Environmental Assistance to Eastern Europe 2001
5 General Comments on the AppropriationIn 2001, approval was given to 248 projects. The total amount is DKK 631 million. The total expenses, including expenses for projects initiated earlier, amounted to DKK 532 million, cf. figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of new projects, 1998-2001
In accordance with the Government's overall strategy for the environmental assistance to Eastern Europe, great importance was attached to providing assistance to the Baltic Sea region, which has received 51 percent of the total assistance granted to Eastern Europe, cf. figure 2.
Figure 2.
Geographical apportion of approvals. Apportion in percentages 2001
In 2001, projects were initiated totalling DKK 38 million in Latvia, DKK 55 million i Lithuania, DKK 32 million in Estonia, DKK 63 million in Poland and DKK 81 million in Russia.
In 2001, the rest of Eastern Europe approvals were granted for projects in Romania (DKK 56 million) and The Ukraine (DKK 64 million), while in the Czech Republic and Slovakia projects totalling DKK 41 were initated/implemented. In Bulgaria the total amount was DKK 35 million, in Moldavia DKK 22 million and in the Balkans DKK 42 million. The remaining DKK 93 million were spent on cross-border acitivites, also including the Baltic Sea region, e.g. as contributions to the Nordic Environmental Finance Facility (NEFCO) and regional projects.
Broken down in activity areas, the water sector accounted for approx. 31 percent of the contribution in 2001, cf. figure 3. The primary purpose of the activites has been to limit the pollution of the Baltic Sea in the context of the international agreement on the Baltic Sea, the Helsinki Convention, and to comply with the EU directives for the water sector.
The assistance in the air sector, accounting for approx. 14 percent in 2001, cf. figure 3, also aims to limit the transboundary pollution and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Included in this is assistance for decommissioning unsafe nuclear power stations in Eastern Europe. The assistance in the waste sector aims to settle the 'sins of the past' in the form of chemical waste sites etc., and the assistance to instituionel projects should in particular be seen in the light of the EU applicant countries' preparation for admission to the EU.
The assistance granted in the nature resource sector is aimed at nature conservation work and management, sustainable forestry, plus education and communication on environment and nature. In the EU applicant countries, the assistance granted endeavours to implement the EU Directives, among these the birds and habitas Directives and the establishment of the joint Natura 2000 network of protected natural resorts. In both applicant and non-applicant countries a high priority is given to the implementation of international conventions in the nature sector.
Figure 3.
Apportion of approvals by acitivty areas. Apportion in percentages 1998-2001
As mentioned earlier great emphasis has been put on assistance to the EU applicant countries in Eastern Europe in the administration of the Danish Environmental Support Programme. Denmark supports a large number of investment and institution-building projects focusing on the implementation, inspection and ratification of EU requirements on the applicant countries in the environment sector. The majority of these projects come within the scope of the directives for air, water, waste and industry, the so-called investment-heavy directives and the nature directives.
In 2001, information activities about DANCEE was given a high priority. A new design concept for the support programme was completed and used when a number of theme reports and books on the support in the various Eastern European countries were published. Furthermore, DEPA held a jubilee conference in celebration of the ten years of environmental support to Eastern Europe.