directive specific implementation plan - zeleni.org.mk › uploads › media › plan_za...mars...

An EU funded project managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction

Contracting Authority: European Agency for Reconstruction Beneficiary: Ministry of Environment & Physical Planning,

former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

“Strengthening of Environmental Management,

former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”

(Ref. No.: 05MAC01/13/001- EuropeAid/121312/D/SV/MK)

DIRECTIVE SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

for

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DIRECTIVE (2001/42/EC)

HORIZONTAL LEGISLATION SECTOR

April 2007

Issue: Final Date: June 2007 Reason for Issue: Final Document

Sign-Off Originator SOFRECO Checker MoEPP Reviewer EAR Project Manager

Print Name Benny Rud Hansen Valerie Fernandez Daniella Stefkova Ivan Borisavljevic

Signature -------------------------

Date

EAR / MoEPP April 2007 DSIP, Directive 2001/42/EC Strengthening of Environmental Management Horizontal Legislation Sector

Page 2 of 45

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

1. REQUIREMENTS OF EU LEGISLATION 10 1.1 EU Legislation Covered 10 1.2 Direct Requirements of Legislation 10 1.3 Indirect Requirements / Implications 11 1.4 Links with Other Legislation 11

2. PRESENT SITUATION 12 2.1 Government Policy 12 2.2 Current Legal Framework 13 2.3 Current Implementation Status 15 2.4 Current Investment Status 16

3. APPROXIMATION PLAN 18 3.1 Overall Plan and Milestones 18 3.2 Transposition Plan 19 3.3 Implementation Plan 21 3.4 Resources and Costs 23 3.5 Financing Strategy 23 3.6 Benefits 25 3.7 Key Issues and Uncertainties 26

ANNEXES ANNEX I: Relevant National Legislation ANNEX II: Table of Concordance (ToC) ANNEX III: Implementation Analysis (IA) ANNEX IV: Action List with Costs ANNEX V: Implementation Costing Sheet


Page 3 of 45

LIST OF ABRIVIATION

ADA Austrian Development Agency AHM Association of Hydrology of Macedonia AIE Authorized Inspectorate of Environment ASCI Areas of Special Conservation Interest AwAP Adjustment with Adjustment Plan AWM Administration of Water Management BAT Best Available Technique BATNEEC Best Available Technology Not Entailing Excessive Costs BIMS Biodiversity Information Management System BOT Build-Operate-Transfer (Contract) BPEO Best Practicable Environmental Option BREF Best Available Technique Reference CCNL Concentration Contribution in Neighbour Locations CDM Clean Development Mechanism CEN European Committee for Standardization CDCIR Community Documentation Centre on Industrial Risks CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora CORINE Coordinated Information on the European Environment CORINAIR Emission Inventory Guidebook Danida Danish International Development Assistance DfID Department for International Development (UK) DSIP Directive Specific Implementation Plan DPR Direction for Protection and Rescue EAR European Agency for Reconstruction EAZA European Association of Zoos and Aquaria EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EEA European Environmental Agency EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIB European Investment Bank EIS Environmental Information System EIONET European Environment Information and Observation Network ELV Emission Limit Values EMAS Environmental Management Audit Schemes EMEP European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme EPER European Pollutant Emission Register ERDF European Regional Development Fund EPRTR European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register EUNIS European Union Nature Information System fYROM former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia GMO Genetically Modified Organisms GMM Genetically Modified Micro-Organisms GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit HMD Hydro-Meteorological Directorate (MAFWE) IA Implementation Analysis ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization IEP Integrated Ecological Permits IFI International Funding Institutions IMO International Maritime Organization IPA Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPC Industrial Pollution Control


Page 4 of 45

IPPC Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control ISO International Standards Organization IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau LEAP Local Environmental Action Plan LIBOR London Inter-Bank Offered Rate LoAAQ Law on Ambient Air Quality LoE Law on Environment LoFF Law on Fire Fighting LoPR Law on Protection and Rescuing LoSUP Law on Spatial and Urban Planning LoW Law on Waters LSGU Local Self Government Unit LWM Law on Waste Management MAHB Major Accident Hazards Bureau MAFWE Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy MARS Major Accident Reporting System MEAP Municipal Environmental Action Plan MEIC Macedonian Environmental Information Centre (MoEPP) MES Ministry of Education and Science MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs MLSG Ministry of Local Self Government MLSP Ministry of Labour and Social Policy MoE Ministry of Economy MoEPP Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning MoF Ministry of Finance MoH Ministry of Health MoIA Ministry of Internal Affairs MTC Ministry of Transport and Communication NCSA National Capacity Self Assessment NEAP National Environmental Action Plan NERP National Emission Reduction Plan NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NPAA National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire NPAL National Programme for the Approximation of Legislation NSDS National Sustainable Development Strategy NSEA National Strategy for Environmental Approximation NSEI National Strategy for European Integration NWMP National Waste Management Plan NWMS National Waste Management Strategy PCB Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls PCT Poly-Chlorinated Terphenyls PEEN Pan-European Ecological Network PHI Public Health Institute (MoH) PIO Public Information Office POP Persistent Organic Pollutant PRO Public Relation Office (MoEPP) PPP Public Private Partnership PWME Public Water Management Enterprise QA Quality Assurance RBD River Basin District RBMP River Basin Management Plan REACH Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals


Page 5 of 45

RIMSYS Rivers Monitoring System RIHP Republic Institute for Health Protection RoHS Restriction on Hazardous Substances SABWM State Administration Body for Water Management SAC Special Area of Conservation SAI State Agricultural Inspectorate (MAFWE) SAS Sector Approximation Strategy SCI State Communal Inspectorate (MTC) SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SFRY Soviet Federative Republic of Yugoslavia SIDA Swedish International Development Assistance SIE State Inspectorate for Environment (MoEPP) SMI State Market Inspectorate (MoE ) SNAP Selected Nomenclature for sources of Air Pollution SPA Special Protected areas SSHI State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate (MoH) SWM Strategy on Waste Management TA Technical Assistance ToC Table of Concordance ToR Terms of Reference UNDP United Nation Development Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change UNECE United Nations Commission for Europe VOC Volatile Organic Compound WEEE Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment WMO Water Management Organization WMP Water Master Plan WMU Water Users Organization ZELS Association of Local Self-Government Units


Page 6 of 45

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Requirements of EU Legislation This Directive Specific Implementation Plan covers the Directive 2001/42/EC on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA Directive complements the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directives by requiring environmental assessments to be carried out at the planning stage. The strategies and plans to which the SEA directive applies will generally be prepared by government departments/agencies or local authorities (i.e. the public sector), while the EIA directive applies to project proponents in both private and public sectors.

