The EU Accession and the EU Policy Agenda: Opportunities and Threats for Rio Conventions

1. The EU Accession and the EU Policy Agenda: Opportunities and Threats for Rio Conventions NCSA Sub-Regional Workshop Bratislava, March 30-31, 2004. Richard Filcak

2. Outline of the Presentation • The UN and the EU political agenda; • The EU and capacity development – general overview; • Enlargement and post-enlargement Agenda– policies and programmes for implementation of the 3 conventions; • Discussing synergies/Opportunities and Threats.

3. THE UN PROCESS Stockholm (1972) United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Declaration of Principles) Rio The Earth Summit 1992 (Declaration, A21, 3 Conventions) Rio + 5 2000 & Millennium Development Goals MDG 2002 Johannesburg – World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) Declarations WEHAB Initiative THE EU POLICY AGENDA Single European Market (1972) and Common Environmental policy Single European Act (87) – Env formally part of the agenda The EU Climate Package (1992), biodiversity strategy (1998) Aarhus `98 Access to Information, participation and decision-making European Sustainable Development Strategy (2001) The 6th Community Environmental Action Plan 2002 – (10 years) Priorities: Water for Life, Renewable Energy, Production & Consumption

4. The EU and capacity development – general overview • There is no policy or legislation in the European Union that would be specifically oriented to development of individual, institutional or systemic capacity in the area of the environment and/or development. However, there are indirect incentives, requirements and programmes.

5. Conventions EU related Policies Instruments/Funds/Opportunities Impact on the capacity development (individual/institutional/systemic)

6. Good Governance, Transparency and Public Participation EU-related Policies • Subsidiarity Principle • Horizontal legislation - Access to information, decision making, environmental reporting, EIA/SEA • Aarhus Convention/Directive on access to environmental justice • Sustainability assessment (?)

7. Good Governance, Transparency and Public Participation Pre-Accession Process • Institutional Capacity Building Programs (e.g., Twinning) • Acquis implementation programmes (PHARE/ISPA/SAPARD) • Stakeholders capacity development (NGO sector, Public Awareness Projects)

8. The EU and the 3 Conventions • Framework Convention of Climate Change (FCCC) • Convention on Protection of Biodiversity (CBD) • Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) Cross-Sectoral approach and policy integration (Cardiff Process) is the key challenge

9. Framework Convention of Climate Change (FCCC) EU-related Policies • Energy Policy/Climate Package: • Promotion of greater energy efficiency through SAVE programme (created in 1991) and renewable energy ALTENER (1993), later for 2003-2006 Intelligent Energy Europe (EIE); • Adoption of monitoring mechanisms, States are obliged to develop national CO2 reduction programmes. • A carbon energy tax. • Emission trading, Transport Policy • Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 2003) • Foreign assistance to 3rd World Countries

10. Convention on Protection of Biodiversity (CBD) EU-related Policies • The EU policy on biodiversity is based on the birds and habitats directives and the water framework directive, while it aims towards integration of biodiversity policy within policies and programmes such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, energy, transport and tourism. • Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 2003) • Other (GMO, air, waste, water quality, fisheries)

11. Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) EU-related Policies • No coherent policy (despite interest of the Southern Mediterranean states) • No EU forestry policy, despite several attempts to make one. • Soil Protection (erosion, loss of fertility, contamination, CAP) • Grant programmes for the 3rd countries

12. The Key Challenge - Implementation • EU environmental policy continues to be one of the few elements of the European project that enjoys genuine public appeal, despite being weakly implemented. • However, the accumulation of the sizeable implementation 'deficit' during the 32 years of common env. policy raises grave doubts about the overall effectiveness of the approach

13. The Key Challenge - Implementation The EU Environmental Policy distinguishes between: • formal compliance (the legal process of transposing law into national legislation) and • practical compliance (determining whether the ends specified in the directive are actually achieved) But: The Commission is almost entirely dependent upon Member States reporting back on what they are actually doing, on costly and time-consuming consultancy reports, or on whatever national environmental groups and private actors choose to submit via the formal complaints procedure.

14. There are (at least) four interlinked reasons why implementation languished: • political symbolism(appraised on the basis of the amount of legislation adopted, rotated presidency and competition) • bureaucratic politics (relations between the Commission and the members states) • institutional power relations (how cases of non-compliance are to be processed) • Lack of capacity for implementation (Individual/Institutional/Systemic)

15. UN/INTERNATIONAL AGENDA • The Member States • Individual/Institutional/Systemic • Capacities: • For the own and the EU • agenda Implementation; • 2. Capacity to formulate Int. • and EU policies The Council of Ministers The EU Commission The EU Parliament THE EU POLICY AGENDA The European Court of Justice

16. Future of the EU Env. policy • Sustainable development axis; • Principle of subsidiarity (sharing of responsibility between different tiers of the government: decision should be taken as close as possible to the affected public, at the lowest level of jurisdiction encompassing all those effected) • Integration of environmental requirements into EU policies (long-term commitment), Cardiff Process and Lisbon Agenda; • Cohesion policies 2007-13 (336 bill EUR): Focus on competitiveness within and outside the EU

17. National Level Institutional/Systemic level Implement the EU agenda Formulate own national priorities Develop capacities for participation in the EU policy formulation Policy integration (get sustainable aspects into development plans, strategies) Regional/Local level Institutional/Individual/Systemic level Capacity development for implementation of the EU regional policy (especially for next programming period 2007-2013) Regional and local sustainability programs and projects (LA 21, sustainability programs/plans) Key challenges for accessing countries

18. Drivers for capacity development • Participation in the EU policy formulation (imply better analytical work and multi-stakeholders dialogue to protect specific interests); • Legislative compliance (European Court of Justice); • Participation in the financial schemes of the EU (e.g., Structural/Cohesion Funds, Intelligent Energy Europe); • Social/employment opportunities (e.g., tourism development, new jobs in the Renewable energy production) • Public demand

19. There are two possible levels in this discussion: • How the EU enlargement process supports capacity development, policy formulation and implementation of the 3 conventions in the Accession/New Member States; • How to use specific programs and financial instruments of the EU for implementation of national agenda and capacity building on the regional/local level (individual/Institutional and systemic capacity).