works on joint projects with several NGOs. It also receives the opinions of specialists from NGOs, with the aim of making correct decisions. A new department in the Ministry of Environmental Protection — the Public Affairs Department — was established at the end of 1997, and in February 1998, the charter of this department was adopted.
Interviews with the minister, the first deputy minister and some officials working on PPC projects, allow the conclusion that the Ministry of the Environment is ready to implement provisions of the draft UNEC Convention, as far as they are technically feasible. A major problem for the Ministry of the Environment and its central office is the almost total lack of a technical base (ie. computers, photocopiers etc.). Budget appropriations are too small to cover these needs. Another problem is the absence of a high-level legal service within the ministry (environmental lawyers, etc.).
In order to deal with the above mentioned problems, a program should be created to promote the implementation of the Aarhus Convention provisions. The main points of this program should be as follows: