A C C E S S I O N N E W S
The accession process has started and will significantly determine most of the ten countries' policymaking for the next five to fifteen years. The EU will undergo serious institutional restructuring to be able to effectively take on new members. And the process will be very cost-intensive, the environmental sector being the most expensive with 120-150 billion ECU estimated investments required over the next 10 years for all 10 applicant countries combined.
Despite all the economic, political, institutional and infrastructural burdens involved, the ten applicant countries of CEE are racing against time, and sometimes against each other, to become full-fledged members. The preparation activities of the EU are no less brisk.
On 16 July 1997, President Santer on behalf of the European Commission presented to the European Parliament a document entitled Agenda 2000, a comprehensive 2,000 page package which is intended to strengthen the pre-accession strategy - including the pre-accession strategy for the environment - for all ten associated countries of CEE.
Part of Agenda 2000 included the long-awaited Opinions on the progress made by the associated countries. It concluded that five of them - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia - had made sufficient progress in their transition to democratic civil societies and market economies. Although the Council has yet to confirm this conclusion in Luxembourg in December, formal accession negotiations with the selected countries are due to begin in early 1998 with a possible view to accession as early as 2002.
The Commission's July announcement moved the process of preparing the ten associated countries of CEE into a new phase. Substantial environmental developments were also made.
The Enlargement Team of the Directorate-General for Environment and Nuclear Safety of the European Commission, or ÒDG XI," completed its first round of country visits which included a detailed scrutiny of the countries' progress in terms of conversion to, practical application of, and enforcement of EU environmental legislation. The results of these visits served as a basis for preparing the status report on approximation in CEE for presentation at a September 8 meeting in Brussels (see below).
The Commission also prepared a document entitled Guide on approximation to the European Union environmental legislation, advocating the use of a simple, practical tool to help achieve formal compliance with existing EU legislation. Using this tool, associated countries can better identify precise gaps between EU environmental legislation and their own and set up a program for how and when these gaps will be filled with new or amended legislation.
Two objectives set out in Agenda 2000 are the establishment of an implementation database and progress monitoring on approximation. To this end, the REC has been working with the EC on a project to develop a set of approximation indicators which will serve as a basis for monitoring progress - estimated for completion by the end of October.
Finally, important changes are planned for the EU's Phare Programme, which will focus mainly on accession issues beyond the year 2000.
Despite the Commission's decision to start formal negotiations with five countries only, there remains a great need for mutual cooperation among the associated countries and for the exchange of experience and information. To this end, on August 29-30 1997, the REC organized its second informal meeting of associated country representatives in Szentendre, Hungary. The main aim was preparation for the Environment Ministers' September 8 meeting with EC Commissioner for Environment and Nuclear Safety, Ms Ritt Bjerregaard.
On September 7, the REC also hosted an informal dinner for the Environment Ministers of the associated countries and the Commissioner in Brussels. The Ministers agreed to appoint Mr. Lazdinis, Minister of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Lithuania, to present an opening speech on behalf of all associated countries - a very positive signal towards strengthened cooperation, especially as Lithuania was not among the five countries mentioned by the Commission on July 16.