Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Commission cooperation with the Environment for Europe Process after the 2007 Ministerial Conference in Belgrade [SEC(2007) 633]
Date: 2007-05-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Central and Eastern Europe, EU environmental policy, accession to the European Union, environmental cooperation, environmental protection

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.5.2007 
COM(2007) 262 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Commission cooperation with the Environment for Europe Process after the 2007 
Ministerial Conference in Belgrade 

[SEC(2007) 633] 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Commission cooperation with the Environment for Europe Process after the 2007 
Ministerial Conference in Belgrade 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The Environment for Europe (EfE) process is an informal multilateral framework created in 
1991  to  stimulate  environmental  awareness  in  the  countries  of  Central  and  Eastern  Europe 
that  were  emerging  from  the  previous  regimes  and  moving  towards  market  economy  and 
democracy. The process was designed with a loose structure overseen by the United Nations 
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Since its inception, the EfE process has not had 
formal  links  with  the  European  Union  (EU)  although  the  European  Commission  and  many 
Member States have been and still are among the most active donors and participants. 

The  Environment  for  Europe  process  aimed  at  harmonising  environmental  quality  and 
policies  across  the  European  continent  and  securing  its  peace,  stability  and  sustainable 
development  in  the  context  of  transition  to  market  economies  and  democracy.  This  was  of 
particular relevance in the early 1990s providing a framework for prioritising actions and co-
ordinating the efforts of many different actors at that time. 

Sixteen  years  after  its  creation,  the  political  landscape  of  our  continent  has  changed 
fundamentally. The majority of the central and eastern European countries targeted by the EfE 
process have now joined the European Union, leading to closer links with the countries that 
are now the new neighbours of the Union. EU-Russia relations have developed into a wide-
ranging  Strategic  Partnership  (that  will  be  reflected  in  the  new  EU-Russia  Framework 
Agreement,  on  which  negotiations  are  foreseen  to  start  shortly);  the  Stabilisation  and 
Association  Process  offers  possible  EU  membership  to  the  countries  of  South  East  Europe; 
the adoption and strengthening of the European Neighbourhood Policy1, the negotiation of a 
new Enhanced Agreement with Ukraine that will acknowledge the Ukrainian wish to deepen 
its  relationship  with  the  EU,  the  EU-Central  Asia  Political  Dialogue,  and  the  recent 
Commission Communication on Black Sea Synergy2, all provide new opportunities for closer 
cooperation between the Union and the countries of the UNECE region. 

Environmental activities need therefore now to fit within the newly enhanced and structured 
foreign policy framework endorsed by the EU. This will also enhance better coordination of 
the  existing  environmental  processes  within  the  region,  thereby  contributing  to  a  more 
comprehensive and prioritised approach by the EU and the partner countries. 

1 

2 

Communication  from  the  Commission  on  Strengthening  the  European  Neighbourhood  Policy 
(COM(2006)  726  final)  proposes  a  set  of  measures  to  strengthen  the  Policy,  including  promotion  of 
people-to-people  contacts,  enhancing  regional  co-operation,  and  building  a  thematic  dimension  to  the 
ENP  which  would  cover  several  areas  such  as  environment,  transport  and  energy.  It  emphasizes  the 
effective implementation of multilateral agreements and processes, whether existing or new. 
Communication from the Commission on Black Sea Synergy – A New Regional Co-operation Initiative 
(COM(2007) 160 final). 

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The  Environment  for  Europe  process  is  now  at  a  crossroad.  Preparations  for  the  next  EfE 
Ministerial Conference to be held in Belgrade in October 2007 are underway. It is therefore 
timely to reflect on the future of the Environment for Europe process and the strategy for the 
Commission's participation in multi-lateral activities in the pan-European area for the period 
after the Belgrade conference. 

This  Communication  sets  out  the  views  of  the  European  Commission  on  the  future  of  the 
'Environment  for  Europe'  process,  as  well  as  its  involvement  in  EfE  related  activities  after 
Belgrade.  The  Communication  is  offered  as  a  contribution  to  the  discussions  at  the  2007 
Ministerial  Conference  where  the  future  of  the  EfE  process  will  feature  as  one  of  the  main 
items for discussion. 

2. 

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOR EUROPE PROCESS 

Over the years, the EfE process has been appreciated for its all-inclusiveness and for giving 
all member countries a voice in its multilateral fora. It has provided a framework for seeking 
to improve environmental policies and conditions in the UNECE region. However, on the one 
hand,  these  efforts  have  been  overtaken  directly  by  the  EU  when  the  Central  and  Eastern 
candidate countries joined the EU in 2004, and Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. On the other 
hand, in the other Eastern European countries of the post-Soviet space, progress in developing 
environment policies has been slow due to major internal political and economic constraints. 

Significant  products  of  the  EfE  process  include  the  contribution  by  the  UNECE  Working 
Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (WGEMA) to the preparation of the so-
called  pan-European  environmental  assessment  reports  produced  for  each  Ministerial 
Conference (with the European Environment Agency in the lead).  

