The first in the series of media briefings titled “Towards the EU – negotiating chapters” was held at the EU Info Centre on Wednesday, 5 April. The first session covered the chapter 27 – environment. The briefing was organised by the EU Info Centre and the project PLAC II and was attended by 21 journalists from print, electronic and online media which specialise in environment. In his welcome address, Steffen Hudolin Head of Operations at the EU Delegation and the Assistant Director of the Serbian European Integration Office Ivana Djuric stressed the importance of keeping the public informed on the content of negotiating chapters and the commitments assumed and not only to brief it on the pace of chapters’ opening.

The press were briefed by an Italian expert in the area, Giovanni Gordiani. He said that 80% of environment regulations in the EU was adopted at the Union level and only 20% at the national.

When adopting environmental regulation it is important to set ambitious goals, follow the developments closely and plan ahead, Giordani said.

According to him, the EU hardly ever adopted environment regulation up until 1970s, and the first ones to start adopting laws in that area were the Nordic countries. At the time, environmental issues began to emerge, such as air pollution, and called for measures such as driving ban to be taken.

A combination of circumstances led to the creation of European environment policy – consequences of pollution, pressure from the public, awareness of the need to regulate the area, as well as international conferences and conclusions reached. At first, the regulation was adopted mainly to “stop the fire from spreading” before the focus was put on prevention and planning.

Today, there is only 20% of regulation adopted at the Member State level, whereas the bulk of it has been brought at the Union level. Gordiani said the ratio was a result of the cross-border nature of that area – from river basin management to pollution.

Another reason for this is the nature of the Union itself – its common market and, hence, common regulations, said the expert with over 20 years of experience in counselling on chapter 27 in EU negotiations.

Gordiani said that the Union’s environment goals sometimes might seem too ambitious and as an example cited the quality of water and the 2000 directive that set the goal to achieve good status of all water bodies by the year 2015, which includes biological, chemical and morphological quality elements, as well as pollution, biodiversity and the quantity of water.

The goal, however, has not been achieved, but major progress has indeed been made. Gordiani said that in 2000 only 30% of all water bodies had good quality, in 2099 the percentage was up to 43, whereas in 2015 the number reached 53%.

The goals in this area are never quite predictable. When we say 2015, we mean 2015 and beyond, the expert said, adding that setting an ambitious goal was important and it would eventually be achieved.

“Not everything is perfect, but it is kept under control and thought through,” he said.

The legislation in this area is often regarded as expensive, said Gordiani, adding that he believes the benefits derived from such legislation exceed the costs as the area deals with the protection of the environment, health and consumers.

“When we talk about regulating the environment we always end up talking about the costs, while having trouble seeing the benefits,” he said.

The next briefing within the series “Towards the EU” is scheduled for May. The press will then be brought closer to certain parts of chapter 3 relevant to recognition of qualifications.