6. Integration of Environmental Protection and Economic Development
6.2. Existing and Proposed Measures for Improving Integration
ALBANIA
A draft law for the establishment of environmental impact assessments is being prepared. (No other measures were described.)
BULGARIA
Concrete examples of sustainable development are lacking. The concept exists on paper but nothing more. There are efforts to implement the polluter pays principle. There are fines for air pollution and wastewater discharges, however, the amounts are very small and the industries just pay them without effect. With the State still very involved in the production sector the effectiveness of the polluter pays principle is very limited. The idea of tradable pollution permits has been proposed but no concrete steps have been taken. The use of environmental impact assessments and environmental audits is becoming more common and should be helpful.
CROATIA
A national environmental and development strategy with the proper law could facilitate this. The Parliament should play an important role in adopting these and putting pressure on all players. Training is needed on how to establish integration, how to elaborate win-win solutions, low cost investments and no cost programs including economic efficiency and environmental management. How to reach compromises between the different interests should be learned. Sometimes it may be more efficient to invest in industry to reach energy efficiency or restructuring. The use of financial incentives and pricing can be one of the methods to reach results.
CZECH REPUBLIC
The topic is under discussion in some environmental circles, as well as a few economic circles. Though, this discussion is limited and no concrete measures have been taken to address this issue. The issue is not understood by the key sector of government and therefore only a small number of actions are in place. In the state environmental policy, however, the gradual integration of environmental considerations into all economic and social activities is outlined as a long term goal. Sustainable development should be integrated into the Czech Republic's environmental policy according to the ideas laid out in the Rio conference. The concept of sustainable development is not clear to a lot of people.
HUNGARY
International treaties like Agenda 21 and the Lucerne documents should become part of government policy. EIAs should be introduced on all gevernment policy plans. On the job introduction to environmental management should be offered to civil servants of all government branches. Laws and regulations should be trimmed to allow the market to take care of some of the problem. Tradable permits, taxes, user charges and deposit refund systems are some of the possibilities. Also, the introduction of environmental insurance policies ought to be initiated. A bottom-up approach should also be started, with local authorities taking an integrative approach to regional development. Local authorities are best placed to introduce communication between the interested parties.
FYR MACEDONIA
Unfortunately, the experts were not aware of existing measures for improving the integration of environmental concerns into economic development and they could not list any examples of sustainable development or the polluter pays principle. The new draft environmental protection law was, however, cited several times as a proposal to make advances in these areas. The concepts of both sustainable development and the polluter pays principle are included in the draft law, which has been approved by the Government and is now awaiting debate in the Parliament. The draft law also includes requirements for EIAs for certain types of projects.
POLAND
The concept of sustainable development is often discussed but few concrete examples exist. A sustainable development plan has been designed for the "Green Lungs" area, and accepted by the local and State governments, however, funds to support it have been very limited and implementation is only in the beginning stages. There is hope that Poland's National Parks will use a new management approach and involve local communities in practical but sustainable use of the parks' natural resources. The polluter pays principle is well established in the country as Poland has one of the most advanced systems of pollution fees and fines in all of Europe. Tradable emission permits have been experimented with successfully and pose optimistic possibilities for the future. Environmental impact assessments are becoming more commonly used and an Inter-Ministerial Unit has been formed to address environmental issues related to privatization.
ROMANIA
The MoE is organising an inter-ministerial commission that will attempt to address environmental issues in the transition process and a governmental counsellor will probably be engaged to deal with environmental problems. Some progress has been made in the field of water management with the introduction of a fine system and a "Water Fund". A variety of pollution fines exists but the amounts are very low and they are not yet effective as incentives to reduce pollution or as sources of revenue for environmental investments. Unfortunately, few concrete examples of sustainable development or the polluter pays principle were cited, with one exception being the Water Fund mentioned above. Both of these concepts are, however, included in the new draft environmental protection law which is in Parliament.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
At present, there is no official approach or concept provided to harmonize environmental concerns with economic ones. However, development concepts for different branches of economy are being elaborated at present (energy, mining, metallurgy). The draft material is consulted with the MoE. It remains to be seen whether this cooperation will result in better integration in practice. The efficiency of economic instruments for environmental protection is low. Charge and fine rates are too low to provide real incentives to change pollution behavior. An obstacle for enforcement is the situation that most of the big industrial pollution sources are still state owned. Many companies are not able to pay, the amount of fines and charges that should be paid is much (about 30 times) higher than the net collected amount. At present, the Government has expressed little or no interest in adopting new market incentives that would benefit the environment.
SLOVENIA
The prevailing liberal economic policies have to be made environmentally friendly. The legal framework is given for sustainable development but it needs to be put into practice. A proper strategy should be elaborated to direct the economy in a different direction. PPP should be enforced. Short-term thinking should be exchanged for long-term thinking. Economic programs must include environmental aspects and this should be enforced.
REC * PUBLICATIONS * STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 1 * ANNEX