One of the "flagships" of the EfE process is considered to be the Eastern Europe, Caucasus 
and Central Asia  (EECCA) Environment  Strategy,  which  aims  to  find  solutions  to  common 
environmental  problems  of  the  EECCA  countries3  on  the  basis  of  close  cooperation.  The 
Strategy was adopted at the Ministerial Conference in Kiev 2003 and has both advocates and 
critics.  The  advocates  usually  argue  that  the  Strategy  provides  a  common  framework  for 
solving  environmental  problems  in  countries  with  a  common  past  (the  legacy  of  the  former 
Soviet  Union),  and,  as  the  Strategy  lacks  clear  targets  and  time-tables,  refer  to  it  as  a 
"document  of  inspiration"  rather  than  a  normative  framework.  In  fact,  there  is  not  much 
evidence  to  date  of  any  serious  efforts  at  the  national  level  to  implement  this  EECCA 
Strategy. 

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Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and 
Uzbekistan. 

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The UNECE environmental conventions4 are not part of the EfE process per se, but are often 
cited as "successes" of the process. However, the low level of ratification and implementation 
of  some  of  the  five  UNECE  environmental  conventions  and  their  protocols,  in  particular  in 
the EECCA countries, remains a matter of concern.  

Ministerial conferences are held every 4 or 5 years with the intention of boosting action in the 
region.  However,  there  has  been  in  the  past  a  certain  tendency  to  include  in  the  conference 
agendas a too broad range of environmental issues, sometimes covered by other multilateral 
international fora resulting in discussions not always as productive as they were aimed at. For 
example, in Kiev, considerable negotiating time was spent on issues such as Climate Change, 
GMOs and Nuclear Safety, even though decisions concerning those issues were and still are 
not  within  the  remit  of  the  EfE  process  and  are  efficiently  dealt  with  by  other  international 
bodies. 

3. 

FROM KIEV TO BELGRADE 

At  the  time  of  the  previous  EfE  Ministerial  Conference  in  Kiev  in  2003,  the  European 
Commission expressed its views on the future of the process and its relationship with it in a 
Communication  entitled  "Pan-European  Environmental  Co-operation  after  the  2003  Kiev 
Conference" (COM (2003) 62 final).  

In that document, the Commission emphasised that the new political landscape created by an 
enlarged  EU  should  influence  the  future  focus  and  modalities  of  the  EfE  process.  As  a 
consequence, the Commission suggested in 2003 that the EfE process should re-orientate its 
future work towards strategic initiatives within the EECCA region where the experience and 
expertise  would  bring  an  added  value  with  respect  to  bilateral  cooperation  with  individual 
donor countries or with the EU. 

The  Kiev  Ministerial  Declaration  reflected  this  "shift  towards  the  East",  agreeing  formally 
that the EfE process would henceforth concentrate on the EECCA region. It was also agreed 
to  merge  the  activities  of  the  EAP  Task  Force (the  policy  steering  group)  and  the  PPC  (the 
financing  steering  group)  in  an  effort  to  rationalise  the  scarce  resources  available  under  the 
process.  However,  we  note  that  the  decision  to  choose  Belgrade  as  the  next  Ministerial 
Conference venue did not reflect the shift of geographical focus as agreed in Kiev. 

The  situation  and  trends  identified  by  the  Commission  in  its  2003  Communication  have 
intensified  in  the  years  leading  up  to  the  Belgrade  Ministerial  Conference  of  2007.  Among 
these  trends,  three  deserve  particular  attention  as  they  point  at  the  justification  for  the 
existence of the EfE process and its future function: 

•  First, the progressive expansion of the EU towards East: the fifth enlargement of the EU 
means  that  27  out  of  the  56  UNECE  members  are  now  within  the  EU  and  another  three 

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The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRAP); the Convention on 
Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context ("Espoo Convention"); the Convention 
on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes; the Convention on 
the Transboundary Effects on Industrial Accidents; the Convention on Access to Information, Public 
Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters ("Aarhus 
Convention"). 

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(Croatia,  Turkey  and  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia)  are  EU  candidates.  In 
addition,  four  more  (Albania,  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  Serbia,  and  Montenegro)  are  covered 
by the Stabilisation and Association Process and are potential EU candidates. Finally, the 
development of the European Neighbourhood Policy (where Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, 
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are covered in the East) and the Strategic Partnership with 
Russia  have  profoundly  changed  the  context  of  EU  relations  with  most  of  the  remaining 
EfE partners, 

•  Second,  the  EECCA  countries  are  becoming  more  and  more  diverse  in  their  internal 
politics  as  well  as  in  their  relations  with  partner  countries.  The  validity  of  treating  all 
EECCA countries as a unified region becomes therefore increasingly arguable; and,  

•  Third,  Russia  and  several  other  EECCA  countries  such  as  Kazakhstan  have  experienced 
rapid  economic  growth  since  the  late  1990s  and  are  far  less  reliant  on  foreign  aid  for 
environmental  investment  and  capacity  building.  Most  donors  have  significantly  reduced 
their aid programmes. 

