Danish strategy for environmental assistance to Eastern Europe 2001-2006
Chapter 7 - International co-operation and coordination
Over and above the Co-operation with individual countries receiving assistance under the
Danish Environmental Assistance Programme, Danish representatives attend various forums
for the purpose of promoting Co-operation on and the co-ordination of the overall
environmental measures for Central and Eastern Europe. It has been possible through these
measures to promote Danish points of view and the priorities for the use not only of
Danish funds, but also of other bilateral and multilateral donor funds in connection with
the priorities for international financial institutions.
This aspect of the Danish measures will be strengthened during the forthcoming strategy period, as focus will be directed in particular to activities under the "Environment for Europe" process, participation in the EU administrative committees for important assistance programmes, and to improving the coordination of the EU multilateral assistance with Danish bilateral assistance to Central and Eastern Europe. An attempt will also be made to strengthen Nordic co-ordination so that the Nordic countries will gain greater influence in the EU as a whole, not least in order to maintain the focus on the process regarding the Northern Dimension.
The Environment for Europe Process
The Environment for Europe process was started in 1991 on a Czech initiative and has been dominated by the preparation and implementation of the Environmental Action Programme for Central and Eastern Europe (the EAP). An EAP Task Force was established for this purpose in 1993 to follow up on policy reforms and institutional strengthening. The OECD was originally given the secretariat function for this work. The Project Preparation Committee (the PPC) was similarly established to act as a catalyst to match environmental projects with donors and banks so that environmental investments could be made in parallel with the reform and institutional measures.
A decision was made at the Aarhus Conference in 1998 to reorient the work of the Task Force and the PPC towards non-accession countries in Eastern Europe and the CIS countries. This decision was made in recognition of the fact that environmental investments in applicant countries were now primarily driven by the requirements of the EU environmental acquis, whereas there was a lack of such a motivating force in the non-applicant countries in the Balkans and the CIS countries, which were also plagued by significantly weaker economies. The Regional Environmental Centre (REC) was also accorded a more extensive role in the Environment for Europe process in connection with the tasks related to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
In the light of the very significant environmental and economic problems in the non-accession countries, the followup on the reorientation decision by the Western countries and the EU has been disappointing. Pressure will be exerted by Denmark for a genuine upgrading of priorities with regard to the nonaccession countries, including an increased use of the EU TACIS funds in the environmental area.
Improved co-ordination with and influence on the EU assistance programmes
The EU assistance programmes play a dominant role in the accession countries. The three pre-accession instruments, PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD, comprise a forerunner for the EU Structural Fund during the period 2000 - 2006.
Overall, EURO 3,120 million (based on 1997 prices) has been earmarked annually up to 2006 for the three instruments, i.e. for 2001 approximately DKK 23 billion, of which PHARE receives half, ISPA one third and SAPARD one sixth. PHARE 2000 has two main priorities: institution building (approx. 30%) for the purpose of implementing the EU acquis, and investment (approx. 70%), inter alia for the purpose of supporting investments which have a direct connection with the EU acquis. PHARE Twinning is included as a special part of this programme for the purpose of developing or strengthening institutions in recipient countries. An attempt will be made to extend co-ordination in concrete areas through Danish participation in the PHARE Twinning initiative, where relevant.
The ISPA instrument is applicable to more extensive infrastructure projects in the environmental and transport sector, as identified in the countries' general ISPA strategies. Projects must be worth at least EURO 5 million. ISPA has opened up the possibility of parallel joint financing, which makes this scheme particularly interesting in connection with co-financing projects of special interest to Denmark.
The SAPARD programme for developing agriculture and rural districts is of interest in connection with Danish measures related to the development of environment friendly farming, environmentfriendly forestry and infrastructure in rural districts, and for this reason attempts are being made to co-ordinate Danish environmental measures with activities under the SAPARD programme.
The TACIS programme supports the CIS countries and Mongolia in readjusting to democratic market economies. For the period 2000 - 2006 EURO 3,138 million or approximately DKK 22.5 billion has been earmarked for the TACIS programme. TACIS concentrates on technical assistance projects within six selected sectors, including the environment. However, measures in the individual co-operating country are concentrated on a maximum of three of these sectors, in accordance with the recipient country's choice.
Programmes under the CARDS instrument on assistance to Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, are concentrated on necessary reforms in prioritised sectors in the individual countries. For the period 2000 - 2006, EURO 4,650 million (approximately DKK 35 billion) has been earmarked for the CARDS programmes.
Danish representatives attend the EU management committee meetings in connection with all programmes.
Co-ordinating and cooperating on investments
In financing investments the countries have an opportunity to use a series of international and national financing mechanisms, whose purpose is to loan funds for environmental projects. The main stakeholders in this connection are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), the Asiatic Development Bank, NEFCO, and national schemes such as the Environmental Credit Programme for Eastern Europe (MKØ).
From the outset Danish measures have been co-ordinated with those of the other stakeholders working in Eastern Europe, including the local financing funds, and Denmark has participated in the joint financing of a significant number of projects.
