Relevant future measures are described below. Areas where action is required include air quality, water quality, waste treatment, chemicals and biodiversity. Higher priority will also be given to cross cutting effort designed to strengthen institutions and enhance professional expertise in the relevant countries, to promote the participation of the public in the environmental area, to increase responsibility in the countries' private sectors with regard to taking their share of the burden in the environmental area and, finally, to strengthen the countries' fulfilment of their obligations under international environmental conventions.

The number of areas where action will be undertaken has increased relative to the 1993 strategy due to the inclusion of chemicals and the higher priority given to the interdisciplinary approach. This reflects the greater differentiation in the need for assistance and a greater diffusion with regard to developments in the group of co-operating countries.

Through the forthcoming revision of existing Country Programmes the Environmental Assistance Programme will determine the country-specific needs and, in a dialogue with the cooperating countries, select the relevant areas in which action is required for the country or region in question.

Developments in the EU preaccession countries and progress in their negotiations for accession, as well as developments in the countries outside the group of pre-accession countries, will make it necessary to adapt this strategy and the Country Programmes in order to ensure the best possible fulfilment of the objectives of the strategy. Allowances will also be made for the objectives through continued Danish support for improved donor co-ordination between the leading stakeholders in the area.

Improving air quality

Air pollution continues to be a serious environmental problem in the Central and Eastern European countries. Healththreatening air quality in urban and industrial areas and enormous quantities of SO₂, NO_x and CO₂ from inefficient power stations and industrial plants are familiar images from the 1980s and early 1990s in Eastern Europe. Although the situation has changed over the past ten years, this is largely due to the breakdown in the economies of these countries.

The primary sources of air pollution and a higher concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the burning of fossil fuels containing sulphur for heating purposes, electricity production and a considerable increase in motor vehicle traffic, particularly in metropolitan areas. In addition there are emissions of harmful substances from industries.

Real reductions can be seen in emissions of SO₂, NO_x, particles and lead in those countries that have made greatest progress in the EU approximation process. These reductions are not solely due to a decline in economic activities, but also to environmental measures actually implemented. They have led to a situation in which emissions continue to fall after the countries began to achieve positive economic growth in the middle of the 1990s.

Finally, CO₂ emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are the most important source of climatic change. Even though CO₂ emissions in Eastern Europe fell during the 90s due to restructuring and the resultant economic recession, they are expected to rise in line with the economic growth of these countries, especially in the transport sector.

Where both CO₂ emissions relevant to climate change and emissions of SO₂ and NO_x relevant to acidification are concerned, these are closely linked to the energy sector which is still characterised by poorer energy efficiency than is the case in the EU. Improved energy utilisation by power stations, in industry and the housing sector will to a significant extent help to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations that the countries have taken on in an international context (the Kyoto Protocol, for example) and also help to comply with EU legislation relating to air quality.

Future demands on competitiveness in the EU Single Market regarding the industrial and energy sectors and Single Market requirements in such areas as the control of car exhausts and fuel quality will help to maintain this development in the long term. The cost of putting these requirements into practice will be largely defrayed by users.

Electrostatic precipitators are being replaced at the Dolna Odra Power Plant, Poland, to reduce fly ash emissions.

Assistance to EU pre-accession countries will focus on such areas as the implementation of the EU framework Directive regarding air quality and its subsidiary "daughter" Directives, including support for drawing up action plans designed to improve air quality, and improving the institutional arrangements for implementation and monitoring.

The implementation of the daughter Directives, as well as the EU strategies for addressing acidification and ozone pollution of the troposphere, will make considerable demands on the new member countries as they will on the current EU Member States. There will probably be a need for several years of monitoring and planning before the countries will be able to draw up their action plans. Long-term improvements in air quality will necessitate major structural changes in industry, the energy sector and the transport sector, which are also described in the section on sectorintegrated environmental programmes.

Future measures will also build on the experience gained from improving air quality by establishing such alternative energy sources as geothermal heating, in order to reduce SO₂ emissions and other air pollutants, and by installing filters at power stations, district heating stations and at larger industries to reduce emissions to the air.

It is expected that direct measures will be implemented in relation to the Climate Change Convention⁽²⁰⁾, including the development and testing of mechanisms designed to fulfil the Kyoto Protocol in the form of joint implementation (JI), for example, in the Baltic Region. Capacity building in the preparation of national strategies to stabilise and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including specific planning tools and models, will be another important area where assistance can be given. A large number of other initiatives regarding the improvement of energy efficiency, the promotion of energy conservation and the promotion of cleaner fuels, including alternative energy sources, are complementary measures that will take climatic considerations in energy policies into account, as well as the sustainable use of energy in the co-operating countries.

Where the CIS countries are concerned measures relating to air quality should be seen in relation to the international agreements in this area, primarily the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) with its accompanying Protocols. The special pan European strategy for phasing out lead in petrol will similarly form the background for supporting the countries' rapid solution to this environmental problem and other problems related to poor fuel quality.

Measures in the Balkans will primarily be undertaken through the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe⁽²¹⁾, although air quality is not expected to be prioritised until the most pressing tasks regarding water, hazardous waste and institutional capacity have been addressed.

One special measure is designed to close down unsafe nuclear power stations. There are no atomic power stations in Denmark and the possibility of transferring Danish knowledge and know-how in this field is therefore limited. But there is great interest in Denmark in contributing to security with respect to the unsafe nuclear power stations in Eastern Europe and this work is therefore supported through Danish contributions to the multilateral measures that are being carried out under the auspices of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The EBRD has established a number of funds for this purpose: the Ignalina Decommissioning Fund, the Chernobyl Shelter Fund and the Nuclear Safety Fund. In addition to this, projects involving energy conservation and the establishment of alternative energy sources can also be supported, especially under the Danish Energy Agency's sector programme.

Activities relating to air quality and energy are co-ordinated in close collaboration with the sector programmes in this area under the Danish Energy Agency, the Emergency Management Agency, and the Ministry of Transport, particularly with regard to measures in the Baltic Region.

Protection of water quality and drinking water supplies

Water is the area that requires the greatest investments and which to date has received the greatest share of overall Danish environmental assistance to Central and Eastern Europe. Of this, the majority has been used to promote investments in urban and industrial waste water treatment.

During the administrative reforms which most Central and Eastern European countries are undergoing at present, the responsibility for waste water treatment and drinking water supplies lies with the municipal authorities. However, financing is often still managed on a central basis and it is as yet unclear how the municipalities can become self-financing to a greater degree. The challenge of obtaining sufficient funds for financing in this area therefore demands comprehensive planning and legal measures to be taken at a central level. The municipal authorities will be faced with extremely demanding tasks in connection with implementation at a local level through municipal investment planning and the preparation of individual projects.

The most important priority for EU preaccession countries is to strengthen administrative capacity at regional and local level in order to administer water resources in accordance with the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive and to secure the very considerable investments that can meet EU requirements with regard to drinking water, waste water collection and waste water treatment in urban areas.

The Water Framework Directive extends water protection measures to include all water resources and lays down legally binding goals designed to ensure "good water quality conditions". The administration must in future focus on river basin areas which often cross national borders as well as administrative boundaries within the individual countries. An overall river basin area, from its source up to and including coastal waters, must be treated as an indivisible whole. Implementing the Directive⁽²²⁾, especially including the preparation of river basin management plans, will demand far-reaching collaboration between the parties involved, whether on a regional basis or throughout the EU or the candidate countries. The Directive also provides that all river basin management plans or revisions of these plans must be subject to public hearings. Finally there will be a need to improve the countries' monitoring systems so that these comply with EU requirements.

It is similarly an important part of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive to encourage the integration of water quality objectives into other sector policies such as agriculture, industry and regional policies, as well as local and regional planning.

One of the most pressing problems in the CIS countries is the run-down state of the infrastructure in connection with drinking water supplies, wastewater treatment and the sewerage network in cities. The results of this are shortcomings in water supplies and serious health problems characterised by an increase in water-borne diseases (cholera, hepatitis, dysentery and typhoid fever). The problems connected with drinking water supplies and waste water treatment in cities is even worse in the regions around the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea, where there is a lack of water, extensive water pollution and a need for regional collaboration in order to solve these problems.

Also the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern includes strengthening of regional collaboration on water resource management as an important element.

Future Danish assistance will place greater emphasis on supporting the development of systems and capacity to administer overall water resources with the aim of supporting the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and the administration of water resources on a river basin basis (national and international).

The forthcoming strategy period will also continue to provide assistance in the development of financial strategies relating inter alia to water, in order to promote more cost-effective investments. Support will also be provided to environmental funds, in countries where this is relevant, in order to establish the necessary infrastructure and carry out preparatory work on projects (feasibility studies). In addition, there will be Danish co-financing of infrastructure investments in connection with water.

Measures relating to water treatment area in connection with infrastructure projects will be supplemented, especially in the CIS countries, by strengthened measures connected with drinking water supplies. The code of practice adopted at the London Conference on "Water and Health" will constitute an important framework in this connection.

Waste

The framework for the EU environmental policy with regard to waste was established in its Fifth Environmental Action Programme and in the EU Waste Strategy from 1996.⁽²³⁾ The hierarchy in waste handling, in accordance with the Waste Framework Directive is, in order of priority:

1. waste prevention/minimisation,
2. recycling (such as sorting at source) and recovery including incineration with reclaimed energy and other utilisation, and
3. finally, disposal/deposit.⁽²⁴⁾

The principles of proximity and selfsufficiency mean that member countries are obliged to establish an integral and adequate network of disposal facilities whereby both the EU and each member country becomes capable of disposing of its own waste. Finally, waste must be handled in such a way as to avoid harm to the environment or to people and the costs of handling waste must be met by the owner and/or the previous owners of or manufacturers responsible for the waste.⁽²⁵⁾

The most important priority for EU preaccession countries is to establish waste handling systems that meet the requirements of relevant EU legislation and its waste strategy. These systems must be able to handle increasing quantities of household and industrial waste, including hazardous waste, sludge from waste water treatment plants and residual products from energy production. Among other things this means that systems must be developed to categorise and register waste for the purposes of planning, control and reporting in accordance with the relevant EU Directives.

This also involves establishing new, regional landfill sites (waste tips) which comply with the requirements of EU Landfill Directive and the secure closure of a large number of illegal and environmentally harmful smaller landfill sites. In continuation of this, there will in practice be a need for assistance in establishing new, regional waste collection companies and support for regional and municipal authorities in connection with waste treatment. The countries need solutions in order to improve their handling of hazardous waste, possibly including incineration, and, in the slightly longer term, will also need solutions for handling biodegradable waste.

In the CIS countries the problems are connected with such areas as household waste and, especially in big cities, hazardous waste. The administrative systems and the infrastructure to handle these problems are as a general rule inadequate to prevent environmental and health problems. There is a pressing need to develop national and regional strategies to manage waste, establish safe disposal systems and to develop systems to characterise, register and treat hazardous waste. The petrochemical industry and the metallurgy industry are specific sources of hazardous waste.

Particular emphasis has been placed on hazardous waste and transporting hazardous waste across national borders in the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe. As an after-effect of the military operations in the Balkans, it is becoming necessary in many places to reestablish the decentralised administration of waste, and to ensure that chemicals from damaged factories and pipelines do not spread to the environment.

Considerable assistance has also been provided by Denmark to preaccession countries for the establishment of more efficient waste systems and for the construction of landfill sites in accordance with EU requirements.

Assistance has been provided for measures relating to hazardous waste in connection with the implementation of the Hazardous Waste Directive and the special Directives on hazardous waste (the Directive on waste oils, the Battery Directive, and the PCB/PCT Directive). Focus has also been directed to the implementation of the Basel Convention⁽²⁶⁾ as the most important international agreement on waste, including assistance to promote the ratification of the amendment under the Convention prohibiting the export of hazardous waste from OECD countries to non OECD countries.

Continued Danish assistance will be provided to carry out and follow up on national and regional action plans for handling waste. The measure will be strengthened in order to promote the minimisation of waste, recycling and other utilisation so that these objectives will gain greater weight in the overall treatment of waste.

Assistance will also continue in preparatory project work (feasibility studies) and in financing investments connected with waste treatment and the construction of landfill sites, as the investment requirement in this area is extensive. The Landfill Directive introduces a series of measures and procedures designed to prevent or limit environmental impact from landfills, such as pollution of surface water, ground water, soil and air, and impacts on the global environment from methane emissions, as well as the risks to human heath from depositing waste.

Focus will similarly continue to be directed towards assistance in the implementation of the Basel Convention and the establishment of reception facilities in harbours for waste from ships. A regionally based measure will continue in the Baltic and Black Sea regions.

Control of chemical pollution

With regard to chemicals the most important EU legislation comprises Regulations and Directives on marketing hazardous chemical substances and products, including safety data sheets, the registration of new chemical substances, risk evaluation of new and existing substances, limitations on the sale and marketing of hazardous substances and products and exporting and importing certain hazardous chemical substances. In addition, the pollution of surface water is controlled through the Directive on pollution caused by dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment.⁽²⁷⁾ This provision will in future be carried into effect through the Water Framework Directive, which covers the protection of both surface water and ground water.

In the EU pre-accession countries and the CIS, only a small minority of chemicals on the market have been thoroughly analysed and many are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. Undesirable substances that are forbidden in the rest of Europe are still used in some products and for various purposes in these countries and can consequently be found in waste, residual products, slag and sludge. In addition to this, the countries have a number of local problems due to the inappropriate storage of discontinued pesticides in former years, chemically polluted soil, etc.

