Environmental Integration into other Sector Policies and Legislation in the Eastern Partnership Countries

This report summarises the findings of the study on Environmental integration into other sector policies and legislation in the Eastern Partnership countries which was conducted between December 2014 and May 2015 in six countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) in the framework of the Project “High Quality Studies to Support the Activities under the Eastern Partnership” (HiQSTEP).

The results of the study will contribute to the consultations on Greening Strategy for the Eastern Partnership currently being prepared by the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). This strategy will pave the way for new programmes in the EaP region in 2016-2020.

The main purpose of this study was to understand the status of the environmental governance in the EaP region including mechanisms in place in sector policies and namely in economy, transport, energy, and agriculture that ensure:   

·         promotion and  awareness-raising on environmental matters in order to generate public and stakeholder support to policy-making in the field of environment;

·         promotion of knowledge on sustainable development and on new patterns for sustainable consumption;

·         support to communication, management, and dissemination of information in the field of environment, and facilitation of knowledge-sharing on successful environmental solutions and practice,  e.g. through developing stakeholders’ cooperation platforms and training;

·         promotion of  and contribution to more effective compliance with and enforcement of environmental legislation, in particular by promoting the development and dissemination of best practices and policy approaches;

·         promotion of better environmental governance by broadening stakeholder involvement, including NGOs, in the process of consultation on new policies and their implementation.

The Study Team analysed the level of integration of environmental measures and incentives as well as environmental objectives in the general and sectoral policy initiatives, including reviews and reforms of the existing policies and new initiatives. The details of the above have been presented in the six Country Reports. The present report overviews the level of environmental integration in the sector policies and provides general conclusions and recommendations on the way of enhancing environmental management and governance across the sectors of the economy. Specific recommendations on the targeted EU support have also been proposed.