The number of jointly financed projects is increasing as the countries concretise their environmental measures, through which their priorities become clearer. Moreover, the limited resources of the countries and limited opportunities for borrowing (lack of ability to repay) mean that attempts have been made to co-ordinate or adapt some projects to the various international stakeholders in the environmental area in order to be able to initiate as many projects as possible.
Due to the differences between the various assistance schemes and banks, a division of labour has developed in which the bilateral donors primarily organise and carry out the preparatory work for the projects, while the banks and in future the EU's ISPA facility in particular, contribute most of the funds for the investments. It is now possible under the ISPA facility for donors to participate in the joint financing of project implementation, which in concrete cases may be necessary in order to meet the financing requirements for ISPA projects.
The Environmental Assistance Programme contributes actively to the co-ordination effort and also partly to the financing of these mechanisms in order to increase the efficiency of environmental measures in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, both in the co-operating countries, for internationally funded feasibility studies or reviews, and for donor-financed secretariats. Assistance is provided in the cooperating countries in this connection for project implementation units, capacity building in international project implementation offices, and participation in the work relating to donor meetings and donor co-ordination. These measures must be strengthened in the future through means such as the strategic placement of experts to coordinate and promote environmental policies and in connection with internationally co-ordinated projects designed to promote the ratification of and compliance with international conventions.
Types of project and criteria for providing assistanceIt will be possible to provide assistance for projects that comply with the objectives and priority areas under the Environmental Assistance Programme as described in the strategy, in the individual Country Programmes for cooperating countries and in the regional programmes that will be developed when the strategy is realised. The project management manual(31) from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency contains further details of the specific criteria for the selection and approval of projects. The Environmental Assistance Programme will support both investment and technical assistance projects, or a combination of both. Assistance can be provided for all phases of projects, including project identification, planning and quality assurance, feasibility studies, project performance, monitoring, evaluation and the administration of results, as well as grants for pilot and demonstration projects.
Assistance can also be provided for pilot studies and scheme designs financed by national or international institutions, and for parallel financing with other financial sources in connection with more extensive investment projects. Assistance can be provided for consultancy and operation, plant, equipment, and so on. Grants can be provided for whole or partial coverage. Finally, limited assistance can be provided to support international secretariats where these can be used to advantage to promote the objectives of the strategy.
An element such as co-financing will, in particular, still be a decisive factor in awarding assistance to projects, as the recipients of the projects with considerable co-financing or "in kind" contributions generally prove to take more ownership. However, some of the most impecunious partnership countries will find it difficult to fulfil this requirement. This goes for co-financing proper and for the recipient country's "in kind" contributions.
Consideration must be given to the project's context in connection with all projects, i.e. the institutional and political environment, so that there will be complementarity between the assistance provided for the institutional aspect and the investment aspect. Economic and financial analyses are similarly important preconditions for ensuring economic sustainability in the preparation of investment projects.
Monitoring programmes and projects
The individual Country Programmes will be continuously followed up and monitored on the basis of the established indicators, in order to check whether the proposed objectives have been fulfilled and whether adjustments are required. Monitoring of the individual projects will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines in the Project Cycle Management Manual, 1999. The use of indicators to strengthen the monitoring of Country Programmes and individual projects will be extended on an ongoing basis.
Information activities
A knowledge of Danish environmental assistance for Eastern Europe is an important element in anchoring and ensuring effective and acceptable measures. This applies both to the recipient country and Denmark. The Danish government was encouraged in the Folketing's resolution V 79 of 4 May 1999 to "actively include the Danish resource base, NGOs, companies, universities, etc., and to ensure that the participation of the public, debate and information be heightened".
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency will continue to intensify measures designed to provide information and communication in the coming years, partly as an aspect of the overall, common information strategy relating to Danish assistance in Eastern Europe, and partly as an independent initiative under the Environmental Assistance Programme. This will take the form of e.g. the publication of Country Programmes, national publications on project Cooperation and relevant thematic reports.
Information for specific target groups in the recipient countries must ensure that a broad knowledge of various local environmental problems, and especially how these can be solved, is achieved. This information must be administered via a wide range of media and carried out in close collaboration with the recipient countries.
It must also be ensured that there is a good knowledge within the Danish resource base (companies, institutions and NGOs, etc.) of existing and potential activities under the Environmental Assistance Programme, so that Danish knowledge can be utilised as fully as possible. It is also important that there is a general understanding among the public of the need for environmental assistance to Eastern Europe. Information on environmental measures will be provided with the help of new and existing media addressed to different target groups.
In order to ensure and disseminate a high level of professionalism in the environmental measures, thematic working reports on various topics will be prepared in English, for example NGO activities, financing tools, environmental economy, measures for the CIS, the waste sector, etc.
The thematic reports will provide a detailed account of the measures undertaken to date and the experience gained. The aim of the reports is also to present possible solutions to the relevant environmental problems for the purpose of supporting future measures, disseminating a knowledge of successful projects, and helping the recipient countries and the Danish resource base to (better) define projects. The reports will also help to promote the visibility of Danish environmental assistance.
| 31. | "Project Cycle Management Manual 1999". |