The Czech Republic has begun implementation, adopting Law No. 123/1998 on Environmental Information on July 1. The law assures free access to environmental information for any NGO or individual citizen, without requiring explanation or the purpose for which the information is required. Among key features is its definition of environmental information, request procedures, terms and conditions for publication and access and environmental education. Although the law harmonises with EU standards, it presently falls short of meeting the requirements of the Public Participation Convention (the scope of which is somewhat broader) which was still in draft format at the time of the new law's adoption.
Slovakia's parliament also recently adopted its new Law on Access to Environmental Information, which incorporated a number of NGO comments. As with the Czech Republic, the Public Participation Convention was still in draft format at the time of adoption, although the two are largely compatible (even without Slovakia signing the Convention — a result of forthcoming elections). Consideration in the drafting process was also given to the corresponding EU Directive. The law comes into force in September.
In Albania, a Decree on Access to Information was recently adopted, while in Poland, under the forthcoming environmental framework law, a chapter will be devoted to the same issue. Latvia and Bulgaria are also considering implementing legislation in the field, with the above Convention expected to accelerate activities in the field in all CEE countries.
Taking a closer look at the EU's own practices, it is interesting to note that even the EU is not faultless in guaranteeing public access to information. As a direct result of a refusal by the EU's Council of Ministers to a request for all but two of 20 documents submitted by the Swedish Journalists' Union in 1995, a new EU Court ruling of June 17 called for greater institutional transparency. Under the new ruling, any EU institution will now have to stress in full the specific reasons for not supplying requested information and documents which should otherwise be forthcoming.
Telematics applications and technologies (see story on page 16) can also be seen as a means for facilitating the implementation of both the Convention and the EU Directive. By assisting both in the collection and dissemination of information, these applications serve as a support to both decision-makers and the general public. By ensuring the free flow and sharing of data, they are also being used as a tool to encourage public participation in the decision-making process. The future Fifth Research and Technological Development Framework Programme of the European Union should provide opportunities for many CEE countries to get involved in the further development of state of the art technologies that further public access to environmental information.
References to the above pieces of legislation and others in the field of access to information in CEE and the NIS can be found in Doors to Democracy, a recent REC publication series prepared for the Aarhus meeting in Denmark. The publication summarises the current status of public participation in the decision-making process in 20 countries. Copies are available from Magdi Toth Nagy.
The Land Code, currently circulating in the federal Duma (parliament) appears ready to allow for the reclassification and privatisation of forest lands. Among its articles, it proposes to remove procedural protection for First Group Forests — i.e. to remove them from the formal reclassification process. Secondly, while the draft theoretically allows for reclassification and privatisation only for housing construction, there is concern that large parcels of forest land will be privatised under the guise of domicile construction and that later the bulk of these parcels will be sold to the local Forest Service which could exploit them for timber. Finally, privatisation for housing construction most commonly occurs in the greenbelt forests around cities that have been designated as First Group forests, primarily for their watershed protection value. Cutting significant areas of these forests would have critical effects on both urban water supply and quality.
(Summarised from the Spring Issue of Environmental Advocacy. For further information please contact: ecojuris@glasnet.ru.)
The legal loop-hole arose as a result of the last-minute removal of a clause in the draft of the Environmental Protection Act which stated that any new regulations left unwritten when the Act went into effect last January would be governed by former regulations. According to a source at the Polish Ministry of Environment, however, new standards have now begun to be implemented and the final round of executive orders governing emissions are expected to be passed this fall.
(Summarised from an article that appeared in the Warsaw Business Journal, May 1998.)
