Brussels, 16/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has just submitted a series of proposals that, once adopted, will enable the 13 applicant countries to become members of the European Environment Agency before their accession to the European Union. This is a first, in the sense that the EEA will be the first European body to open its doors to them. According to the European Executive, the candidate countries could begin joining the Agency in the course of the year 2001, following ratification of the ad hoc agreements. Their participation will comprise numerous advantages, both for them and for the environment of the continent as well as for the Agency itself. Thus, the latter will be better able to draw up reports on the state of the environment throughout Europe. Other advantages: the applicant countries will benefit from EEA assistance for the setting up and running of their own environmental surveillance systems, and will also be able to receive financial assistance, notably in the framework off the Phare programme, for the creation of data collection networks in the three first years of their participation in the activities of the EEA. Finally, the Agency will also be able to help the candidate countries ensure implementation of Community legislation in the field of the environment.
Once members of the EEA, the candidate countries will be held to contribute financially to its running, regularly provide data on their environment and set up the necessary infrastructures to that effect.
The proposals that the Commission has just presented (one per country) are the fruit of a negotiating process initiated last March and that ended in October. To be able to take effect in the course of this year, they will first have to have been ratified by the EU Council of ministers and by the candidate countries themselves.
You may recall that the EEA aims to support sustainable development and allow for a significant and measurable improvement of the European environment, providing timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to the decision-making bodies and the public.