Chapter 27 within the EU accession negotiation, concerning ecology, is among the most demanding and most expensive ones, and Serbia is faced with a “bumpy” road when it comes to harmonisation with the European standards, said the participants of the “Environment towards Europe” conference, held at Belgrade Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of World Environment Day.
Head of the European Integration Section of the EU Delegation to Serbia Freek Janmat said that a considerable part of the EUR200 million of pre-accession funds for the period 2014-2020 would be earmarked for ecology. He said he expected Serbia would successfully face the challenges of harmonising domestic standards with the demanding EU regulations related to environment.
Janmat noted that many countries, with Croatia being the latest, went through the transitional period for implementation of certain standards, envisioned within the Chapter 27.
He said it was important to make a clear investment plan and pick “ripe” projects in the area of ecology, as well as to establish a specialised fund designed to finance ecological projects.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Stana Božović said the negotiating Chapter 27 would be the most expensive, demanding, and serious one, adding that two thirds of all regulations and standards that need to be harmonised with the EU were related to ecology.
It takes EUR10,5 billion in order to achieve a full harmonisation with the EU ecology regulations, said Božović, adding that government, civil sector and economy should all work together on this path.
