Within the EU integration process, Serbia has to comply with the minimum EU standards pertaining to environmental assessment of industrial and infrastructural projects, as well as planning documents.

These procedures are of immense importance for prevention and reduction of adverse environmental effects connected with human activities. What are the existing institutional solutions and capacities of the public administration with regard to implementation of the environmental assessments? To what extent does the public participate in the procedure? Is the implementation of the environmental assessments in Serbia in compliance with the EU standards? Based on comprehensive analysis, with a focus on environmental assessment of projects at the local level, the study provides answers to these and other related questions and also provides recommendations for further improvements of the procedures.

This Policy Brief was written with Study that was conducted within the project “Think-Act-Impact”, jointly implemented by the European Policy Centre in Belgrade, the Ecological Centre “Habitat” and the association of citizens Serbia on the Move. Project is financially supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade and co-financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Government of Republic of Serbia.

Članak Implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment in Serbia in the EU Integration Context se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

Serbia is facing serious challenges in the field of environmental protection and harmonizing its standards with those of the European Union. To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to spend at least 10 billion euros.

Currently, Serbia spends less than 0.5% of its GDP on environmental protection, which is below the average sum allocated in the EU and far less than the amount allocated by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe during their accession process. Before the share of share of GDP allocated for environmental protection increases, it is important to have a quality system of planning and utilization of funds designated for environmental protection.

This policy brief provides an overview of the current situation in terms of financing environmental protection at the local level and recommendations for overcoming the identified issues. The brief is based on the policy research in which official documents and information from state institutions and (145) local self-governments, as well as responses to questionnaires sent by the officers from (92) local self-governments and representatives (97) of environmental civil society organizations were analysed.

Članak Local Financies and the Environment se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

Serbia is facing serious challenges in the field of environmental protection and harmonizing its standards with those of the European Union.

To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to spend at least 10 billion euros. Considering the scope of competencies, inadequate capacities and different practices of municipalities and cities, the issue of financing environmental protection at the local level deserves special attention. This Policy Brief relies on the results of the analysis of the previous Brief and contains an analysis of the programs that use money from environmental funds, a review of the consent given by the competent ministry to the mentioned programs, as well as other findings and recommendations for improving the existing situation in this area.

Članak Financing Environmental Protection at the Local Level se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

This move is in line with the long-standing recommendations of the professional and wider public, active in the field of environmental protection. Serbia faces enormous problems in the area of environment, while it simultaneously strives towards the membership in the EU, where the environmental standards are particularly high. The complexity and the extensive scope of EU law in the field of environment and the estimated costs of aligning Serbia with the EU standards (at least EUR 10 billion) indicate to the importance of the existence of a special ministry in charge of the environmental protection. In that sense, the new Ministry would be completely focused on environmental policy without prioritization inherent in Ministries with multiple competencies. This reduces the risk that environmental policy will receive less attention in the decision-making process. At the same time, the chances are that the new ministry will work more intensively on environmental protection and harmonization with the EU standards and be more proactive in advocating the necessary reforms in this area towards the centre of the Government, other ministries and other state institutions. Cooperation with civil society, dialogue with local self-governments and business sector is also expected to be intensified. Finally, such a Ministry will be further interested in strengthening its own environmental protection capacities. In overall, the total positive impact on the environment, population health and the accession process is expected to increase.