It is necessary for the EU preaccession countries to introduce EU legislation relating to chemicals, to develop the appropriate administrative capacity for effective implementation and control, and to give higher priority to signing and ratifying international conventions and complying with the international rules in general.

The CIS countries have no effective institutions or systems to control chemicals and now lack assistance to develop a solid capacity to handle chemicals in a more adequate manner and to phase out those chemicals that constitute serious health and environmental risks locally, regionally and globally. Chemical pollution in the CIS countries stems in particular from the chemical and petrochemical industries and intensive cotton cultivation. A number of CIS countries have signed international conventions in connection with chemicals and there is a growing awareness of chemicalrelated risks in the countries.

1. Under the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe, the problems with chemicals are primarily handled as part of the clean-up process after military operations, but activities have also been incorporated that enhance general knowledge in this area. The programme also includes approximation with the EU chemical legislation.

Denmark has provided assistance for projects both in the EU preaccession countries and the CIS countries connected with chemical safety and the phasing out of substances that deplete the ozone layer in accordance with the Montreal Protocol, the phasing out of lead in petrol and the collection and destruction of discontinued pesticides and PCBs, substances that accumulate in the environment.

Danish environmental assistance will in future focus on building capacity and administrative structures for effective risk evaluation and the management and control of chemical substances, in accordance with the relevant international codes of practice, as an absolutely decisive factor in handling chemicals responsibly throughout their lifecycles.

Over and above the implementation of the relevant EU legislation, concrete measures will support the countries' ratification of the Rotterdam Convention on the procedure for prior informed consent (PIC) in connection with trade in certain hazardous chemicals, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (the so-called POPs Convention). This continued Danish assistance will be based on experience gained in phasing out chemical substances, including substances that deplete the ozone layer.

As chemical pollution is of a global nature, more regional measures will be required in the future. Regional measures in the Baltic Region regarding the prevention of oil pollution still have high priority under the MARPOL Convention and the HELCOM Conventions. Measures will take the form of development of oil contingency plans and the establishment of reception facilities for waste generated by ships. Similar regional measures would be relevant in the Black Sea, for example. Another important regional measure is also being prepared relating to POPs with the aim of eventually phasing out these substances and reducing dioxin emissions. It is to be expected that the phasing out of other hazardous chemicals will also be initiated. Among such measures is the fulfilment of the generational objective in the Baltic Sea, i.e. stopping the emission of POPs into the Baltic Sea within 20 years.

Natural resource management

There is a pressing need for measures designed to conserve unique natural resources which are characteristically European and which, unlike the case in Western Europe, have thus far been preserved in Central and Eastern Europe.

Since 1993 the Environmental Assistance Programme has supported more than 80 projects connected with the administration and protection of nature and sustainable forestry. To date the measures have been concentrated in the Baltic Sea area and, since 1997, have been undertaken as programmed measures which are described in the publication "Sustainable Management of Nature and Forest Resources in Central and Eastern Europe".

The projects have emphasised the implementation of international conventions, the building of institutional capacity, the inclusion of the public, strengthening the work of NGOs, environmental training and information on nature, in addition to the promotion of sustainable agriculture and the local development of ecotourism. In recent years the introduction of EU legislation has become of great importance in the Co-operation with the EU preaccession countries.

Measures relating to natural resource management will in the coming years also be spread to co-operating countries outside the neighbouring Baltic Region. The most important priority in EU pre-accession countries will be the implementation of the Wild Bird and Habitat Directives and the Directives relating to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In addition, implementation of EU rules on trade in endangered species that stem from the CITES Convention, are of considerable importance as the current pre-accession countries will form part of the enlarged EU border to the east, with Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova as the new border countries.

Almost without exception the Central and Eastern European countries have subscribed politically to the international agreements relating to biodiversity and nature conservation. However, the resources necessary to implement these obligations are often non-existent. Danish measures in this area in Central and Eastern Europe will also be prioritised in the coming years. They will cover such areas as the implementation of the Biodiversity Convention, the PanEuropean Biodiversity and Landscape Strategy and, in the nature conservation area, the Ramsar, Bern and Bonn conventions, in addition to the international recommendations on forests, etc. As a consequence of the EU legislation related to these international agreements, their implementation by the preaccession countries is similarly an important element in the EU enlargement process.

It is generally the case in the Central and Eastern European countries that the administrative institutions for protecting biodiversity lack resources. In the EU pre-accession countries, the nature conservation area is often in a "tight squeeze" relative to the very heavy investments necessary in this area.

The forestry sector is undergoing reorganisation from pure state management to a combination of state and private management. This reorganisation is a great challenge to the forestry authorities which in future must handle forest policy, the management of their.

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