There are possibilities for cooperation with other CEE countries regarding transboundary nature areas and waterways. Other CEE countries were considered to lack the necessary experience and insights to be helpful. Western experience was seen as more valuable. Cooperation between NGOs was mentioned as helpful by those experts that were involved in them. They also consider exchange of experience with NGOs from West and East as useful.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
Albania has less experience with Western assistance than many other CEE countries since Western countries "discovered" Albania somewhat later. CEE NGOs mentioned assistance from Western NGOs as very valuable, because it gave them more insight into their own problems and possibilities.
Most of the experts sharply criticized the fact that much of the money "given" by donors returns to the donor country. Western consultants are seen as earning too much money for collecting data that are already available, and are also blamed for excluding Albanian experts from the projects. No real exchange of know-how and experience can take place in this way.
Almost all the recommendations and actions in the Albanian National Environmental Action Plan need foreign funding, and agreements with many of the major international financial and development institutions have been reached.
One of the experts mentioned that it is most useful to receive assistance from a Western country in connection with a subject on which that country has very relevant experience. Albania could especially benefit from assistance in the areas of transport, ecological agriculture and tourism.
There has been very little cooperation with CEE neighbors. One reason is that they are also poor, and another is that after the communist system collapsed there was a natural tendency to move away from cooperation after so many years of forced alliance. Some cooperation exists regarding the Danube River and the Black Sea, but it is limited. Countries of the region have common histories and it would be helpful for them to cooperate in forging their own paths toward sustainable development. Regional cooperation is clearly needed on issues involving the Black Sea and the Danube River, as well as transboundary air pollution. Cooperation would also be helpful in attracting and better using foreign aid.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
Examples of successful cooperation with Western countries and institutions include: professional training supported by the EC PHARE Program and US AID; the National Environmental Strategy prepared with help from the World Bank, and; help from the Swiss, Germans, the British Know-How Fund and British Council. The "Environment for Europe" process has been helpful in this regard and the upcoming European Environmental Ministers Conference in Sofia, 1995, should have a positive influence on the Bulgarian government and NGOs.
There have been some negative experiences with western countries as well. There was a well publicized case of a German firm trying to export its hazardous waste to Bulgaria. Sometimes foreign aid institutions are deciding what to fund without the input of local experts, while on other occasions the priorities of the aid institutions are not the same as Bulgaria's. Additionally, the loan policies of international financial institutions are not very favorable.
Up to this time most of the Western aid went into policy improvements and institutional capacity building. Now support should be given for concrete activities that will yield measurable improvements in the environment. Investments in technology are needed, as is help in harmonizing legislation and regulations with EC standards. National and local consultants should play a more significant role in projects supported by foreign assistance. Expertise in many areas continues to be a need, as does management training.
There are many common problems where regional cooperation would be helpful in devising solutions, especially with Slovenia and Hungary. This type of cooperation could also help with building better relations with the West. There is a need for common steps and measures to improve the quality of environment and to decrease transboundary pollution.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
External funds are very much needed as internal resources are extremely limited. However, the main problem with Western financial assistance is that it is strongly connected with the use of Western technology and expertise. Western help is more positive if the technical expertise is oriented toward a concrete field of knowledge which is missing.
Presently Croatia is not involved with the main Western assistance programs due to political reasons. Environmental problems requiring external funds are: communal and hazardous waste management and clean up; protection of the main rivers and the Adriatic Sea, and; the establishment of a monitoring system.
The greatest value of international cooperation is seen as the experience and knowledge to be gained rather than the amount of money. Assistance is especially needed in the following areas: legal and legislative expertise; enforcement; training in environmental management; cooperation in research, information systems and equipment; environmental education; post-war reconstruction of ecotourism, and; restoration of the environmental quality of national and natural parks.
