Global Issues & External Action

Enlargement of the EU presents a unique opportunity to promote environmental sustainability on a local, national, regional and global level, as more countries join the EU and are required to adopt its environmental agenda.

Importantly, the EU's enlargements in 2004 and 2007 incorporated 12 new Member States to participate in EU policy making and implementation, including environmental protection and nature conservation. Accession and Candidate Countries can also be encouraged to develop creating good relations with other neighbouring countries to facilitate the coordination and collaboration of environmental work across borders. Periods of transition are also important to prepare Accession and Candidate Countries for the successful implementation of EU policy measures.

For countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean and western former-Soviet states (collectively the European Neighbourhood countries and Russia) an important policy priority is to encourage better alignment with EU environmental law and environmental policy integration in sectoral policy making.

IEEP has a long track record of work with new Member States, accession countries and neighbouring countries to improve the conditions for implementing and influencing environmental policy. Working with national institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations, IEEP is able to inform and advance environmental policy in the enlarged EU and its neighbouring countries. In particular, IEEP undertakes the following work:

• Supporting institutions on policy implementation, including capacity assessment, compliance and enforcement, studies identifying the costs and benefits of EU enlargement, and exchange of good practice
• Working with NGOs to support their engagement in EU and national policy discussions
• Supporting network and relationship building between institutions and other stakeholders

IEEP has also worked with several EU Accession countries helping to build institutional capacity and sharing EU policy expertise to inform the development, design and subsequent implementation of their agri-environment schemes. Since 2000 we have undertaken capacity building projects in most of the new Member States prior to their accession to the EU in 2004 and 2007. More recently we have carried out similar projects in Croatia and Turkey.

Key work in this area:

Funding Environmental Compliance Assurance: Lessons Learned from International Experience, OECD. This report for the OECD looks at how OECD countries fund environmental institutions to support capacity building in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) countries.

Prospects for the Implementation of selected new and future EU Environmental legislation in the Acceding Countries. This report for the European Parliament looks at the ability of Candidate Countries to implement selected EU environmental legislation.

A report for DG environment on the Implementation of Natura 2000 in the Czech Republic (2005). This study is part of a work package giving an overview of implementation of Natura 2000 sites in the Member States.

Regarding work in this area please contact:

Andrew Farmer
Patrick ten Brink
Samuela Bassi