Chapter 22: the Environment
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One year ago, almost to the day, the European Commission sent to Croatian Government a documents with its views on the Croatian candidacy for EU membership.
The document covers and describes the complete social situation, offers analysis and recommendations of actions needed to fulfil European criteria. Among other sectors included in the analyses, attention was paid to the environment, with precise details on the current situation in the EU-Croatia relationship. At the very beginning, the chapter on environment says that the state environmental policies are directed at the promotion of sustainable development and environmental protection; it tries to integrate environmental protection with the other policies; and is dedicated to the preventive action based on the “polluter shall pay” principle.
Furthermore, the Commission believes that the 1999 Law on Environmental Protection needs more work and amending (the polishing was completed at the end of 2004!), and it has to be given higher importance and urgency in the implementation. State Institutions and the Environment In addition to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the state established the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Bureau for Protection of Nature. However, they still seek their true place in the environmental policy. There are big obstacles to implementation of legislation on local level, which needs increased capacities, efforts and funding to raise the accountability in terms of environmental protection. A rather interesting segment of the Chapter on environment refers to the judiciary. The EC concludes that the number of court procedures on violations of environmental regulation is high, but the levels of implementation of the rulings remain low. It could be attributed to the insufficient human and financial resources, the weaknesses of the Croatian legal and judicial systems, as well as to lacking legislation that prevents the efficient implementation. Regardless of the fact that Croatia (both institutionally and outside the institutions) is involved in several large international programmes (REReP, CARDS, LIFE), the environmental awareness is on the rise, but the public participation in environmental decision making and the access to information on the environment remain weak, says the European administration. The only step forward was made with the passing of the Law on Access to Information, but its non-applicability is caused by the numerous lobbyists and the existing monopolies in economy, transportation, agriculture... For instance, the ratification of the Aarhus Convention remains on ice in Croatia. "The investments in environmental infrastructure remain low. Significant investment has to be secured in order to implement the EU environmental legislation. The integration of environmental aspects in other policies is one of the key principles employed by the National Environmental Protection Strategy, passed by the Sabor in 2002, and of its implementing document, the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP). The Strategy is one of the components of the overall development strategy of Croatia, so that many other sectors (tourism, transportation, energy...) include environmental protection in their list of goals. It remains to be seen, however, how will these strategies be transformed into practical measures? On practical level, there are indications that the environment doesn’t get the appropriate attention in the development of other sectors. The national sustainable development strategy is yet to be drafted and adopted”, states the Opinion on Candidacy of the Republic of Croatia for EU membership. On Air, Waste, Waters... The air we breathe in Croatia is mostly clean, which is a result of the reductions in terms of heavy industry since 1990. We need, nonetheless, plans to secure the clean air for the future. The waste management remains the single greatest individual problem of environmental protection in Croatia. The legislative framework needs to be harmonized with the standards demanded by the EU. Also, the existing regulation should be implemented. We need a plan for waste management, establish and build a system of facilities for recycling and disposall of waste, as well as systems for collection and return. For the moment, the waste management policies refer almost exclusively to regional, local and illegal waste dumps. We still lack proper sites for disposal of hazardous waste. In spite of the fact that the new Law on Waste was passed by the Sabor at the end of 2004, we still lack the by-laws and rulebooks for its proper implementation. The existing legislation on quality of water supply provides a good foundation for harmonization with EU legislation, although on local level, we often lack the proper by-laws. In addition, Croatia is a signatory to the International Covenant for Protection of the Danube. Waste water remains a huge problem. The sewage system is available to 40% of the population, and only 12% of the water is purified (less than 5% is purified in a second cycle). The Europeans’ message is that, in order to be in compliance with the EU legislation, Croatia will have to invest heavily in facilities for collection and processing of waste water, as well as in the supply of potable water. Nature Protection Almost 10% of the total territory of Croatia is under protection, although there are reasons for expansion of protected territory to approximate the EU average of 15-20% in the future (43% of Croatia is under forests). But even in this segment, in spite of the existing legislative framework for protection of nature, the implementation measures need to the strengthened, especially in terms of protected area management. In that context, the decision to reorganize the Ministry of Environmental Protection and move the nature protection to the Ministry of Culture is not the usual practice in the EU member states. The protection of endangered species outside the protected areas is not provided for at the moment. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) entered into force in 2000. However, the activities in that field are reduced to the personal sensibility of individual civil servants. Regarding the chemical and GMOs, we have to wait and see whether the newly established system for restriction of GMO use is compatible to the legislation on free flow of goods and services. The legislation on use of chemicals is incomplete, there is no registry of chemicals available in the market, nor is the identification of “new” chemicals required and enforced. For that reason, great effort will have to be invested to get our legislation win compliance with the EU legislation in the chemical industry sector. The legislation on biotechnology is not implemented. In the meantime, the draft legislation in the field entered the Sabor procedures at the end of 2004. However, due to the sensitive nature of the subject of GMO and the disrespect for the public opinion, the Law was not passed to this day. Nuclear Powerplants The Opinion of the European Commission on nuclear safety and protection from radiation, states that Croatia has established the legal framework on the basic security standards, medical exposure and emergency actions. However, the acceptance of directives that define the basic security standards and directives on health protection related to medicinal exposure to radiation need further elaboration and completion. The part of the legislation that covers the operational protection of workers in the field, as well as providing information to the public in emergencies and control of disposal of radioactive waste is yet to be adopted. The Ministry of Economy is in charge of nuclear safety, licensing of nuclear facilities, including the fuel and waste processing facilities, as well as application of nuclear safety measures. At the moment, Croatia has two facilities for storage of used sources of radiation and low radiation nuclear waste. The Law on Nuclear Safety, adopted in October 2003, provides for the establishment of a National Bureau for Nuclear Safety. Due to lacking administrative capacities, the direct implementation of the provisions in Articles 33-37 of the Euratom Agreement and procedures for emergencies and crises will present significant problems. For that reason, Croatia has to establish the appropriate authorities for prevention of radiation pollution and independent advisory bodies, conclude the members of the European Commission in the Document submitted to the Government of Croatia in April 2004. Finally, the conclusions of the document recommend to Croatia to invest as much effort, time and money in environmental protection as possible, especially in lasting and long-term programmes. The Opinion presented here is one year old, and was published on the web-sites of Ministries of European Integrations and Foreign Affairs. However, the period from April 2004 till April 2005 was spent discussing the zero tolerance for alcohol consumption while driving, football and the fate of Ante Gotovina, rather than working hard on these recommendations. |
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