News fom the CEE region

EU ACCESSION

Poland must spend USD 550 million more each year on improving the environment to meet European Union standards by 2010, the nation's environment minister told Reuters in an interview published Feb. 17. Minister Jan Szyszko noted that Poland spent more than EUR 2 billion (USD 2.2 billion) on environmental measures in 1997, but added that it was not enough, Reuters reported. Szyszko refused to confirm that Poland was requesting a 10-year delay in implementing EU environmental rules as part of membership negotiations, saying "at the moment talks are being held and itÕs too early to say what we have requested," according to the Reuters report. But Polish press and Brussels diplomats say the EU will have to grant Poland some grace period on meeting environmental legislation, Reuters reported.

Hungary seeks time to comply with EU laws

During mid-January pre-accession meetings between the Hungarian government and the European Commission, Hungary sought permission to delay compliance with European Union water quality rules until some time after it becomes a full member of the EU, according to a report from ENDS Daily environmental news service. In a Jan. 20 report, ENDS quoted Istvan Ori, head of HungaryÕs negotiating team, as saying that improving water quality would take up to half the EUR 8.6 billion that Hungary expects it will have to invest to achieve environmental accession, and that only about 5 percent of the cost would come from EU financial aid sources. By 1994 still only 42 percent of Hungary's households were connected to secondary wastewater treatment facilities, compared with 90 percent in neighbouring Austria, the report said. In meetings over the next few weeks, discussions were to focus on industrial pollution, air quality, waste management and nuclear issues, the report said.

Czechs want time to meet EU standards

The Czech Republic will need transition periods to implement several aspects of the European Union's environmental acquis if it is to join the European Union on its target date of Jan. 1, 2003, according to a Feb. 26 report from ENDS Daily environment newsservice. The newsservice interviewed Bedrich Moldan of PragueÕs Charles University, also chairman of the REC, just after a final round of screening talks to assess progress towards EU standards in the environmental sector. Moldan was quoted as saying that the "sheer volume" of legislative adjustments that the Czech Republic would have to make was "worrisome." Still, ENDS said, the maximum grace period the country is likely to request on any item of legislation will be five years.

Czech water upgrade to cost USD 2 billion

A World Bank study found that it could cost over USD 2 billion to bring Czech water hygiene standards up to the level of the European Union, according to a Jan. 11 report from Radio Prague. Despite the broad range of things to do Ñfrom practical areas like upgrading water-processing technology to legislative matters such as introducing the principle that water polluters must pay clean-up costs Ñ an Environment Ministry official said he was confident the Czech Republic would be able to meet the EU requirements by the target year of 2005 set by the European Commission, the report said.

Floods soak Hungary Hungarian Mrs. Mihaly Paloc gestures in frustration at the water covering her property in Bodroghalom on March 8, above. At left is an aerial view of flooding in the village of Tarpa-Gulacs. More than 320,000 hectares were under water and 2,600 houses were in danger of collapsing in eastern Hungary as a result of heavy floods, according to March 9 Hungarian media reports. Approximately 550 people were evacuated from the eastern region already, the reports said. By March 6, Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared a state of emergency, saying the flooding was the worst the country has seen since 1966, according to the Hungarian news agency, MTI.

ROADS

President Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro told Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos in Podgorica on Feb. 10 that his government supports the construction of the proposed Adriatic highway, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The road, which is being promoted by Greek officials, would link Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Italy, and planners say it would facilitate travel and shipments throughout southern Europe.

ENERGY

In a Jan. 10 nation-wide referendum in Slovenia, 78 percent of the voters rejected a plan to build a new 200-megawatt coal-burning energy plant at Trbovlje, according to Dr. Miha Tomsic of E Forum, Slovenia. The plant, located in central Slovenia by the Sava River, had been planned to replace an ageing power plant nearby, which is scheduled to be closed in 2004. According to plans published by Termoelektrarna, the Slovenian power company, using coal at the proposed "TET3" plant would have helped support the coal mines in the surrounding area. In an open letter announcing the referendum results, Tomsic, whose group fought against the plan, wrote: "Looking into the (near) future, some effort will be needed to formulate a good alternative programme to TET3. This would probably include the closure of Trbovlje and Hrastnik mines, and should address the economic and social restructuring of the Zasavje region. Energy alternatives are numerous and do not pose severe problems."

Electricity use is expected to accelerate

Electricity consumption in both Western and Eastern Europe is expected to accelerate in the next decade, according to a study published by the UNIPEDE-EURPROG workgroup and reported by Radio Prague on Feb. 16. The report said the demand for electricity in Europe is expected to go up by 17.3 percent, an acceleration of 0.6 percent when compared to the previous decade. In Central and Eastern Europe, where economic growth is expected to dramatically increase demand, the acceleration figure is expected to reach 2.5 percent, the report said. The UNIPEDE-EURPROG workgroup has been issuing reports on expected and real development in the energy sector since 1970.

Czech environment minister opposes nuclear plant completion Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart said an independent commissionÕs report has convinced him to ask that the cabinet decide not to complete the controversial nuclear power plant at Temelin, according to a March 9 report from Radio Free Europe. The government-appointed commission has recommended halting construction because the high risks involved in the project mean that, even though CKR 70 billion has already been spent, possible economic losses could be much greater if Temelin was completed, Radio Prague reported on March 9. According to several sources, the commissionÕs report questions the Czech RepublicÕs need for the electricity the plant, pictured above, would generate.

BIODIVERSITY

Former film star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot is to step in to help save a family of wolves in southern Hungary, according to a Feb. 17 report carried by Agence France Presse. Hunters want to target the wolves, which have been picking on sheep in the Kiskunsag National Wildlife Park in southern Hungary since last May, when they strayed, probably from Romania, the report said. Bardot says she backs the park authorities who have refused to grant official permission to kill the animals, and was quoted as saying: "I shall consult my advisers about the situation, on how we could save the wolf family." Bardot has spearheaded many animal rights campaigns in the region, including a program to help stray dogs in Bucharest. The head of the park, Istvan Tolgyesi, issued a ban on shooting wolves last week, according to Hungarian newspaper Blikk.

Black stork trackers

During an official visit to France by Czech President Vaclav Havel and other Czech officials in the first week of March, French environment minister, Dominique Voynet, gave her Czech counterpart, Milos Kunzvart, two satellite transmitters to monitor the migration of the endangered black stork, according to a March 4 report from Radio Prague. The program for the protection of these rare birds is a joint effort of Belgian, Czech and Luxembourg environmentalists. The transmitters were donated as compensation for two black storks shot last year, according to Radio Prague. (Environmental news briefs from Central and Eastern Europe are brought to you by the Media Information Service (MIS) of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe. The Service is specifically geared to assisting environmental journalists from the region with their reporting and information searches. To learn more about the MIS, e-mail or visit the MIS website at: .)