6. Integration of Environmental Protection and Economic Development
6.1. Obstacles to Integration
ALBANIA
Because of the fact that economic and social problems are enormous and have absolute priority in Albania, and environmental policy does not have an important place in national policy, integration of environmental concerns into economic and other policies is out of the question. The Committee for Environmental Protection is a weak authority, which lacks influence and institutional strength to achieve such an integration. Personal relations within the government appear to be very important and the experts gave the impression that the CEP does not have a strong relationship with other ministries or with the Parliament.
BULGARIA
The most often mentioned obstacle was the lack of money. Economic development itself is not progressing well and the various market mechanisms widely used in other countries do not yet function in Bulgaria. The situation is worsened by the lack of the necessary legal basis for such integration, the weak enforcement of existing law, and the continued State ownership of virtually all large industrial enterprises. Some economic mechanisms have been developed for environmental protection but their effective implementation is limited by social impacts and inflation.
Environmental protection is also simply not a priority. Economic concerns receive priority and decision-makers are not able to understand the importance of, or possibilities for, integrating economic development and environmental protection. The dominant thinking is "environmental protection is expensive and we are very poor, so it will have to wait." Government officials lack the experience and knowledge needed to grasp the concepts and formulate the needed strategies. People working in the MoE lack expertise about market economies and economists lack expertise about the environment. The current political constellation is also not likely to support such integration.
CROATIA
Due to the war there are other priorities now in Croatia. So far there are no positive signs of global thinking, usual arguments are: no funds, protection of the environment will slow down development. There is no coordination between environmental and economic policy, and no integration. In principle it could be done but it's not happening. The cooperation between ministries is not sufficient and not encompassing all the necessary sectors. This thinking is already there in the ministry of environment but not in others. Lack of expertise in some specific fields, insufficient involvement, lack of coordination and cooperation with outside experts are also often mentioned as obstacles.
CZECH REPUBLIC
In economic policy, environmental concerns are usually not taken into account. Environmental protection is considered as an issue that can be solved only when the economy is strong enough (tendency e.g. in Government). The most critical factors to improve the situation are: better knowledge about environmental issues especially in non-environmental circles, and improved information exchange with the industrialized countries of the West regarding successful policy integration and policy instruments and mechanisms. The lack of broad dissemination of this information is on all levels (literature, personal contacts, int. treaties). Furthermore, the lack of cooperation and the conflicts of interests are hindering an integration. An example is the introduction of the planned ecological tax: the Ministry of Finance is not interested in taking steps, the interventions of the green lobby show good will but the results are complicating future steps. In fact it is unclear what the ecological tax should include.
HUNGARY
As decision makers see the environment as an externality to the economy, there is not much incentive for the integration of environmental costs and benefits in the governmental decision-making. The monetary value of environmental assets is difficult to measure in economic terms (and in some cases controversial, too). However without this charges and penalties will not reflect real values. At present, environmental expenditure is not regarded as an investment.
FYR MACEDONIA
A variety of obstacles exist in the FYR Macedonia to integrating environmental concerns into economic development. Most often mentioned by the experts was the absence, or inadequacy of, environmental policy and law to mandate and guide such integration. The next most cited obstacle was the lack of financial resources to implement environmental protection considerations in economic development. Several of the experts also explained that other priorities, particularly economic and political issues, were dominating decision-making processes. Politicians were described as being pre-occupied with international issues and re-election campaigns. The poor performance and capacity of the government was also cited as a major obstacle, as was the lack of a separate Ministry of Environment. Government (and industry) officials are simply unable to understand how economic development and environmental protection can be integrated. There is a lack of expertise in formulating the necessary policies and mechanisms. In some cases government decision-makers just do not care about environmental issues. The generally low level of environmental awareness and concern in all segments of society is another obstacle.
POLAND
Many of Poland's government officials and politicians do not realize the importance of integrating economic and environmental concerns. Furthermore, communication and cooperation amongst the political parties, or the different government ministries is sorely lacking.
There is also a serious shortage of funding for environmental investments generally, including integrative measures. Environment is low on most agendas as economic issues dominate priority lists. Market reforms have helped the short-sighted mentality of "profit now" to become widespread, often resulting in environmental expenditures being cut, because viewed as drains on profits.
NGOs and the pro-environment lobby have failed to persuasively illustrate to decision-makers the inseparable link between the long-term health of the economy and the health of the environment. Economics guide decision-making but environmentalists have not effectively used economic arguments for environmental protection.
ROMANIA
The main obstacle is the false belief held by decision-makers that environmental concerns only obstruct and hinder economic development. They do not understand how a healthy and clean environment is a necessary base for a sustainably strong economy. The situation is worsened by the plain fact that the environment is simply a very low priority for people. There is no widespread support for environmental protection, thus it is not on the agendas of decision-makers. This contributes to the MoE being the weakest ministry in the government. The other ministries have no support for the objectives of the MoE. The current dominance of short-term thinking and the drive for immediate profits excludes proper consideration of the long-term benefits to be gained by environmental investments.
There are also more practical, but nonetheless serious obstacles such as the lack of a legal mandate for such integration, the lack of necessary expertise and knowledge, and the severe shortage of money required to address these issues and to make needed capital investments.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
With the exception of some very rare cases, economic and environmental policy are not integrated at all. Obstacles are: on all levels, there is a serious lack of broad dissemination of information and awareness of modern ideas and approaches to harmonize economic concerns with environmental ones. The ideas that "environment is an obstacle for economy" and that "it can be solved when the economy is well" persist; economic planning involves a short term goals tendency, while the environment requires long term thinking; there is a lack of information exchange and the cooperation between these two sectors (as well as among others) is only at the beginning, and; there is official support of economic interests over environmental interests.
SLOVENIA
Formally, environmental protection and economic development are integrated but there are no real signs of this. Ministries do not work together and do not tackle environmental problems in a complex way. The potential exists but due to the logic integration does not occur. The MoE has to fight with other ministries to protect environmental interests. In the case of projects with foreign assistance, there is not always a complex approach in evaluating all of the impacts and sometimes environmental interests are damaged. Politicians don't understand that Slovenia could profit form integration in the long run, they focus on short-term interests.
REC * PUBLICATIONS * STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 1 * ANNEX
