Alternative report on implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Environment in BiH ďƒť Poor environmental performance damages quality of life and undermines the development. Air pollution Poor waste management
Weak spatial planning
Flood risk
Deforestation
ďƒź Informational openess and public participation in decision-making help to find the right solutions.
Aarhus Convention Global convention on „environmental democracy“ 47 countries ratified Provides 3 rights: ❶ Access to information ❷ Public participation in decision making ❸ Right for justice 1998: Aarhus Convention adopted
2008: Bosnia & Herzegovina accession
2010: National implementation report 1
2013: National implementation report 2
Report’s sources
Legislation
Research
International conventions
Request to state authorities
Domestic law Administration structure Law amendments
Survey of NGOs experience National reports on implementation
Practice
Monitoring of real cases from the life
The Energy Community International organization: EU and other countries Intention: extend EU energy market Energy Community Treaty Members commit to implement EU energy acquis 2006: Energy Community Treaty
2006: Bosnia & Herzegovina joined ECT
2016: Original year of expiration
2026: Prolongued validity
‟ Threat to leave behind environmental and social aspects of the business
The ECT does not include
Chapter II of Directive 2010/75/EU3 on industrial emissions
Directive 2008/50/EC4 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe
Directive 2008/105/EC5 on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy Directive 2006/21/EC6 on the management of waste from extractive industries Directive 2001/42/EC7 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora
Domestic law - conclusions Aarhus Convention well transposed in national law BiH legislation copies EU acquis EU pollution limits should be reached only in 2021 Lack of environmental aspects in international agreements (Energy Treaty) Postponed adoption of important regulations (LrTAP and IPPC Directive)
Administration structure 3 presidents 14 governments 170 ministries 184,148 employees (4 % of population) 6,145,000,000 BAM budget (23 % of GDP)
Administration structure Too expensive Lack of finances and adequate personnel Not clear division of responsibilities Nobody feels responsible Citizens do not understand who to contact Complicated structure increases corruption Violation of deadlines and obligations Lack of willingness to enforce the law Weak supervision and control
State authorities performance
Aarhus Convention Pillars The subject of the Convention goes to the heart of the relationship between people and governments. The Convention is not only an environmental agreement, it is also a Convention about government accountability, transparency and responsiveness.
❶ Access to information ❷ Public participation ❸ Right for justice
❶ Access to information No integrated informational websites exist Online sources work only in some regions or partly Inadequate system of processing information Maybe up to 30 % authorities do not inform
❶ Information: recommendations Integrated websites with information Eduation of civil servants System of collection and processing information Annual reports on state of environment Evaluation of providing information/civil servants
❷ Public participation Broader participation very rare No statistics available Failure to inform public in time manner Participation used maily only by NGOs Involvement in advanced stages of the projects Refusing public comments without explanation
❷ Participation: recommendations Enhencement of timely information Enabling participation at early stages Obligatory explanation of dealing with comments
❸ Right for justice Litigation almost completely unused tool Official statistic does not exist 2012: only 15 cases recorded (OSCE) Lack of education on person’s rights Expensive producing evidence
❸ Justice: recommendations Education on person’s rights Easier procedure of evidence acceptance Capacity building of professional support ‼ Problems can be solved only if citizens use judicial procedures (experiece of post-communist countries of Central Europe)
Survey on experience of NGOs
Experience of NGOs: Access to info
Experience of NGOs: Public participation
Experience of NGOs: Access to justice
Civil society Civil society is not apathetic
BUT
Citizens do not use potential
ยง
AC Compliance Mechanism
No communication has been submitted from BiH.
more info: www.arnika.org/bosnia-and-herzegovina