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Last changed: 11/02/2009
The "Environment for Europe" Process was initiated in 1991 at a pan-European Ministerial Conference held in Dobris, Czech Republic, and it was key in bringing closer together central and eastern Europe as well as Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia (EECCA), formerly known as the Newly Independent States.
The objective of the multilateral process is to bundle national and international competencies in environmental protection and to improve the environmental situation in the transition countries. This is why a long-term environmental action programme known as Environmental Action Program (EAP) was developed for the region during the second "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference held in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1993. Its implementation have been supported by the EAP Task Force, the (new) Regional Environmental Centers, RECs), and up until 2007, by the Project Preparation Committee, PPC. A decision was made at the Sixth Pan-European Ministerial Conference ”Environment for Europe” to integrate the PPC into the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Since the Fifth Pan-European ”Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference held in Kiev in 2003, the focus of the "Environment for Europe" process has been on the EECCA states. A separate Environment Strategy was adopted for these states whose objective is to support the EECCA states in their environmental protection efforts as well as to promote partnerships within the region and with other UNECE states. The First Ministerial Conference of the EECCA States ("Kiev+1" Conference) took place in Tiflis in October, 2004. The environment ministers of the former Soviet Union's successor states and their partners discussed first results of the action programmes and partnerships elaborated to implement the EECCA Environment Strategy.
The "Environment for Europe" process is embodied by the Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE. The Conferences of Ministers are organised by a newly appointed UNECE Ad Hoc Working Group of High Officials and take place at regular four-to-five-year intervals. The Seventh Ministerial Conference is scheduled for 2011 in Kazakhstan.
The UNECE regularly produces country reports on the environmental policies of its member states (Environmental Performance Reviews, EPRs), in collaboration with the Expert Group on Environmental Performance. The Expert Group is composed of 11 members, whereby a certain geographic balance is maintained. The group members are appointed biennially by the CEP, most recently in April 2008:
Ms Gabriella Buzas (Hungary)
Ms Nadejda Dotsenko (Ukraine)
Mr Bekmurad Eyerberdiyev (Turkmenistan)
Ms Vanya Grigorova (Bulgaria)
Ms Ann-Sofi Israelson (Sweden)
Mr Grigol Lazriev (Georgia)
Mr Harry Liiv (Estonia)
Ms Anneliese Looß (Germany, Umweltbundesamt - UBA)
Mr Adriaan Oudeman (Netherlands)
Ms Martine Rohn-Bossard (Switzerland)
Ms Jarmila Zimmermannov (Czech Republic)
The ”Environment for Europe” process has resulted in inclusion of the transition countries in the EPRs. In addition, the European Environment Agency periodically publishes Reports on the status of the environment in Europe parallel to the Ministerial Conferences and with the support of Member States, the states in the EECCA Region, and the UNECE Ad Hoc Working Group on Environmental Monitoring, WGEM). Furthermore, the EU regularly issues Country Reports as part of its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
Some 1,000 delegates from 51 Member States attended the Sixth Ministerial Conference held in Belgrade in October 2007. Participants included government envoys, delegates from regional environmental authorities, intergovernmental organisations, and non-governmental organisations.
Some states in the EECCA Region have improved their environmental standards. However, there were signs of significant shortcomings with respect to clean drinking water and sanitation, energy consumption, loss of biodiversity, unsustainable consumption and production models, as well as evidence of the impact of global warming. These findings were presented in reports which the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the EAP Task Force had prepared. The Environmental Performance Reviews reach similar conclusions.
Despite differences of opinion on the ”Environment for Europe” process, the Ministers agreed to continue the process, on condition that reform take place by 2009 so as to safeguard its efficiency and the role it plays in the improvement of the environment in the EECCA states. Own contributions by participating countries are essential for this. The conference participants pointed to the urgent need for improved monitoring so as to support implementation of environmental protection measures at the national level. The Committee for Environmental Policy (CEP) is to draw up a plan for reform by the end of 2008.
The German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) has been involved in the "Environment for Europe" process since 1992 by providing support to the German Federal Ministry of Environment (Bundesumweltministerium - BMU) in its preparations for Ministerial Conferences, and it sponsors Advisory Assistance projects designed to implement resolved measures and action programmes which have been adopted. Furthermore, Germany is represented by UBA in the Expert Group on Environmental Performance.