The November 1998 Report noted that there had been a slowing down in the process of legislative harmonisation and stressed that Hungary had not met the short-term priorities of the Accession Partnership. The national legislation harmonisation programme and the accompanying budget provisions provide for full transposition of all of the environment acquis during the period 2000-2001. The October 1999 Report found that progress had been achieved in the areas of nature protection, pollution from industrial plants and large combustion plants as well as the control of major accidents. However, substantial efforts were still needed, in particular in the areas of waste and waste management, water and air quality. If Hungary wanted to achieve its ambitious target for full transposition in 2001, it would need to urgently speed up both legal alignment and boost investment in environmental technology and infrastructure.
Administrative capacity has to be increased.
The acquis comprises of approximately 200 legal instruments covering a wide range of fields, including water and air pollution, the management of waste and chemicals, biotechnology, radiation protection and nature conservation. Member States must ensure that an environmental impact assessment is carried out before approving certain public and private-sector development projects. The European Association Agreement stipulates that Hungarian development policies must be guided by the principle of sustainable development and take full account of environmental considerations. In 1998, Hungary adopted an ambitious programme of National Environment Protection including an investment programme covering the years 1998-2002. Recently, it carried out a review of the tasks still to be accomplished in the environment field and drew up a harmonisation programme covering all sectors and most directives.