The SEA Directive imposes the Member States to carry out a strategic environmental assessment of plans and programmes for activities that are likely to have a significant impact on the environment, and to specify the plans and programmes which are subject to preparation and/or adoption by an authority. The Directive also imposes the Member States to carry out the assessment by the Competent Authority responsible for preparing the plan, to prepare an environmental report after consulting the environmental authorities and to make the draft plan/programme and the environmental report available to the environmental authorities and the public and other Member States that might be affected. Finally the Directive requires the Member States to carry out monitoring of the plans and programmes in order to identify at an early stage unforeseen adverse effects, and to undertake necessary mitigation measures, and to report to the European Commission on implementation of the Directive.

Present Situation The environmental policy in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) promotes the principle of environmental impact assessment, and the Law on Environment (LoE) provides for some basic provisions as regards the transposition of the Directive. The National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire (NPAA) clearly indicates the intention to take all necessary measure for the transposing the Directive into the legislation, and the fYROM has signed the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Responsibility for transposing and implementing this directive rests with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP), primarily at national level (for national programmes and plans) and at lower local level (for provincial programmes and plans). The scope of the Directive implies that many other ministries and authorities responsible for preparing programmes and plans will need to comply with its provisions. Areas covered include town and country planning, land use, transport, energy, waste management, water management, industry, telecommunications, agriculture, fisheries and tourism. Other stakeholders involved in the SEA process are the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, and the Ministry of Local Self Government. Also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is involved in the notification part within the transboundary SEA process.

The mayor of the City of Skopje and the mayors of the municipalities shall carry out the strategic assessment of planning documents adopted by the municipality (for plans and programmes that are likely to have local impact in the municipality) and of the City of Skopje.


Page 7 of 45

Currently the only legal instrument that deals with assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment is the Law on Environment (LoE). This Law does not, however, achieve full transposition and there are still a lot of legal gaps found, such as some definitions are not found, plans and programmes are not prescribed in subsequent legislation, and some links with the impact assessment of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) need to be included. Furthermore, there is no specific provision to carry out an environmental assessment when significant effects to the environment are likely for plans and programmes for use of small areas at local level. Screening criteria is not defined, as well as Annex II is not yet prescribed via subsequent legislation. Information to the public as regards the reasons for not requiring and environmental assessment is not yet prescribed. The content of the environmental report is not yet fully described, and Annex I is not yet transposed. Consultations with authorities and the public and identification of the public affected is found in the Law as well as provision for issuing subsequent legislation, but the adoption of such legislation is lacking. Transboundary issues are not fully transposed, and information to be provided are not yet fully prescribed in the Law as well as there is no legal basis for issuing subsequent legislation. Finally, screening criteria are still not fully transposed (Annex II).

An interpretation of the results of the implementation analysis might on that background be that only few actions are needed for full implementation of the Directive. However, in recent years, several planning documents have been prepared (National Waste Management Plan, National Environmental Action Plan II, etc.), but no procedure for strategic assessment has been carried out. A list of Experts was not yet established, even though there is a legal basis in the Law on Environment. Plans and programmes are expected to be prepared within 14 different sectors, which also refer to sectors under the administration of other Ministries, but in other Ministries there is no environmental expertise for implementation and enforcement of horizontal legislation. As such it is the obligation of MoEPP to inform and provide the necessary expertise and see to that integration and coordination of proper procedures are introduced and adopted for plans and programmes to be prepared in other Ministries. However the existing situation shows that very few civil servants in the MoEPP are working with requirements of horizontal legislation and they are more than fully booked with requests for consent procedures in accordance with the EIA Directive (85/337/EC). The Administration for Environment receive apparently 5 requests for development consent procedures per working day and are consequently expected to handle approximately 1,300 requests per year which in practise means notification screening, scoping and permitting as well as rejection of requests. The employees have no practical experience with SEA procedures and from that point of view the SEA directive is far from being implemented even if the implementation analysis from an overall point of view shows something else.

In respect of involving the public in the decision-making process and procedures for the consultation of the public/protocols with neighbouring countries and procedures stipulated in Law on Environment, the MoEPP established the Public Relations Office in 1999. The Public Relations Office provides the service to the public disseminating the environmental information and providing the active public participation into the decision-making processes on EIA and SEA procedures (and IPPC permitting). But only 2 persons from the PR office are directly involved in public participation procedures and they have no experience with SEA procedures. The legislation prescribes that


Page 8 of 45

independent experts might assist the MoEPP on administrative procedures. The List of experts is not only intended for introduction of more man-power for tasks to be done, but also for introduction of specialists and experts within working fields not represented in MoEPP. However representatives from List of Experts are only rarely assigned.

In summary it can be said that lacks in the implementation status is not reflected in lack of recognition of the written text in the Directive, but rather in lack of resources and capacity to implement horizontal Directives.

Only one technical assistance project has been carried out in recent years with direct relevance to the SEA Directive. This was the project “Institutional Building and Capacity Development” (OBNOVA, April 2001 - June 2003). Amongst its other activities it draft the present Law on Environment, including provisions relating to SEA, and carried out a number of capacity-building activities related to SEA, particularly direct training and the preparation of a training manual.

No SEA has yet been conducted in the fYROM, despite the obligation provided under the LoE, and the fact that there have, since the LoE was enacted, been several national plans falling within the scope of this provision.

Approximation Plan The overall plan to obtain full approximation consists of a legal transposition plan and an implementation plan (including enforcement). The legal transposition plan is composed of four actions that will firstly provide for some adjustments / amendments in the existing law as well as the preparation of secondary legislation. The implementation plan is composed of five actions which have been compiled into two major groups of implementation actions.

The milestones of the overall plan for full approximation are given in the table below (starting in year 0 – actual start will be determined in the National Environmental Approximation Strategy; expected start year: 2007):

Overall Approximation Plan Start (month/year)

End (month/year)

Legal Transposition 01/0000 12/0002

Implementation and Enforcement 07/0000 12/0004

- Capacity Building in MoEPP and acquiring of additional external expertise

07/0000 12/0002

- Establish framework for SEAs and consultations with the public and neighbouring countries

01/0002 12/0004

The costs of transposing the Directive fully into the national legislation and implementing it were estimated separately. All costs are estimated in constant 2006 prices. The estimated costs of transposing this Directive into national legislation are €95,000, while the total estimated costs of implementation are one-off costs of €548,000 and ongoing recurrent costs of €945,000 p.a.

The main costs of the legal transposition comprise technical assistance and training (€42,000) and salaries and salary-related costs (€46,000). It is estimated that 1 person-year of MoEPP personnel will be required to support the transposition.

Base on the assumptions made, a very major part of the implementation cost will accrue to the municipalities, which will produce plans that are likely to fall within the scope of the SEA.


Page 9 of 45

The MoEPP will need technical assistance and training worth €548,000 to strengthen it to the point where it can implement and administer SEA effectively. Salaries and salary-related costs for the new personnel will amount to €75,000 p.a. It is assumed that an additional 3 persons will be taken into service. Costs related to the execution of the SEAs by the MoEPP will amount to €220,000. Budgets will also be needed by MoEPP and other relevant planning ministries to draw up SEAs, to hire in technical expertise (specialists from the List of Experts) when needed and to organise public consultations and hearings with regard to their plans. Local Self-Government Units (LSGU) will also incur costs (€650,000) related to executing the SEAs and producing the environmental statements for qualifying plans.