The  upcoming  EfE  Ministerial  Conference  in  Belgrade  will  provide  an  opportunity  to  take 
stock of its achievements and reflect on its potential future role in a new geo-political context. 

Most  EU  Member  States  and  the  European  Commission  have  been  quite  committed  to  the 
EfE process and still are. However, recently, voices have been raised calling for an increased 
efficiency  and  a  tighter  focus  on  activities  where  the  highest  environmental  benefits  can  be 
expected,  for  example,  in  the  implementation  of  already  existing  instruments  rather  than 
discussion  of  ideas  for  new  ones.  The  European  Commission  has  expressed  its  support  for 
these views. 

4. 

PROPOSED WAY FORWARD 

In  the  Commission's  view,  the  EfE  process  has  made  an  important  contribution  to  the 
environmental 
its  role  has 
transition  of  CEE/SEE/EECCA  since  1991.  However, 
progressively decreased as other frameworks and initiatives have developed.  

Today, the EU legislation and standards in the environment area cover the normative needs of 
its newer member States in Central and Eastern Europe. The large majority of the remaining 
countries  in  the  UNECE  region  have  established  strong  links  with  the  EU  through  pre-
accession,  stabilisation  and  association  agreements  as  well  as  the  European  Neighbourhood 
Policy Action Plans, which all promote environment protection through better environmental 
governance, including legislation and institutions. This bilateral cooperation between the EU 
and  the  non-EU  countries  of  the  UNECE  region  offers,  in  the  Commission's  view,  a  more 
direct  instrument  to  target  the  environmental challenges  of  each  country  and  to  channel  the 
EU assistance, while also promoting coordination of existing environment processes showing 
a clear added value. 

The EU is truly supportive and actively involved in different multilateral environmental fora 
where the issues that are in the agenda of the Belgrade conference, are being discussed. This 
is the case for example of biodiversity, of high priority for the EU and where the Commission 

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supports  internationally  a  substantially  reinforced  Convention  on  Biological  Diversity  and 
increased funding towards the Global Environment Facility.5 

Another  example  is  Sustainable  Consumption  and  Production,  where  the  EU  Thematic 
Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources also has an external dimension which 
provides  for,  among  other  measures,  the  establishment  of  an  International  Panel  on  the 
sustainable  use  of  natural  resources  which  is  being  set  up  in  cooperation  with  the  United 
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It will provide independent scientific advice about 
the key environmental impacts of resource use. Important elements of the work will include 
contributing to strategies to reduce environmental impacts in rapidly expanding economies, in 
particular  through  changing  unsustainable  patterns  of  consumption  and  production,  and  to 
building knowledge and capacity in developing countries.  

Taking into account, on the one hand, increasingly active EU bilateral environmental relations 
and, on the other hand, an ever-increasing globalisation of the environmental cooperation, the 
Commission  thinks  that,  after  the  Belgrade  Conference,  the  central  role  for  the  UNECE 
should be to facilitate the implementation of the UN environmental conventions in the region, 
notably  with  respect  to  the  transboundary  scope  of  these  conventions.  It  is  also  the 
Commission's view that the UNECE should also continue playing its important coordinating 
role in the implementation at the regional level of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation 
of 2002 and continue its work on Environment Performance Reviews, which provide valuable 
policy  guidance  for  the  targeted  countries  as  well  as  an  important  overview  for  potential 
donors. 

Along these lines, the Commission intends to concentrate its involvement in the EfE process 
following  the  Belgrade  conference  in  those  initiatives  and  activities  that  could  not  be 
sufficiently reached through EU bilateral cooperation. 

More generally, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of activities, ensure coherence with 
the bilateral work of the EU and optimise resource allocation, the Commission will in so far 
as EfE is concerned, concentrate its involvement on: 

•  Actively participating in the implementation work of the existing UNECE environmental 

conventions, 

•  Contributing to UNECE Environmental Performance Reviews, 

•  Facilitating  and  supporting  the  network  of  EECCA  Regional  Environmental  Centres  (as 
long  as  they  can  potentially  play  a  key  role  for  capacity  building  in  the  neighbourhood 
countries as well as the Central Asian states)  

•  Participating  in  selected  sub-regional  initiatives  of  relevance  to  the  EfE  process,  in 

particular those focussed on Central Asia. 

•  Contributing, with EU Member States, to improvement of the water sector in the EECCA 

region towards the objectives of the EU Water Initiative (EUWI). 

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Communication  from  the  Commission:  "Halting  the  loss  of  biodiversity  by  2010  –  and  beyond. 
Sustaining ecosystem services for human well–being" COM(2006) 216 final. 

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