| Most of the SO2 and particulate emission reductions which have taken place in Western Europe since the 1980s were due to a switch from coal to oil and gas, the increased use of nuclear energy, and technological improvements in desulfurization and dust removal installations. In CEE, significant pollution reduction can be achieved by switching to gas and low-sulfur coal, more widespread use of district heating, the fitting of end-of-pipe equipment including flue-gas desulfurization, the application of energy saving measures, and the implementation of energy-efficient installations and advanced combustion technologies. Much of the needed progress will be achieved by CEE countries as a result of obligations stipulated in various international conventions, and due to the harmonization of domestic regulations with those of the European Union.
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6.1. EU Approximation and International protocols |
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| During the course of EU accession in the SILAQ countries, it is worth emphasizing the process of harmonizing domestic environmental strategies, legislation and regulations. Although this section focuses mainly on the SILAQ countries, it refers in general terms to all ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe that have signed the Europe Agreement, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Besides assigning some preferential trade treatment, the Europe Agreement also calls for the harmonization of environmental regulations and legislation (Simeonova and Missfield, 1997).
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| 5th Environmental Action Program | All existing environmental policy and legislation in the SILAQ countries is now being revised according to the goals of the EU's Fifth Environmental Action Program "Towards Sustainable Development." Within this framework the major areas concentrated upon include: climate change; ozone-depleting substances; acidification and air quality; water quality; urban environment and waste management. A parallel objective in this process is to incorporate the fundamental principles of EU environmental policy and legislation into national legislation. The process of approximation is to a large extent based on the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and sectoral legislation, for example in the field of air pollution, energy, agriculture, forestry and waste.
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| EU Assistance | Various instruments are used by the EU to facilitate the SILAQ countries' accession, including the Environmental Approximation Facility, the Environmental Pre-Accession Strategy, the PHARE Programme (Poland and Hungary, Action for Reconstruction of Economy), and the Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office to the PHARE program. Associated EU Member States have acknowledged the role of the EU's approximation instruments in addressing the most important issues related to achieving overall environmental improvement. Some of the areas concentrated upon have included the development and harmonization of legislation in the field of environment and energy legislation, institutional reform and capacity building.
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| International Commitment | Of paramount importance to the process of shaping national environmental policies in the SILAQ countries are those international environmental laws and conventions which have been signed over the course of the last ten years. This includes the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution and its Sulfur Protocol, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of Stratospheric Ozone and Montreal Protocol, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC).
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| FCCC | As a result of the drastic decreases in industrial output during the transition process and new national environmental legislation and regulations, all the SILAQ countries are likely to meet their commitments to international conventions and laws. Under the UN FCCC, all countries expect to return greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels by the year 2000. In some countries, such as Bulgaria and Poland, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Montreal Protocol will remain problematic. Given the economic difficulties in all SILAQ countries, further implementation of their respective commitments will depend strongly on the availability of financial resources to implement specific projects. Among the donors of these sources is the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). GEF was created as a follow-up to the UN conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio for the financing of projects related to climate and the phase-out of ozone depleting substances.
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| CLRTAP | With regard to SO2 emissions, SILAQ countries are also implementing measures for their reduction as signatories of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The Convention was supplemented in 1994 by the Protocol on the Further Reduction of Sulfur Emissions which set different targets and timetables based on the critical load concept. The EU's member state commitments under the Sulfur Protocol led to a consolidated overall 55 percent reduction target in SO2 emissions in the EU by the year 2000 as compared with 1985 levels. All SILAQ countries signed the Second Sulfur Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on June 14, 1994 in Oslo. The targets agreed for Bulgaria, for example, to require the total reduction of SO2 emissions reduction by 33 percent, 40 percent and 45 percent by the years 2000, 2005 and 2010 respectively, in comparison with 1980 levels (2,050 kt). In Slovenia and Hungary, the reduction targets for the same years are 45 percent, 60 percent and 70 percent, while in Romania the aim is a 20 percent reduction by the year 2000. Slovakia has also signed the Second Sulfur Protocol and is now preparing to ratify it. According to national projections, SO2 emissions by the year 2010 in Slovakia should be between 121 and 161 thousand tons (kt), depending on GDP growth.
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