Although the need could arise to consult with neighbouring countries on some SEAs, this could be done within the framework of consultations related to EIAs, and it is assumed that no further costs will accrue from such activity.

The benefits of the implementation of the Directive is that it is assumed to raise the management efficiency within the environmental sector as the proposed action plan is addressing general and horizontal procedures to be applied across the whole environmental sector.

One of the key issues with regard to uncertainties is whether the accession to EU remains a political priority in the fYROM. An important assumption behind the action programme which represents an uncertainty is as well to what extent the environmental sector will remain a priority area to be allocated increasing resources on the state budget within the coming years.


Page 10 of 45

1. REQUIREMENTS OF EU LEGISLATION

1.1 EU Legislation Covered This Directive Specific Implementation Plan covers the Directive on the Assessment of the Effects of Plans and Programmes (2001/42/EC), also referred to as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive. The Directive is a fairly new directive, which Member States had to get transposed and implemented by 2004.

The SEA Directive complements the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EC) by requiring environmental assessments to be carried out at the planning stage. It applies, for example, to the preparation of programmes and plans for waste management, while the EIA process applies to individual projects within that plan (e.g. the development of a new landfill site). The strategies and plans to which the SEA directive applies will generally be prepared by government departments/agencies or local authorities (i.e. the public sector), while the EIA directive applies to project proponents in both private and public sectors.

1.2 Direct Requirements of Legislation The Directive imposes the following obligations on Member States: • To carry out a strategic environmental assessment of plans and

programmes for activities that are likely to have a significant impact on the environment;

• To specify the plans and programmes which are subject to preparation and/or adoption by an authority at national, regional or local level or which are prepared by an authority for adoption, through a legislative procedure by Parliament or Government, and which are required by legislative, regulatory or administrative procedure;

• To carry out the assessment by the Competent Authority responsible for preparing the plan, and to prepare an environmental report after consulting the environmental authorities. The environmental assessment report should include the information that may reasonably be required taking into account current knowledge and methods of assessment, level of data and alternative plans, programmes and their evaluation;

• To make the draft plan/programme and the environmental report available to the environmental authorities and the public, who must be able to express their views;

• To make the draft plan/programme and the environmental report available to other Member States that might be affected and (if requested) to consult with them about the transboundary effects;

• To take account of the opinions expressed by the relevant authorities, by the public and by other Member States in finalising the plan/programme before it is adopted;

• To inform all parties who have been consulted when the plan/programme is adopted, and to make it available to them with a statement how environmental issues and the views of the consultees have been addressed;

• To provide for a quality review to assess the SEA process; • To carry out monitoring of the plans and programmes in order to identify at

an early stage unforeseen adverse effects, and to undertake necessary mitigation measures;


Page 11 of 45

• To provide coordination (where appropriate) for environmental assessment procedures required under the Directive and under other EU legislation;

• To report to the European Commission on implementation of the Directive before July 2006 and then every seven years.

1.3 Indirect Requirements / Implications The following are the indirect requirements and implications that need to be taken into account when transposing and implementing this Directive taking also into account the Reporting Directive (91/692/EEC), Access to Information Directives (90/313/EEC) and from conventions and protocols such as UNECE SEA Protocol for Transboundary impacts, Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice for environmental matters: • Identify the authorities and structures needed to implement the Directive at

national and local levels and decide whether to integrate the SEA process into other processes;

• Provide guidelines on the information to be included in the environmental impact report and in the associated assessment and decision-making processes;

• Develop and implement procedures for public participation in the decision-making process in order to make the latter transparent;

• Provide training on the assessment process and associated activities (monitoring and mitigating or preventing environmental impacts);

• Ensure that the competent authorities have the technical and scientific expertise and experience to assess the environmental impact of a project, to carry out the quality control as well as the monitoring.

1.4 Links with Other Legislation The SEA Directive has links with the EIA Directives (85/337/EEC and 97/11/EC), which provides a framework for assessing the effects of individual projects on the environment (as opposed to programmes and plans).

It also has links with other directives in the environmental sector that require programmes and plans to be prepared, including the Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC, including the requirements of Directive 91/676/EEC and 94/62/EC), which requires waste plans to be prepared, and the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), which requires river basin management plans to be prepared.

Links exists also with the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Air quality Framework Directive (96/62/EC) as amended.

In the environmental sector, other plans and programmes that are subject to the SEA Directive include those relating to energy, industry, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

Sites that are subject to the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) are subject to the SEA Directive as well and indirectly there are links with the Wild Birds Protection Directive (79/409/EEC as amended).

The Directive has links with the Aarhus Convention (articles 7 and 8) and the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (Decision IV/7).


Page 12 of 45

2. PRESENT SITUATION

2.1 Government Policy The Constitution of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Official Gazette no. 52/91) provides that everyone has the right to a healthy living environment and duty to protect and improve the environment and the nature. The State is therefore obliged to provide a healthy environment for its citizens.

The environmental policy in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) promotes the principle of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire (NPAA) prepared by the Government (Secretariat for European Affairs) clearly indicates the intention to take all necessary measure for the approximation of the Directive. In addition, the fYROM has signed (May 2003) the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment.

2.2 Roles & Responsibilities Responsibility for transposing and implementing this directive rests with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP). This will be performed primarily at national level (for national programmes and plans) and at lower local level (for provincial programmes and plans). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has also responsibilities within this Directive as the Directive also has components which relate to the ESPOO Convention (transboundary pollution) and the Aarhus Convention (access to information).

The scope of the Directive implies that many different ministries and authorities responsible for preparing programmes and plans will need to comply with its provisions. Areas covered include town and country planning, land use, transport, energy, waste management, water management, industry, telecommunications, agriculture, fisheries and tourism.

The main roles and responsibilities for the assessment and management issues are summarized in the following table and are further elaborated below.


Page 13 of 45

Table 1: Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders

Stakeholder Responsibility

Governmental institution

- Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP)

- Give proposals to the Government on strategic assessments of the conditions and determination of necessary measures to be taken in order to protect the environment, planning and programme documents.

- Prepare a Strategic Environmental Assessment Report. - Engage person(s) from the List of Experts for SEA. - Organise a public consultation. - Monitor the impact on the environment and human health

caused by implementation of the planning documents.- Ministry of Economy - Ministry of Transport and

Communications - Ministry of Agriculture,

Forestry and Water Economy - Ministry of Local Self-

Government

- Conduction of the SEA procedure on strategic planning documents;

- Prepare strategic assessment Environmental Report - Engage person(s) from the List of Experts for SEA. - Organise a public consultation. - Monitor the impact on the environment and human health

caused by implementation of the planning documents. - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Prescribe the manner of carrying out the transboundary

consultations with the other countries that might be affected by an implementation of the planning document, after given consent by the MoEPP.

