In its Opinion of July 1997, the European Commission expressed the view that Romania ought to give higher priority to environmental issues, implement focused environmental accession strategies and work programmes, significantly increase related financial and other resources and develop its administrative capacity in order to achieve conformity with the EU acquis. If such a strategy were followed, full transposition of the acquis could be achieved in the medium to long term. However, the Commission also considered that effective conformity with a number of pieces of legislation requiring a sustained, high level of investment and considerable administrative effort (e.g. urban waste water treatment, drinking water, aspects of waste management and air pollution legislation) could be achieved only in the very long term. The November 1998 Report confirmed that Romania had made little progress in approximating its legislation, and that much remained to be done to comply with the short-term priorities of the Accession Partnership. Romania still faces very serious problems of air pollution, water management and waste management. The October 1999 Report highlighted the fact that Romania had hardly advanced in its legal approximation efforts. Romania still lacked an overall environmental strategy that includes directive-specific cost assessments, implementation and financing plans. The Commission stressed that, in order to implement the Community acquis in the area of the environment, much stronger government commitment was required, as was a reinforced Ministry of the Environment and a significant increase in the resources devoted to environmental protection. The November 2000 Report stated that Romania had reformed its environmental protection authorities at local level but that at national level its administrative capacity was still low. Romania had made little progress with strategies for transposing the acquis, although most of the sectoral approximation strategies had been finalised. An assessment had yet to be made of the cost of implementation of the main directives. In its November 2001 Report, the Commission noted that progress had been made with ratification of international conventions, with formulation of action plans for alignment, and with adoption of the acquis. However, the level of transposition and implementation remained low. Financing strategies, implementation plans and stronger institutions were needed. The October 2002 Report indicated that Romania had made progress with transposing the environmental acquis. However, much of the new legislation appeared to have been adopted without due consideration for the administrative and financial resources necessary for its implementation. Capacity to implement the legislation needed to be stepped up. The November 2003 Report indicates that progress has been made with transposition. Although most of the environmental acquis has been transposed, administrative and financial resources allocated to the environment are inadequate. Additional efforts are required to implement the environmental legislation. COMMUNITY ACQUIS The Union's environmental policy, as set out in the Treaty on European Union, aims to achieve sustainability by including environmental protection in EU sectoral policies, preventive measures, the "polluter pays" principle, combating environmental pollution at source, and shared responsibility. The acquis comprises some 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 Romanian development policies must be guided by the principle of sustainable development and take full account of environmental considerations. The White Paper on the preparation of the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe for integration into the internal market of the Union (1995) covers only a small part of the environmental acquis, namely product-related legislation, which is directly related to the free movement of goods. EVALUATION Almost no progress has been made on integration of the environment into other policies. A law on the ratification of the Aarhus Convention has been adopted. Romania has also ratified the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context and the Kyoto Protocol. As for the remaining horizontal legislation, the adoption of legislation on environmental impact assessment represents a great step forward. Nevertheless, its implementation will require increased administrative capacity, particularly at local level. Concerning waste management, legislative provisions have been adopted on hazardous waste, waste, landfill of waste, packaging waste and waste transfers. A waste inventory has been established but the situation regarding industrial waste still has to be clarified. The national waste management plan has been adopted, but regional plans are still lacking. Collection systems and recovery and disposal facilities must be improved. A national plan for the prevention of water pollution by nitrates has been adopted. Legislation has been adopted on drinking water, bathing water, nitrate pollution, the disposal of dangerous substances and integrated coastal zone management. A committee responsible for the application of the Water Framework Directive has been established. An inventory has been completed of discharges of dangerous substances into surface waters. River basin management plans still need to be drafted. Particular attention should be paid to monitoring water quality. Standards have been set for surface waters intended for abstraction of drinking water, the discharge of waste water, the quality of surface waters to support fish life, the quality of water intended for human consumption and the quality of bathing water. An action plan has been adopted to reduce pollution of ground waters and of the aquatic environment. On industrial pollution control and risk management, a decision has been adopted on the risk of major accidents. The Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents was ratified in March 2003. Inventories of plants subject to the rules on integrated pollution prevention and control, large combustion plants and volatile organic compounds have been established. Norms for the technical and methodological framework for environmental protection inspections have been adopted. An Ordinance has been adopted on industrial pollution prevention, reduction and control. Implementation of the acquis is still at a very early stage. With regard to nuclear safety and radiation protection, standards for the implementation of the transposed acquis have been adopted, in particular in the fields of basic standards, outside workers and shipments of radioactive waste. Transposition has been completed of the Directive on safety standards for the protection of workers and the general public from ionising radiation. No progress at all has been made on noise. The transposition of the Directive on noise emitted by household appliances is complete. With regard to nature protection, the bulk of the acquis has been transposed. However, efforts are needed to prepare to participate in the Natura 2000 network. Sites of Community interest and special protection areas must be identified. An ordinance on obtaining, testing, using and trading genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been adopted, together with another on classification, labelling and packaging of hazardous chemical substances. Romania ratified the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol in March 2003. Good progress has been made with transposing the acquis on ozone depleting substances and on asbestos. An ordinance has been adopted on animal welfare. Competent authorities have been designated, but much remains to be done to ensure that the legislation is implemented. Good progress has been made with the transposition of the air quality acquis: legislative provisions have been adopted on the sulphur content of fuel and on non-road mobile machinery. An assessment has been made of the air quality in urban areas. Legislation relating to the commercial regime and user restrictions for substances that deplete the ozone layer has been adopted. An inventory has been completed of installations subject to the requirements on volatile organic compounds from storage and distribution of petrol. Romania has ratified the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. The system of air quality monitoring needs to be completed. Action plans for this sector need to be drafted. Capacity to implement the legislation needs to be stepped up. Romania is a member of the European Environment Agency. Administrative capacity remains insufficient, particularly for local inspections. The Ministry of the Environment and Waters Protection has merged with the Ministry of Agriculture. The continuity of staff within the Ministry remains uncertain. Regional environmental protection agencies have yet to be established. No progress has been made with regard to medium- and long-term investments to implement the acquis. Cooperation with non-governmental organisations has improved. However, work still has to be done to ensure public participation in both the development and the implementation of environmental policy. Negotiations on this chapter are continuing. |
| Romania's Environment |