Co-operating countries

Today collaborative agreements under the Environmental Assistance Programme are in place with the following EU pre-accession countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Collaborative agreements have also been entered into with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. In the spring of 2000 the strategy for collaboration with Belarus was changed so that it involved regional as well as national NGO projects, and also cross-border projects involving one or more neighbouring countries, especially EU pre-accession countries.⁽³⁰⁾

The strategy must necessarily take a "dynamic" stance to the possible phasing out and incorporation of cooperating countries where, for example, one or more EU pre-accession countries become EU members more quickly than anticipated, where the need for assistance is estimated as being limited, or where the need for assistance is estimated to be largely covered by other donors.

Danish collaboration with the Czech Republic will be phased out over a oneyear period, as the need for assistance is deemed to be less than before. In this connection new projects will only be started in 2001. The strategy also suggests a sharper focus further to the east. Moldova will therefore be admitted as a new co-operating country concurrently with the planned completion of the country programming in 2001.

Country programming

The purpose of Country Programmes is to prepare a more long-term plan for measures under the Environmental Assistance Programme. This will improve the recipient country's own opportunities to create effective plans and improve the co-ordination of the Danish measures with measures funded by other multilateral and bilateral donors.

The first step towards realising the new strategy for assistance to Eastern Europe will be to update the existing Country Programmes in close collaboration with the co-operating countries. It is expected that the Country Programmes will function over a three-year period to create a dynamic effect and enable developments in the country in question to be followed up closely.

An attempt will be made in each updated Country Programme to focus assistance on fewer areas and possibly on selected geographical areas, such as counties, in the co-operating country in question. Danish assistance in connection with country programming will be co-ordinated with other multilateral and bilateral donors for the purpose of creating a greater synergistic effect.

The Country Programme will be the framework for project preparation work, primarily for those projects offered under the Environmental Assistance Programme, proposals for which will be invited as part of thematised application rounds. It will therefore be necessary for those responsible for the Danish resource base to familiarise themselves with the Country Programmes and to keep up to date with their development.

Country Programmes for EU preaccession countries will be addressed primarily to EU approximation in a broad sense and the incorporation of international conventions where this is not automatically part of the EU approximation process. It should be possible to organise the individual Country Programme by taking as a basis the respective country's National Programme for Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA), and taking into consideration any other environmental assistance provided by the EU and other multilateral or bilateral donors.

Regional activities

The realisation of the strategy will involve continuing or initiating a series of regional (in the sense of "intergovernmental") activities which will be based primarily on the regional framework for Co-operation provided for in the "Environment for Europe" process.

Regional activity is characterised by a regional perspective through Cooperation across national borders, both with regard to the environment and politically - either because the countries in the region in question share a common environment, such as those surrounding the Baltic or the Black Sea, and the area surrounding the Danube. Alternatively there may be many common environmental problems in a region which comprises small countries that lack sufficient resources to implement the measures in question themselves at a national level, an example being the problem of hazardous waste in the Balkans.

The initiative to implement a regional activity will lie with the Environmental Assistance Programme which may decide to carry out a regional programme proper, or to contribute to the performance of regional programmes which have been established under the auspices of, for example, the "Environment for Europe" process and the countries in the region - most often in collaboration with multilateral and/or bilateral donors.

By and large all countries in Central and Eastern Europe have expressed an interest in projects focusing on financing strategies related to the environment and the establishment of environmental funds. A number of activities have been performed in selected EU preaccession countries and the CIS countries. Based on the experience gained, an attempt will be made to spread these to other countries and other Russian regions.

Another, similar, area where action can be taken is the implementation of the Aarhus Convention, where the experience gained from previous projects in several countries will be spread to the CIS and Baltic region. Where appropriate these activities can be carried out as projects that involve several countries in the same project.

Danish assistance to the Balkans in the environmental area will, among others,s be co-ordinated within the framework of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe. This programme, which was prepared with the support of the EU and adopted by all countries in the region, contains five main areas where measures will be undertaken:

	Institutional strengthening and the development of guidelines.
	Heightening awareness of the environment among the general public.
	Immediate assistance to alleviate war damage.
	Strengthening existing Cooperation mechanisms and the development of regional, interdisciplinary projects.
	Assistance for urgent national and local environmental projects.

The concrete assistance to the Balkans on the part of Denmark will be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy.

The Environmental Assistance Programme will also go further on the basis of the experience gained from the Baltic Region in connection with measures such as combating oil spills and the establishment of harbour facilities in the Baltic States, which were carried out under the auspices of HELCOM. Similar measures are required in the Black Sea region within the framework of the action plan for rehabilitating and protecting the Black Sea (Strategic Action Plan for the Rehabilitation and Protection of the Black Sea), and may also be relevant in other areas, such as in connection with the action plan to protect the Danube.