- Submit official notification to the competent authority of the other country, in order to provide for participation.

- Municipalities - Prepare a Strategic Environmental assessment Report ; - Carrying out plans and programmes that are likely to have an

impact on local level. - Organise a public consultation.

Other relevant stakeholders (NGOs, international donors)

- NGOs - Active public participation in the Strategic Environmental Assessment process.

- National experts - National experts from the List of Experts on SEA will work on the preparation of SEA Reports, definition of the scope (content) of SEA Reports and review the SEA Reports.

When a strategic environmental assessment is required, the body preparing the planning document (various governmental institutions such as the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, the Ministry of Local self government, and the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning) shall prepare a strategic environmental assessment report. When deciding on the scope and level of detail of the information, the body carrying out the strategic assessment shall take into consideration the existing knowledge and methods of assessment, the content and details of the planning documents, and their contribution to the decision-making process, public interests and the need of information for the decision making authority.

When a strategic environmental assessment is required, the MoEPP or other Ministry preparing the planning document shall also prepare a strategic environmental assessment report.

When the implementation of planning document is likely to have transboundary impact on the environment and human life and health, at the proposal of the MoEPP, the affected country shall be furnished with a description of the planning document, environmental impact assessment report on the planning


Page 14 of 45

document, and an invitation for participation in the consultation procedures related to the planning document.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is involved in the notification part within the transboundary SEA process. When MoEPP or some other relevant institution learn of the preparation of a planning document in another country, shall immediately notify the body of the state administration responsible for the area of foreign affairs of the fYROM of the necessity for submission of official notification to the competent authorities of the other country.

The mayor of the City of Skopje and the mayors of the municipalities shall carry out the strategic assessment of planning documents adopted by the municipality (for plans and programmes that are likely to have local impact in the municipality) and of the City of Skopje.

2.3 Current Legal Framework Currently the only legal instrument that deals with assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment is the Law on Environment (Official Gazette no. 53/2005). This Law does not, however, achieve full transposition and there are still a lot of legal gaps found.

To provide detailed analysis of the current status and short comings of the legal transposition, a legal gap analysis was carried out using a Table of Concordance TOC. A list of relevant national legislation provided by the MoEPP and used in the gap analysis is presented in Annex I. The TOC was prepared in close cooperation with relevant officials of the Horizontal Sector in the MoEPP. The completed TOC (refer Annex II) was distributed to the members of the Horizontal Working Group (consisting of relevant stakeholders within the Horizontal Sector) for their comments. Finally, a presentation of the findings was made for the members of the Horizontal Working Group, who provided their validation. It should be noted that the results of the gap analysis reflects the status of transposition at the time of the analysis. At the time of reporting, further progress in the legal had been accomplished. The main gaps found in the legislation comprise the following: • Definitions of environmental assessment and environmental report are not

yet found in the definitions (Article 2); • Plans and programmes are not prescribed in subsequent legislation. The

evaluation is found transposed insofar as the types of plans and programmes are cited in the Law. However there is need for further explicit statement of those plans and programmes;

• Some links with the impact assessment carried out for projects falling under Articles 6 and 7 of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) need to be included (Article 3.2 (b));

• There is no specific provision to carry out an environmental assessment when likely to the environment significant effects are to be found for plans and programmes which determine use of small areas at local level (Article 3.3);

• Screening criteria is not defined as well as Annex II is not yet prescribed via subsequent legislation (Article 3.5);

• Information to the public as regards the reasons for not requiring an environmental assessment is not yet prescribed (Article 3.7);

• The content of the environmental report is not yet fully described and Annex I is not yet transposed (Articles 5.1 and 5.2);

• Consultations with authorities and the public, identification of the public affected is found in the Law as well as provision for issuing subsequent


Page 15 of 45

legislation. Pending the adoption of such legislation, full transposition is still lacking (Article 6);

• Transboundary issues found in Article 7 of the Directive are not fully transposed. In addition, there are some issues to be further clarified, such as the competencies of the MoEEP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

• Information to be provided and information for the public as found in Article 9 of the Directive are not yet fully prescribed in the Law. Some changes in the Law should be required as there is no legal basis for issuing subsequent legislation;

• Annex I (information to be included in the environment report) and Annex II (screening criteria) are still not fully transposed. There is however legal basis for a ministerial order to be issued to further regulate those Annexes.

It should be noted that the fYROM has signed (May 2003) the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (not yet ratified), and as there are a lot of similarities between the Protocol and this Directive it seems that there is need to transpose the Directive as a priority and identify elements from the Protocol that can be incorporated

2.4 Current Implementation Status To get a more detailed picture of the current status and short comings in fulfilling the implementation and enforcement requirements of this Directive, a gap analysis has been carried out. The gap analysis was carried out using an Implementation Analysis form, which was filled-in in close cooperation with relevant officials of the Horizontal Sector in the MoEPP and other stakeholders. The completed Implementation Analysis form (refer Annex III) was distributed to the members of the Horizontal Working Group, who provided their validation.

Questions in the Implementation Analysis form were prepared with reference to specific requirements of articles in the Directive. Only few gaps with reference to articles and specific requirements were identified as all main questions except two were answered positively. An interpretation of the results of the implementation analysis might on that background be that only few actions are needed for full implementation of the Directive. But based on the applied methodology, neglecting transposition gaps as described in previous chapter on legislation, it is still difficult to distinguish between status for legal transposition and implementation of the SEA Directive.

Government of the fYROM, upon a proposal by the MoEPP, is responsible for determination of the national environmental plans and programmes for which the procedure for strategic assessment shall be carried out. Within the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning the Department for Sustainable Development is responsible for drafting proposals and/or adopting strategic assessments, plans or programmes, prepare environmental reports and organise public consultations with all relevant stakeholders. Other bodies which will have to prepare the planning documents shall carry out the environmental assessment and a consultation on draft plans or programmes. The responsible Ministries which plans or programmes are likely to have an impact on the environment have been identified to be the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, the Ministry of Transport and Communication, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Local Self Government.

In recent years, several planning documents have been prepared (National Waste Management Plan, National Environmental Action Plan II, etc.), but no procedure for strategic assessment has been carried out. A list of Experts was


Page 16 of 45

not yet established, even though there is a legal basis in the Law on Environment.

Plans and programmes are expected to be prepared within 14 different sectors (in accordance with the Directive), which also refer to sectors under the administration of other ministries. In other Ministries there is no environmental expertise for implementation and enforcement of horizontal legislation. As such it is the obligation of MoEPP to inform and provide the necessary expertise and see to that integration and coordination of proper procedures are introduced and adopted for plans and programmes to be prepared in other Ministries. However, the existing situation shows that there are very few civil servants in the MoEPP working with the requirements of the horizontal legislation. The Administration for Environment receive apparently 5 requests for development consent procedures per working day and are consequently expected to handle approximately 1,300 requests per year which in practise means notification screening, scoping and permitting as well as rejection of requests. The employees have no practical experience with SEA procedures and from that point of view the SEA directive is far from being implemented even if the implementation analysis from an overall point of view shows something else.

