You are in: Home > International Environmental Protection, Antarctic - What's new > Advisory Assistance for Environmental Protection
Last changed: 26/03/12
The Advisory Assistance Programme of the German Federal Environment Ministry supports Central and Eastern European countries, the Russian Federation, the Ukraine as well as certain countries of the Caucasus region and Central Asia in their efforts to advance environmental protection.
The programme focuses on the EU candidate countries and on cross-border cooperation within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Supporting the new member states and the EU candidates in adopting and implementing the European Union’s environmental legislation is a priority. With this bilateral programme, Germany is also backing up the ”Environment for Europe” process as well as the environment strategy for the Newly Independent States (now known as Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia) agreed by the environment ministers of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE).
The Advisory Assistance Programme was launched in 2000 and is due to be continued until 2010. Currently, its annual budget is EUR 2.24 million. Each year, it supports 40 to 50 projects dealing with a wide range of topics. The Federal Environment Agency is responsible for managing the programme on behalf of the Federal Environment Ministry. The agency works with project partners from industry, the sciences or non-governmental organisations from Germany and abroad.
Many projects are initiated by technical working groups which meet regularly on the basis of bilateral environmental agreements with Central and Eastern European countries, the Russian Federation and the Ukraine.
The projects support the transfer of environmental and financial know-how or the implementation and enforcement of EU environmental legislation. An additional aim is to create synergies with and to support other international ”donor activities”. This covers, for example, the realisation of projects that deal with the technical preparation, accompanying and intensification of Twinning partnerships involving German participation. However, the programme does not focus on bilateral projects only. It expressly supports cross-border cooperation in the regions referred to as the European Union’s ”new neighbourhood”. Preparation of environmental investment projects, mainly in the fields of water and waste management, is another priority of the programme, as are measures to foster environmental awareness, mainly through support for non-governmental organisations.
Projects are compiled in the International Environmental Protection projects database the database is being revised currently.