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As a pivotal player in the Environment for Europe process, the REC will press on with the work remaining in the new member states of the European Union as well as the tasks ahead for aspiring member states and transition economies to the east. By Oreola Ivanova
Even the biggest skeptics will agree that over the years the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC)became one of the most active contributors and supporters of the Environment for Europe process. A look at just some of the forms of REC's involvement in this important process proves this. REC experts worked on background documents and publications for the ministerial conferences of the process. The organisation supported NGOs and other environmental stakeholders to prepare their inputs. REC invested knowledge and experience in the development and negotiation of international legally binding instruments and provided the necessary support for their ratification. It proposed guiding principles for addressing environmental problems. As it did during previous ministerial conferences, the REC will bring a variety of products to Kiev. The Kiev conference is the last Environment for Europe summit before most of the REC beneficiary countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will join the EU. The fact that these states succeeded in gaining invitation to the EU speaks well of the REC's efforts. Established to help the CEE countries to solve their environmental problems, the REC has worked for 13 years to strengthen environmental institutions. From the start, the REC has been reforming environmental policies, developing multi-stakeholder dialogues and cooperation, promoting public participation in environmental decision-making and pushing for access to environmental information. It has a record of developing innovative tools for environmental management in CEE. Successes The REC will report to Kiev that it has successfully carried out its mandate as the secretariat of the CEE subprogramme of the Task Force for Implementation of the Environmental Action Programme (EAP). During this five-year mandate, the subprogramme supported the EU accession process and the transfer of best practices and lessons learned from the more advanced CEE countries to Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA), and South Eastern Europe (SEE). The CEE subprogramme will wrap up after Kiev, though some of its projects will continue until March 2004. But EU accession is long process, one that will continue beyond the date of formal membership; thus the new members of the EU will still need assistance and the REC will continue helping them using different approaches and models. In Kiev the REC will present its positive experience with the development and implementation of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe (REReP). The programme was developed on the initiative of the European Commission as part of the Stability Pact for SEE, which targeted the environmental problems of a region devastated by a decade of warfare and international isolation. Developed in a matter of months under the leadership of FYR Macedonia and the other SEE countries, and endorsed by the SEE ministers of environment in March 2000, the REReP garnered impressive international support. Today projects amounting to more than EUR 20 million are being implemented in the region. Strong country leadership and involvement has ensured that the REReP's efficiency and success. Another milestone leading to Kiev was the "Governance Principles for Foreign Direct Investment in Hazardous Activities." Dissatified with the ad hoc responses to catastrophes like the cyanide spill from the Australian-run gold mine in Baia Mare, Romania, the REC sought to create a lasting legal safeguard. "We identified the need to reduce risks associated with transboundary investments involving very different cultural backgrounds," said Stephen Stec, senior legal specialist. One of the priorities of the REC activities has been to give support to the development of the new Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs)under the Aarhus Convention which will be opened for signature in Kiev and to organise a dialogue among stakeholders in nine accession and six SEE countries to inform them about the content of the Protocol, to gain feedback from them and to contribute to the discussion on the future ratification and implementation of this instrument. The REC has been involved in pilot projects as well in Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria to develop national PRTR systems and to discuss the strategies to implement these registers in harmony with the requirements of European Union directives as well as has organized regional workshops to share the expertise and experience with countries which have mature PRTR systems in place. The experiences and recommendations for strategies to establish PRTR systems in accession and SEE countries have been summed up in a report which will be distributed in the Kiev Conference. The Green Pack - a multimedia education curriculum kit - is REC's newest environmental education product. Primarily intended for teachers and their students, it includes a variety of educational materials such as a handbook with lesson plans and fact sheets, a video-cassette with animated clips and educational films, an interactive CD-ROM with extensive information on various environmental topics and a dilemma game. The Green Pack aims to form new values in students and set a new model of behaviour at school, at home and in society rather than simply the accumulation of knowledge in particular environmental areas. This new approach is relevant not only for CEE, but every place in the world that aims at sustainable development. After Kiev In the post-Kiev period of the EfE process the REC would like to support the implementation of the environmental strategy for the EECCA region. This could be done by developing a special programme for transferringbest practices and lessons learned from the CEE countries and by contributing to the implementation of those priority problems of the strategy for which the REC has developed capacity and expertise. It is the strong belief of the REC that its sister RECs in the EECCA could be instrumental for making the EECCA strategy a success. They are based in the region, have established relationships with the environmental stakeholders and are familiar with the environmental needs. The REC is committed to work for the further strengthening of their capacity and skills in addressing the environmental challenges in the EECCA region. The REC will also assist the countries in early ratification and implementation of the international legal instruments to be signed in Kiev Of course the REC will continue contributing to other processes and frameworks as well. Within the Stability Pact for SEE major efforts will be devoted to the further implementation and development of REReP. As the programme supports the Stabilisation and Association Process to the EU in South Eastern Europe the emphasis will be on the transposition and implementation of the acquis communautaire . A package of special services will be developed for Turkey. REC offices will be opened soon in this country and the first projects will start in 2003. Additional efforts will be invested in the preparatory activities for EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania. And, of course, REC support for the new EU member states will also be one of the key directions of REC work.
- Oreola Ivanova is the head |
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