In respect of involving the public in the decision-making process and procedures for the consultation of the public/protocols with neighbouring countries and procedures stipulated in Law on Environment, the MoEPP established the Public Relations Office in 1999. The Public Relations Office provides the service to the public disseminating the environmental information and providing the active public participation into the decision-making processes on EIA and SEA procedures (and IPPC permitting) taking into account the Aarhus Convention provisions. But only 2 persons from the PR office are directly involved in public participation procedures and they have no experience with SEA procedures

It should be said that a proposal for changing the structure of MoEPP and extending the staff to allocate more man-power to administration of horizontal legislation is pending.

The legislation prescribes that independent experts might assist the MoEPP on administrative procedures. The List of experts is not only intended for introduction of more man-power for tasks to be done, but also for introduction of specialists and experts within working fields not represented in MoEPP. However representatives from List of Experts are only rarely assigned.

In summary it can be said that lacks in the implementation status is not reflected in lack of recognition of the written text in the Directive, but rather in lack of resources and capacity to implement horizontal Directives.

2.5 Current Investment Status Investment in the SEA in fYROM is considered under three headings, namely investment in people, investment in technical assistance projects and investment in actual strategic environmental assessments.

Investment in people There are very few persons with the skills and experience needed to support SEA procedures and to implement the SEA.

The ‘List of Experts’ system is not at present operational.


Page 17 of 45

Investment in technical assistance projects Only one technical assistance project has been carried out in recent years with direct relevance to the SEA Directive. This was the project “Institutional Building and Capacity Development”, carried out from April 2001 until June 2003 and funded by the European Commission under the CARDS programme. This was a regional project conducted not only in fYROM but also in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro. Amongst its other activities it draft the present Law on Environment, including provisions relating to SEA, and carried out a number of capacity-building activities related to EIA and SEA, particularly direct training and the preparation of a training manual.

Other donors that provided technical assistance on EIA / SEA and public participation related issues through implementation of projects and specialized field visits and trainings are the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) and REC Country Office Macedonia, the Japanese Government (JICA), the Swedish Government (SIDA) and others.

Environmental impact assessments conducted No SEA has yet been conducted in the fYROM, despite the obligation provided under the Law on the Environment, and the fact that there have, since the LoE was enacted, been several national plans falling within the scope of this provision. There have therefore not been any investments so far in strategic environmental assessments.


Page 18 of 45

3. APPROXIMATION PLAN

3.1 Overall Plan and Milestones With the submission of the application for membership by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) on 22nd of March 2004 and the signing on 9th of April 2001 and coming into force on 1st of April 2004 of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Communities and their Member States, the fYROM has strongly reconfirmed the already clearly expressed political commitment to the EU membership. Therefore the European Council on 17th of December 2005 decided to grant the fYROM candidate status for membership of EU.

The National Strategy for European Integration, adopted on 6th of September 2004, and the draft National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire, dated March 2006, also provide a strong confirmation of the ability and dedication of all relevant institutions and civil servants to response of the requirements of the EU integration process.

One of the main conditions for EU membership is the integration and implementation of the EU legislation, the so called approximation process, which consist of three main components: legal transposition, practical implementation, and enforcement. In the fYROM, several approximation projects funded either by the EU or other donors have been carried out in the past or are presently ongoing or under way.

The overall plan to obtain full approximation, taking into account the past and on-going approximation projects, is presented in the following. It consists of a legal transposition plan and a practical implementation plan (including enforcement).

The legal transposition plan is composed of four actions that will firstly provide for some adjustments/amendments in the existing law (either introduction of missing obligations, or reformulation of existing provisions that are not fully in accordance with the respective Directive’s provision and clear provisions of legal basis) as well as the preparation of secondary legislation. A detailed description of the transposition plan is presented in Sub-Chapter 3.2.

The implementation plan is composed of five actions which have been compiled into two major groups of implementation actions (refer Table 2) mainly addressing institutional capacity building and training. A detailed description of the implementation plan is presented in Sub-Chapter 3.3.

In specifying the phasing over time of these actions, the approach taken has been to specify relative years (starting with year 0). In practice the pace at which these directives/regulations can be transposed and implemented will depend on the availability of scarce manpower resources and budgets that have to be shared with other sectors. A realistic (absolute) timetable for the legal transposition and related implementation and enforcement of these directives/regulations, taking into account the limited available resources and budgets, will be presented in the National Strategy for Environmental Approximation (NSEA) where the resource requirements of all the sectors are placed side-by-side and compared with the estimated available total resources.

The milestones of the overall plan for full approximation are given in the table below (starting in year 0 – actual start will be determined in the National Environmental Approximation Strategy; expected start year: 2007):


Page 19 of 45

Table 2: Milestones of Overall Approximation Plan Overall Approximation Plan Start (month/year) End (month/year)

Legal Transposition 01/0000 12/0002

Implementation and Enforcement 07/0000 12/0004

- Capacity Building in MoEPP and acquiring of additional external expertise

07/0000 12/0002

- Establish framework for SEAs and consultations with the public and neighbouring countries

01/0002 12/0004

3.2 Transposition Plan The main findings of the legal gap analysis presented in Sub-Chapter 2.3 has formed the basis for identifying and deciding on the required future actions that will enable full transposition and is the core of the Transposition Plan. Those actions are either based on the existing law and subsequent legislation to be issued or amendment of the law where possible. Those actions were prepared in close cooperation with the officials of the MoEPP and presented to the members of the Horizontal Working Group, who provided their comments and gave their validation. It should be noted that some of the proposed action might already have been accomplished at the time of reporting.

The actions required to complete the legal transposition of this Directive are presented in Table 3, which are setting out the number of actions needed, the legal instrument(s), the legal transposition, the responsible authorities involved in the preparation and adoption of each legal instrument, as well as implementation period (relatively with starting year 0). The first action refers to existing law(s) amendment dealing with this Directive. The amendment either comprises the introduction of new provisions or the reformulation of existing provisions that partly transpose a Directive’s obligation, but also the introduction of a provision providing for legal basis that will enable the issuance of secondary legislation. The other actions refer mainly to the preparation and adoption of secondary legislation.


Page 20 of 45

Table 3: Actions and time schedule for full legal transposition Action No.

