109. In the course of implementing projects supported by foreign assistance it became clear that the engagement of the CEE countries' own staff to manage projects was critical for achieving positive results, despite their mistakes and delays. Through the process of participating in foreign aid supported activities, project management skills have been acquired by many CEE government and business managers.
110. Environmental assistance also helped to encourage public participation in environmental protection projects. In some cases there was a formal request from donors to use a participatory procedure, while arranging the implementation of a project financed by an assistance fund. Western experts held meetings and made field visits to discuss environmental issues with the local people. Steering committees were also used as a tool for bringing local people into the project. This type of development will have a tremendous impact on establishing democratic procedures in different decision-making bodies and economic sectors.
111. Some negative experiences with foreign assistance were also reported by the experts. A large amount of money has been invested in assessments and feasibility studies, often without practical improvements in the environment resulting. Moreover, these numerous studies and reports have usually been prepared by very costly western consultants making short-term visits to the region and have often failed to meaningfully involve local and national experts who have direct knowledge of the issues. Other experts explained that the priorities of the donor organizations are not always compatible with the priorities of the recipient CEE country. In some cases, assistance advances the interests of the donor to the long-term detriment of the environment in the region. Most of the experts understood that aid is usually intended to provide benefits for the donor as well as receiver, but they suggested that there should be better ways of maximizing the positive practical environmental effects of such assistance. The experts admitted that CEE countries need also to develop proper frameworks to coordinate, absorb, and manage Western environmental assistance.
113. Proper environmental management and decision-making require correct information. Foreign aid has been largely used to develop environmental monitoring and environmental information processing systems in the CEE countries. Quality control and monitoring are important conditions for successfully enforcing environmental standards and introducing compliance schedules. Although costly, environmental monitoring should pay for itself in better and more accurate environmental decisions.
114. Foreign aid for environmental protection has mostly been spent on environmental hot spots. The outputs from these expenditures have often been feasibility studies, which only serve as preparation for an investment phase. This activity is criticized by CEE experts as "paper work," or an information collection exercise. In the role of catalyst, foreign aid should be allocated to pilot environmental investment projects and only then on follow-up investment stages which should be arranged primarily with the investor's own financial means. Demonstration projects provide the best educational opportunity, while serving environmental protection goals.
116. An assessment of the disparities between regulations in the CEE countries and the European Union is currently being conducted. A time schedule for adjustment will result from this study. Considerable time will be required to unify environmental protection regulations of the European Union and the CEE countries.
117. The issue of harmonization is not equally assessed by experts. Some of them stressed the educational aspect of this exercise and the mutual benefit from studying existing environmental regulation systems. Others want to see a more focused harmonization of programs for both legal and economic instruments, supplemented by small-scale demonstration projects. All agree that the full-scale benefit from harmonization will only be available in the distant future.