There is a strong need to strengthen East-East dialogue. However, it is not perceived as urgent by the public, probably due to the rejection of the commonly shared past four decades and a stronger orientation, in general, towards Western Europe. On the other hand, East-West cooperation has developed more sufficiently.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
The experts stressed the numerous positive experiences with Western assistance. Proposals to improve the effectiveness of foreign assistance include: ensure the adequate involvement of local representatives and experts; support the projects on a long-term basis (implementation), and most importantly; financial support and knowledge with respect to problem solving techniques in the West. Some experts noted that there are no issues that can only be solved with foreign assistance and that the situation concerning external financial help is not critical.
The experts listed some issues which could be addressed more quickly with foreign support: converting existing plants (e.g. power plants) into model facilities with state-of-the-art abatement technology and integrated environmental management, and; assistance in the areas of science, assessment, some special technologies, and local or regional planning.
Occupying the middle of the Carpathian basin, Hungary gets >90% of its surface waters from neighboring countries. This alone makes international cooperation on the environmental field an absolute necessity. However, the former Eastern-Block countries cut most of their relations at the ministerial level. Environmental diplomacy lags behind foreign relations in general. Joint environmental actions do not exist, but ongoing cooperation between experts of the regional authorities continues. Improving on this would be very helpful.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
Positive examples include: know-how transfer; institutional development, and; project financing. Negative examples were cited as: aid which was largely consumed by donor country consultants; feasibility studies which were not followed by with investment. The type of aid needed: programs adapted to the needs of the counties; e.g. working examples of environmental technologies should be set up and publicized.
Examples of successful cooperation with other CEE countries were extremely limited. Some cases of cooperation with neighboring countries were cited at the NGO level, however, no such experiences at the government level.
CEE cooperation would be very helpful in many areas, and is absolutely essential on some. Effective protection of Lake Ohrid requires close cooperation with Albania, with whom the FYR Macedonia shares the lake. Lake Prespa is shared with both Albania and Greece, and likewise, its protection requires cooperation between the three countries. Lake Dojran is in a critical state due to water diversions in Greece, and in this situation cooperation is essential. The Vardar River is also shared with Greece and requires significant improvements.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
The large majority of experts stated that there had not yet been any foreign assistance for environmental protection in the FYR Macedonia, thus they could not cite any positive or negative experiences. Cooperation with foreign NGOs has been better than anticipated, one expert reported, with REC, FOEI and Greenway all providing important assistance.
Several types of foreign assistance would be especially helpful in the FYR Macedonia according to the experts. The most often mentioned need was technological assistance. Modern pollution abatement equipment is needed for water and air protection, and monitoring systems are required. The next most often cited form of help was western expertise and experience. This help would be very useful in developing new laws, policy, methodologies, and improved management capacity. Direct financial assistance was also indicated by many of the experts as being a very helpful form of aid. Other types of assistance which were mentioned include support for NGOs, nature protection and environmental assessments.
Cooperation within the CEE countries exists but is quite limited. Cited examples include cooperation with the Czech Republic and Germany regarding the "Black Triangle," with the Czech Republic and Slovakia regarding the "Silesia Project," with Slovakia and Ukraine concerning the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve and Lithuania, Belorussia and Ukraine in connection with the "Green Lungs of Europe" project. The experts agreed that East-East cooperation should be improved and listed the above-mentioned areas and the Baltic Sea as priorities.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
Numerous capital investments involving water treatment facilities and air pollution abatement equipment, training in the areas of environmental management and methodology, and NGO development programs are examples of productive assistance provided by a wide range of western countries and international institutions.
Some examples of negative experiences with western aid were also cited. Poland's new forest management program, sponsored by the World Bank, was criticized for promoting unsustainable harvest levels and requiring the purchase of heavy Western equipment unsuitable for Polish forests. Other criticisms were aimed at western firms promoting their environmentally unfriendly goods and technologies which have been banned (i.e. pesticides) or have fallen out of public favor (i.e. waste incinerators) in the West. Many of the experts explained that much western assistance is actually consumed by the donor countries themselves, as costly donor country consultants perform feasibility studies while being housed at Poland's most expensive hotels.