National Legislation Reference

Action for Full Legal Transposition Responsible Institution

Implementa-tion Period

(month/year)

1 Law on Environment

Drafting, adopting and entering into force a Law on Changing and Amending the Law on Environment

MoEPP 01/0000 -12/0000

2

Law on Environment

Drafting, adopting and entering in force a Decree on strategies, plans and programmes, including their changes (planning documents), for which there is an obligatory procedure for assessing their impact on the environment and on human life and health, as well as criteria for making a decision on performing strategic assessment of other strategies, plans and programs which could significantly impact the environment and human life and health (Governmental Ordinance)

MoEPP in coordination with other relevant Ministries (MAFWE, MoTC, MoE, MoD, MoH, MoI, MoLSG, MoC)

01/0000 -12/0000

3 Law on Environment

Drafting, adopting and entering in force a Decree on the contents of strategic environment impact assessment report

MoEPP 01/0000 -12/0000

4

Law on Environment

Drafting, adopting & entering in force a Rulebook on the procedure for publish-ing information and public participation in the SEA procedure (before initiating the procedure for public participation in the procedure for adopting planning document and in drafting the report, as well as the method for conducting consultations in case of transboundary impacts of the planning document

MoEPP and MoFA

01/0000 -12/0000

It has to be noted that the table above with stated actions does not prejudge the possibility to alter the number of actions in the future insofar as all the Directive's provisions will be fully transposed into the national legislation (primary or secondary). A review from the MoEEP can decrease or increase the number of actions dealing with the issuance of subsequent legislation as well as amendments in the primary legislation where legal basis is to be included. This means that secondary legislation could cover more than one of the Directive's provisions that need to be transposed into the national legal order.

In the case where there is not yet a final adopted and published official act, the discretion of altering the number of actions is wider. The legal drafter could, based on the national nomenclature, increase or decrease the number of provisions found in the main law that provide legal basis for issuing secondary legislation. Attention should only be paid to the need to address all the legal gap findings in the national legislation.

In all cases, any changes on the number of actions will not affect the institutional strengthening needed, nor the needs that were identified and the financial implications on investments.

Finally, it has to be underlined that the adoption of those actions will enable full transposition insofar as the Directive’s objectives are met. It is recommended


Page 21 of 45

that for each action a legal compliance check is done before its adoption in order to ensure proper transposition.

3.3 Implementation Plan The main findings of the gap analysis presented in Sub-Chapter 2.4 have formed the basis for identifying and deciding on the required future implementation and enforcement actions. Those actions will enable for full implementation and enforcement of this Directive and is the core of the Implementation Plan.

In the first step a decision should be made concerning the distribution of expertise and capacity on SEA procedures for assessment of plans and programmes within or among Ministries. As no SEA procedures have been applied in country for assessment of plans and programmes it may appear that other Ministries might wish to build up their own expertise. To avoid conflicting planning among ministries an initial but principal decision should be made on where and how to assign future resources.

In the second step allocation of resources in accordance with the existing and future needs for implementation of horizontal legislation should be planned for a 5 year period. In that context it should be stressed that the implementation plan is not only intended for implementation of the SEA directive alone but refers to implementation of horizontal legislation generally, including the EIA Directive (85/337/EC) and other relevant directives.

The actions needed to secure full implementation of this Directive are presented in Table 4 below together with a short description of each of the proposed actions, responsible institution and a proposed implementation period (relatively with starting year 0). The actions were prepared in close cooperation with the responsible experts in the MoEPP. The actions were presented to the Horizontal Working Group, who provided its comments and gave its validation.

Table 4: Implementation and enforcement actions Action No.

Covered EU Requirement (Articles)

Action Respon-sible Institution

Implementa-tion period (month/year)

5 Not specified Build internal capacity for SEA in MoEPP MoEPP 07/0000 -

12/0001

6 Not specified Acquire access to external expertise MoEPP 01/0001 – 12/0002

7 Articles 3-5 Establish framework for SEAs MoEPP 01/0002 – 12/0003

8 Article 9 Establish framework for public consultations MoEPP 01/0002 –

12/0003

9 Article 7 Establish framework for consultations with neighbouring countries MoEPP, MFA

01/0003 – 12/0004

The five identified implementation actions can be compiled into the following two main groups of actions:

1. Capacity Building in MoEPP and acquiring of additional external expertise;

2. Establish framework for SEAs and consultations with the public and neighbouring countries.


Page 22 of 45

These two groups of actions are briefly described below (see also Annex 5).

Capacity Building in MoEPP and acquiring of additional external expertise A pool of expertise on SEA needs to be built up to meet the requirements of the Directive. These might include consultants, academics or other practitioners for conducting the SEAs. In regard to developing the capacity and expertise on SEA in the MoEPP, an overall strategy and plan (for a period of say 5 years) should be prepared. In the plan should be defined which areas of expertise to be developed within the MoEPP and whether expertise on SEA procedures shall be distributed among ministries or be anchored in MoEPP. The latter decision should be made to prevent conflicting planning of future resources. It should also be determined for which plans the SEA is necessary and which institutions shall be responsible for working out the SEA for the identified plans. To gain from the experience obtained in other Member Countries on SEA procedures, a study tour could be arranged for a number of selected employees.

A plan for extending the number of employees in accordance with projected workloads should be made. Furthermore, a description of qualification profiles for employment of new staff members to be involved in the SEA procedures should be carried out. The MoEPP should decide on the qualifications needed by experts, maintain and publish the List of Experts, but also ensure that a budget is available to remunerate them so that advice can be sought when necessary. The qualifications of the external experts should be specified and a call for the experts to be included in the List of Experts within expertise not covered internally in the MoEPP (or other Ministries) should be performed. Working procedures, guidance documents should be developed, and guidelines on methodologies prepared.

The new employees in the MoEPP need to be trained, which can be done in the context of a technical assistance project in which the consultants work closely with the new and existing personnel to bring procedures fully into compliance with the Directive. A continuous but phased and levelled training programme for the new employees ought to be prepared and implemented for efficient implementation of the Directive.

Establish framework for SEAs and consultations with the public and neighbouring countries To carry out SEAs will mainly be the responsibility of the Competent Authority (MoEPP), and a set-up will be needed for the MoEPP to be able to perform this task.

Full public consultation in the SEA process is required, which means appropriate announcements and dissemination of information, public hearings or discussions and proper provision for dealing with matters raised by the public. The MoEPP therefore need to establish a set-up that can handle this requirement.

In case that the SEA shows that there might be a transboundary effect from a project or an installation on other Member State(s), the Member State(s) have to be consulted. This means that in the SEA procedure there must be mechanisms for identifying whether there is a transboundary effect on other Member State(s), notifying the relevant Competent Authorities in the Member States concerned and providing the necessary information, and allowing it to participate in the decision-making procedures.


Page 23 of 45

Finally, a database should be developed for handling all data and information collected and produced in the SEA process.

3.4 Resources and Costs An estimate has been made of the costs of the various actions needed to approximate and implement the SEA Directive. The results of this costing are set out below. The approach taken in the costing and some overall assumptions made are described in the following section.

Method of cost estimation and sources of cost data The costs of transposing the SEA Directive fully into the national legislation and implementing it were estimated separately.