This sort of development, however, needs to be further ensured, since, according to the proposed amendments of the Law on Ministries, the new Ministry for Environmental Protection, despite its title, will not necessarily contain all the competences relevant for this policy area. In addition to the proposed Ministry of Environmental Protection, there will be a separate Ministry, which besides the agriculture will also be in charge of forestry and water management (and would include the Republic Water Directorate). Tasks related to water protection are mentioned in the list of competences of both ministries which implies that that the water sector would be divided to a certain extent between the ministries. Considering the significant connection of the water and forestry sector with environmental protection, it is necessary to take all appropriate steps in order to avoid a situation in which the new ministry cannot effectively perform its designated function. Coordination between ministries and other institutions is, of course, a necessity that should generally be done not only in the field of environment, but also in other areas of public policy. However, in view of some of the previous identified practices pertaining to insufficient coordination between state institutions, there is a risk that this division of competences could lead to a negligence of certain issues of particular importance for the environment and which are not within the competence of the new ministry (which, in turn, were combined within the previous Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection). The same applies, in general, to other areas of importance for environmental protection, which have been part of other Ministries (for example, energy, spatial planning, construction, etc.).

Of course, it is hard to expect that a single Ministry could be fully in charge of all issues of importance to environmental protection, given its complexity and its interaction with other areas of public policy (for example, education, health, etc.). Nonetheless, I still want to highlight, that it is important that as many areas of environmental importance are situated under the roof of a single Ministry, as this ensures greater coherence and a clearer hierarchy between the relevant actors in the decision-making process. Which areas are of particular importance for the environment, can definitely be the subject of a wider discussion, but one of the useful indicators may be that if certain policy areas already belong to the Negotiating Chapter 27 (given that environmental changes are closely related to the process of EU accession). Mechanisms for effective inter-ministerial and inter-institutional co-ordination should be provided for all relevant activities remaining under the competence of other Ministries. This must be considered before the establishment of the new Ministry for Environmental Protection and continuously be taken into account during the course of its work. This is the only to ensure that the maximum “added value” of the new Ministry is achieved, both in terms of environmental protection, as well as performance with regard to the accession negotiations.

Članak Green light for a Green Ministry se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

In order to ensure a healthy environment and full compliance with EU standards, Serbia has to face significant challenges in terms of financing environmental protection, especially at the local level.

In order to ensure a healthy environment and full compliance with EU standards, Serbia has to face significant challenges in terms of financing environmental protection, especially at the local level. According to official estimates, more than 10 billion euros need to be invested to fully align Serbia with EU standards in the field of environmental protection. Given the scope of competencies, insufficient capacities and differing practices of municipalities and cities, the issue of financing the environmental protection at the local level deserves special attention. New CEP Brief includes a description of the expenditures recorded in the accounts of local budget funds for environmental protection, an analysis of the relationship between the mentioned expenditures and local environmental benefits and recommendations for improving the existing situation in this area.

Članak Financing the Environmental Protection at the Local Level: Relationship between Revenues and Expenditures se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

The new study addresses these questions and more, and provides a set of anwers as well as recommendations for better nature protection in line with the EU standards.

The study was developed within Banatska platforma project, which was implemented by the Ecological Centre Stanište in cooperation with the European Policy Centre (CEP), organization Agroznanje and several other organizations gathered within the regional network Banatska platforma (the Banat Platform). The project and the study are financially supported by the Open Society Fund, Serbia.

The authors are (besides Stefan Šipka) Dejan Maksimović i Dr. Biljana Panjković.

Članak Protected Areas in Vojvodina se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

In the process of European integration, Serbia must meet the EU’s minimum standards regarding assessing the impact of industrial and infrastructure projects and planning documents on the environment. Therefore, we are talking about procedures of significant importance for preventing and reducing the harmful effects of human activities on the environment.

What are the public administration’s existing institutional solutions and capacities regarding implementing impact assessment? To what extent does the public participate in the proceedings? Is the implementation of impact assessment in Serbia harmonized with European standards? Based on a thorough analysis, the study provides answers to these and related questions with a focus on assessing the impact of projects at the local level and offers recommendations for further improvement of the procedure.

The study was prepared as part of the “Think – act – influence” project, which the European Policy Centre jointly implements and the Ecological Center “Habitat and Organization Serbia on the Move”. The project is financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade and co-financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Government of Serbia.

Članak Implementation of the environmental impact assessment in Serbia in the EU integration context: current state and recommendations se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.