Central and Eastern Europe The area with the greatest severity of soil loss from both wind and water erosion in Europe is the Balkan Peninsula and countries surrounding the Black Sea. Eutrophication remains a serious concern in the Baltic and Black Seas.  Automobile traffic could increase by 200 percent from 1994-2010.  The region's rich biodiversity of natural species and habitats continues to be threatened.  Accession Countries Economic growth is expected to increase 65 percent from 1995 to 2010 (44 percent for EU). Energy intensity in industry could improve by 35 percent by 2010. Private car use is expected to increase by 60 percent. Implementing the EU's urban wastewater directive could result in a 40-50 percent reduction in nutrient inputs, but the estimated cost for related infrastructure is about EUR 9 billion. In 1996, for the first time ever, road transport volume was higher than rail in terms of tonne-kilometres.  Total municipal waste will increase by 50 percent from 35 million tonnes in 1995 to 53 million tonnes in 2010. European Union Emissions of acidifying substances in 2000 are expected to be up to 75 percent lower than in 1980, mainly as a result of Europe's adoption of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979 and implementation of sulphur protocols. Greenhouse gas emissions have increased since 1990 in most EEA countries and are projected to increase in the EU by 6 percent from 1990-2010. Overall quantities of waste are still increasing and much biodegradable waste is still disposed in landfills. The 34 percent increase in GDP from 1985-1997 outstripped the 1.4 percent annual improvement in energy efficiency resulting in an overall 13 percent increase in energy supply which continues to depend on fossil fuels with significant environmental impacts. Western Europe produces 31 percent of global chemical production. Road transport efficiency has not improved over the last 30 years. Per capita municipal waste in Western Europe is up 35 percent since 1980. Global The ozone layer is expected to recover by 2025, largely because of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (ODS). Global consumption of ozone depleting substances (CFCs) fell from 1.1 million to 160,000 tonnes from 1986-1996. It is probably too late to prevent global warming as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions, which could lead to a rise in sea levels and the displacement of millions of people, reduced agricultural production in the tropics and sub-tropics and the  possible re-introduction of serious diseases like malaria to Europe and the wholesale loss of important ecosystems and biodiversity." "The scale of disruption to the nitrogen cycle may have global implications comparable to those caused by disruption of the carbon cycle." Mainly due to intensive agriculture, human activities have doubled the amount of nitrogen for uptake by plants and half of all nitrogen applied to plants as fertilizers is lost to the air and water. "We are fertilizing the Earth on a global scale and in a largely uncontrolled experiment," triggering algal blooms, underwater oxygen starvation and major fish kills in water bodies. Two-thirds of the global population could be living in water-stressed conditions by 2025. (Sources: EEA, Environmental Signals 2000 (May 3, 2000); EEA, Environment in the European Union at the Turn of the Century; UNEP, Global Environment Outlook 2000 report)

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