In the case of the legal transposition the starting point was the list of transposition actions listed in Table 3. The resource requirements of each action were estimated jointly by the project legal experts and the key staff of the MoEPP. These resources comprised: • human resources in MoEPP and other relevant institutions (the resources

needed for deployment on transposition tasks only, implying that the personnel would be used for other purposes afterwards),

• training requirements (national or international trainers distinguished), • office space, equipment and support services, • materials to be procured, • production of necessary documents, and • technical assistance projects / experts.

These resources were then costed on the basis of unit costs for personnel, office space, equipment, materials, etc. These unit costs were generally provided by the government office of Sector for European Integration.

In the case of implementation a similar approach was taken, except that: • the starting point was the list of actions contained in Table 4. This list was

further disaggregated into actions and sub-actions as set out in Annex V, • the requirements of the standard resources listed above were estimated by

the project national and international sector and economic/financial experts rather than the legal experts,

• the human resources are generally assumed to be new resources which will be required on an ongoing basis, and

• the resource requirements for technical assistance projects were based on estimates, drawing on experience, of the necessary TA project inputs in terms of international and national consultants and other resources.

The cost estimation method and or data sources used are outlined briefly in Annex V. ‘Recurrent costs’ are estimated on the basis of the additional resources needed to comply with EU legislation compared with the present situation as outlined in section 2.5.

All costs are estimated in constant 2006 prices.

Assumptions made in costing In making such a costing certain assumptions have to be made. Some of the general assumptions are discussed here. More detailed action-specific assumptions are presented when the particular action is discussed.

- Assumption regarding the workload The workload and therefore the implementation costs will depend on the volume of SEAs to be carried out and processed. No SEAs have yet been


Page 24 of 45

carried out in fYROM up to now, so past experience cannot be taken as a guide to future numbers. After discussion within the project team it has been assumed that there will be 40 projects per year requiring an SEA. These will be public bodies, generally either government ministries or local self-government units (the public agencies which prepare plans which are deemed to be subject to SEA). The strategies and plans to which the Directive applies have not yet been drawn up, but it is assumed that 75% of them will be local self-government units and 25% government ministries.

- Phasing of measures and investment For the time being it is assumed that the actions will be carried out at the earliest feasible time. The actual timing will be reconsidered when the sectoral and overall strategies are being assembled, having regard to the overall resource implications and requirements, and the priorities of the government with regard to the different directives.

Estimated costs of legal transposition The estimated costs of transposing the Directive into the national legislation are €95,000. This is made up as follows:

Table 5: Costs of transposing SEA Directive into national legislation

Cost type Cost (€’000) Human resources 6 Reporting 5 Equipment 2 Training 17 TA 25 Indirect salary-related costs, overheads and miscellaneous 40 Total 95

The main costs comprise technical assistance and training (€42,000), and salaries and salary-related costs (€46,000). It is estimated that 1 person-year of MoEPP personnel will be required to support the transposition.

Estimated costs of implementation The costs of implementing the Directive will fall initially on: • the MoEPP, which will have to establish the administrative and technical

infrastructure to ensure that the law is applied and check and process the environment statements which are submitted, and

• the agencies which produce plans which fall within the scope of the SEA.

The estimated costs are summarised in the table below.

Table 6: Overall implementation costs for the SEA Directive Stakeholder / Costs Capital / one-off costs

(€’000s) Operating / recurrent costs

(€’000s p.a.)

MoEPP and other ministries 548 295

Local government 0 650

Total 548 945

The total capital/one-off costs of implementing the SEA Directive will be €548,000, with recurrent costs of €945,000 p.a. It can be seen that, on the


Page 25 of 45

assumptions made, a very major part of this cost will accrue to the municipalities, which will produce plans that are likely to fall within the scope of the SEA.

These costs are broken down into categories of expenditure in Table 7 below.

Table 7: Implementation costs broken down by expenditure category

Stakeholder / Cost type

Capital / one-off costs (€’000s)

Operating / recurrent costs

(€’000s p.a.)

MoEPP - Additional personnel 75- Technical assistance and training 548 - Strategic environmental assessments 200- Public consultation 10- External expertise for evaluation of SEAs 10

Subtotal MoEPP 548 295 Local government

- Strategic environmental assessments 600- Public consultations 30- Expert assistance 20

Subtotal local government - 650 Total 548 945

The MoEPP will need technical assistance and training worth €548,000 to strengthen it to the point where it can implement and administer SEA effectively. Salaries and salary-related costs for the new personnel will amount to €75,000 p.a. It is assumed that an additional 3 persons will be taken into service. Costs related to the execution of the SEAs by the MoEPP will amount to €220,000.

Budgets will also be needed by MoEPP and other relevant planning ministries to draw up SEAs, to hire in technical expertise (specialists from the List of Experts) when needed and to organise public consultations and hearings with regard to their plans.

Local Self-Government Units (LSGU), to the extent that their plans fall within the scope of the SEA, will also incur costs related to executing the SEAs and producing the environmental statements for qualifying plans (€650,000).

Although the need could arise to consult with neighbouring countries on some SEAs, this could be done within the framework of consultations related to EIAs, and it is assumed that no further costs will accrue from such activity.

3.5 Financing Strategy The government should seek to secure grant funding for all technical assistance, training and associated costs related to transposition and implementation of the Directive.

On this basis, the total grant funding needed will be €602,000, all of it, on the assumptions made about timing, in the first two or there years.

Recurrent and operating costs amounting to €945,000 per annum plus initial salary and other costs of €46,000 for transposition will not qualify for grant aid.


Page 26 of 45

The latter will need to be covered by provisions in the state or municipal budgets, as the case may be.

3.6 Benefits Long term planning for implementation and enforcement of consent procedures in accordance with EU requirement is a precondition for political acceptance of the extension of staff and increasing costs on the state budget not only to politicians in the fYROM, but also for an acceptance of the intentions laid down in accession negotiations with the EU Commission.

At the moment work loads must seem to be overwhelming with the limited number of staff allocated for implementation and enforcement of consent procedures in accordance with EU requirements. Extension of staff, training opportunities and the chance to go abroad to increase the qualifications might be an incentive for acceptance of the employees at least for a period to endure the pressures with restricted resources.

Allocation of resources and budgets to “List of Experts” within specific fields of expertise may be an incentive for creation of new jobs within the private sector based on competition and hereby contribute to an increase in qualifications of consultants within the environmental sector, not only for direct employment but also within related sectors dealing with laboratories, documentation and environmental legislation.

Generally the benefits of the proposed implementation programme is assumed to raise the management efficiency within the environmental sector as the proposed action plan is addressing general and horizontal procedures to be applied across the whole environmental sector.