Most of the experts agreed that while feasibility studies may be essential elements of project planning, investments leading to actual environmental improvements are needed at this time. Additionally, western assistance in the form of certain types of expertise, especially concerning modern technologies and management methodology, is greatly needed. Assistance should take the form of joint ventures in which Polish experts and Polish resources play significant roles. ECOFUND, Poland's debt for environment foundation, was mentioned as a very effective assistance mechanism. On a more basic level, some of the experts mentioned that environmental protection would be facilitated by strengthening Poland's economy, and that this could be accomplished by the elimination of existing trade barriers.
Romania has had some successes in cooperating with its CEE neighbors in addressing environmental issues associated with the Danube River and Black Sea. Successful cooperation with other CEE countries on environmental issues has, however, been extremely limited and improvements in this area are sorely needed. Such cooperation is clearly essential for effectively protecting these two areas (Danube River and the Black Sea) and would also be helpful in dealing with transboundary air pollution, harmonization of environmental standards with EC norms, and the development of nuclear safety plans. Stronger economic cooperation within the region would also improve environmental conditions in the individual countries.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
There have been a number of successes in which western assistance played an important role. EC PHARE and the British Know-how Fund have supported environmental assessments and the World Bank provided significant help in developing a National Environmental Strategy. US AID has provided much needed training through the ETP program and NGOs are supported by REC and various western NGOs.
It is important for the aid recipients to be prepared to receive the aid and to be able to suggest how it might be best used. The Romanian government and other institutions receiving aid have not always been adequately prepared. A considerable amount of the aid money actually went to foreign experts making short-term visits to prepare feasibility studies which lacked meaningful input from local experts and were not realistic.
Western assistance should move beyond feasibility studies and assessments and should support direct concrete actions such as technological investments and cleanup of the most severely damaged areas. Expertise and training would also be especially helpful in numerous areas, including: management training for government, industrial, and NGO leaders; the development of post-graduate university programs; and the use of methodologies like environmental impact assessments. Assistance should come in the form of partnerships and make maximal use of Romanian input.
The experts listed the following issues in which CEE cooperation is important and required (or already developing): transboundary air pollution; transboundary water pollution (e.g., Danube issues); transboundary movements of waste; energy; harmonization of environmental policies; establishment of common National Parks (e.g. in Beskides on the Slovakian and Polish border, Danube-Ipel/Ipoly on the border of Slovakia and Hungary); protection of forests; environmental education and expertise, and; NGO cooperation.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
Many positive experiences with western assistance have already been enjoyed, especially in the field of problem identification and analysis and solution development. However, it was stated that assistance should then continue for the implementation of the recommendations, especially regarding investment loans, as this is the major obstacle to implementation.
Environmental advocates criticised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for investing in the aluminium plant in Ziar nad Hronom, a great and serious pollution source and major energy consumer.
Apart from many positive examples, experience thus far has shown that Western technical assistance is not always working in the most efficient and long-lasting way. More local experts should directly participate in the projects. Projects could be more closely adapted to the local conditions and locals could profit more from western experience, management and problem solving techniques. Often feedback and discussion of the results is inadequate. More assistance should be provided to small enterprises and NGOs.
Additional assistance would be especially helpful in the fields of: environmental management in the state administration and NGOs; to incorporate environmental principles into the economic strategies, especially the energy policy (efficient use of energy and energy saving program, alternative sources of energy); to address mobile source air pollution; and to propagate a sustainable way of life.
East-East cooperation should be strengthened. There is a huge similarity of problems as well as accumulated knowledge that should be shared to the benefit of the region.
WESTERN ASSISTANCE
There have been both positive and negative experiences with Western assistance. It is positive is that Western banks demand certain environmental plans and standards before supporting projects. It is negative that Western assistance is usually more oriented towards opening markets for their own technologies, products and experts. Also, in some cases the Western technology which was applied was not appropriate.
The process of getting assistance should be more transparent, and the CEE countries (MoEs) should be more involved in the preparation of terms and selection of consultants. The success of the assistance depends on how much money can be spent in the country, and how much knowledge can been transferred. Local consultants need to be involved. The usual problem with Western assistance is that the foreign consultants involved don't know about the region.