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Last changed: 23/04/12
On 11 June 1993 Germany and Bulgaria signed a bilateral agreement on the environment. Since then, a high-profile German-Bulgarian team which meets on an annual or biennial schedule has executed concrete cooperative projects. Areas of focus include protection of the natural diversity of species, protection of water bodies, clean air policy, conservation and climate protection, and waste management. Bulgaria became a member of the European Union on 1 January 2007. Environmental protection was first institutionalised through foundation of a Ministry for Environment in 1990 and anchored as a national objective in the Bulgarian constitution of 1991 (Art. 15). The Bulgarian government first laid down the principle of sustainable development in law in the Environmental Protection Act of September 2002.
Project funding in Bulgaria came from the German Federal Government’s TRANSFORM programme until the late 1990s. Since 2000 the Federal Ministry for Environment has had its own instrument, the next phase of the TRANSFORM Advisory Assistance Programme, which is managed by the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt - UBA). The programme supports countries in central and eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia in the introduction of high environmental standards.
Advisory Assistance projects in Bulgaria since then have focused on the areas of energy/climate protection, waste management, and drinking water/protection of water bodies. UBA provided expert guidance under the leadership of the Federal Ministry for Environment in twinning projects on clean air policy and chemicals safety, as well as waste management and protection of water bodies. Germany is currently advising Bulgaria on implementation of European environmental legislation in the areas of mining and detergents (cleaning agents).
Workshops on the redevelopment of mines attended by German and Bulgarian experts took place in June 2007 and March 2008 in Sofia. Implementation of the EC Mining Waste Directive as well as the redevelopment of mining sites pose great environmental policy challenges for Bulgaria. The workshops served to define the necessary redevelopment and disposal measures in former mining areas and to illustrate current problems at mines which have been closed down, e.g. rising groundwater. The exchange of experience and transfer of know-how have accomplished a lot in coping with the acute environmental problems associated with the redevelopment of mines in Bulgaria. Since industry consumes more than half of total coal production, coal mining is Bulgaria’s main industry.
A new Advisory Assistance project on the implementation of the European Detergent Regulation (EC) Nr. 648/2004 started in 2008. The project intends to advise Bulgaria on implementation of the Detergent Regulation and to reinforce the existing administrative capacities of Bulgaria’s regulatory authorities. The objective is to enable the monitoring of detergents and surfactants and to minimise their impact on the environment and public health. Industry and consumers are to receive information about tensides in detergents. The project seizes on experience gained in Germany in adapting laws on cleaning agents to the Detergent Regulation.