3.7 Key Issues and Uncertainties One of the key issues with regard to uncertainties is whether the accession to EU remains a political priority in the fYROM. An important assumption behind the action programme which represents an uncertainty is as well to what extent the environmental sector will remain a priority area to be allocated increasing resources on the state budget within the coming years. If not, the result might be that the incentive among civil servants within MoEPP to endure new work loads arising from new implementation procedures will be less evident and hereby the continuity, the institutional memory and the existing expertise will vanish. But it is assumed that the existing engagement among staff in MoEPP will be supported through an upgrading of resources within the environmental sector in accordance with the overall political intentions laid down in accession negotiation with the European Commission.


Page 27 of 45

ANNEX I: RELEVANT NATIONAL LEGISLATION

Relevant NATIONAL Legislation

Conventions/Protocols Legal Acts Secondary Legislation

Law on Environment (Official Gazette of RM, No. 53/05)

1. Protocol on strategic Environmental Assesment The protocol has been adopted on the basis of the Espoo

Convention.

2.Protocol on Pollution Release and Transfer Registers The protocol has been adopted on the basis of the Aarhus

Convention.

3. Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a

Transboundary Context Adopted at Kiev, Ukraine 21 May 2003


Page 28 of 45

ANNEX II: TABLE OF CONCORDANCE

Project: Strengthening of Environmental Management (CARDS 2005), fYROM Date Table Completed: 26.6.2006

Person(s) completing Table: MoEPP: Dragana Cerepnalkovska Project Team: Thisvi Ekmetzoglou and Slavjanka Pejcinovska-Andonova Validated by the WG members during the II WG meeting on 13.11.2006

Article EU Obligation Existing national law (give relevant law or

regulation & no. of article)

Fully in accord?(yes/no)

If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)

If draft, give no. of article transposing

EU obligation

Status of transposition (5-0 accdg to lawmaking

stage)

Planned year for fulltranspos’n

Art. 1 [Purpose] Not to be scored

Art. 2 Definitions:

(a) "plans and programmes" Law on Env. Art. 5 def.26 (only the first paragraph from the definition) missing the words “which are required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions”

YES These words can be added if the amendment of L would be done

(b) "environmental assessment" There is a term “environmental impact assessment” in to the Law on Env. Art. 5 def.26 but the definition is the different

NO L (amend.)

(c) "environmental report" Not found in the Art. 5 under the definitions

NO L (amend.)

(d) "the public" Law on Env. Art. 5 def. 30 (only « group » is missing

YES

Art. 3.1

Arts. 4 to 9 environmental assessment, shall be carried out for Arts. 3.2, 3.3 & 3.4 plans & programmes which are likely to have significant environmental effects.

Law on Env. Art. 65 (para 1) (however, article 3.3 is not yet transposed)

YES


Page 29 of 45




If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)


EU obligation


stage)


Art. 3.2

Subject to Art. 3.3, an environmental assessment shall be carried out for all plans & programmes, (a) which are prepared for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste management, water management, telecommunications, tourism, town & country planning or land use & which set the framework for future development consent of Annexes I & II of Dir. 85/337/EEC projects, or

Law on Env. Art. 65 (para 2) (However the Decree on EIA is not yet fully transposed)

YES

(b) which, in view of the likely effect on sites, have been determined to require Art. 6 or 7 of Dir. 92/43/EEC assessment.

Law on Nature Protection (67/04) Art. 98; Art. 159; Art. 21; Art.18 para 1.3 (acc. 92/43/EEC Habitats Dir. Art.6.1; 6.2; 6.3) It is recommended that because there is a special chapter on SEA in the Law on Environment to have a reference or link to the Law on Nature Protection.

YES

Art. 3.3

Art. 3.2 plans & programmes which determine use of small areas at local level & minor modifications to Art. 3.2 plans & programmes shall require an environmental assessment only where MSs determine that they are likely to have significant environmental effects.

NO L (amend.)

Art. 3.4

MSs shall determine whether plans & programmes, other than those of Art. 3.2, which set the framework for future development consent of projects, are likely to have significant environmental effects.

Law on Env. Art.65 (para 3) (It is recommended to include also reference in art 65 (3) to paragraph 2 and to projects falling into the Habitats Directive)

YES


Page 30 of 45




If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)


EU obligation


stage)


Art. 3.5

MSs shall determine whether Art. 3.3 & 3.4 plans or programmes are likely to have significant environmental effects either through case-by-case examination or by specifying types of plans or programmes or by combining both approaches, & in all cases taking into account Annex II relevant criteria, in order to ensure that plans & programmes with likely significant effects on environment are covered by this Dir.

Law on Env. Art.65 (para 4) criteria

NO MO

Art. 3.6

In the case-by-case examination & in specifying types of plans & programmes in accordance with Art. 3.5, Art. 6.3 authorities shall be consulted.

Law on Env. Art.65 (para 5) (However, authorities are not yet defined)

YES

Art. 3.7

MSs shall ensure that Art. 3.5 conclusions, including the reasons for not requiring an environmental assessment as per Arts 4 to 9, are made available to the public.

Law on Env. Art.65 (para 6) NO MO

Art. 3.8

The following plans & programmes are not subject to this Directive: - plans & programmes the sole purpose of which is to serve national defence or civil emergency,

Law on Env. Art.66 exemptions

YES

Art. 3.9

This Dir. does not apply to plans & programmes co-financed under the current respective programming periods under the 2000 to 2006 programming period under Reg. EC/1260/19991 or under the 2000 to 2006 & 2000 to 2007 programming periods under Reg. EC//1257/19992.

Not applicable

Art. 4.1

Art. 3 environmental assessment shall be carried out during preparation of a plan or programme & before its adoption or submission to legislative procedure.

Law on Env. Art.67 (para 1) NO L(amend.)

1 Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the structural funds (OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, page 1). 2 Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Gurantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, page 80).


Page 31 of 45




If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)


EU obligation


stage)


Art. 4.2

This Dir. requirements shall either be integrated into existing procedures in MSs for adoption of plans & programmes or incorporated in procedures established to comply with this Dir.

NO L

Art. 4.3

Where plans & programmes form part of a hierarchy, MSs shall, avoiding duplication of assessment, take into account the fact that assessment will be carried out, in accordance with this Dir., at different levels of hierarchy. For the purpose of, inter alia, avoiding duplication of assessment, MSs shall apply Arts. 5.2 & 5.3.

NO L

Art. 5.1

Where an Art. 3.1 environmental assessment is required, an environmental report shall be prepared in which likely significant effects on environment of implementing the plan or programme, & reasonable alternatives taking into account objectives & geographical scope of plan or programme, are identified, described & evaluated. Annex I information is to be given for this purpose.

Law on Env. Art.67 (para 1) (para 2)

NO L (amend.) GO

Art. 5.2

Art. 5.1 environmental report shall include information that may reasonably be required taking into account current knowledge & methods of assessment, contents & level of detail in plan or programme, its stage in decision-making process & extent to which certain matters are more appropriately assessed at different levels in that process in order to avoid duplication of assessment.

Law on Env. Art.67 (para 4)

NO L

Art. 5.3

[Relevant information available on environmental effects of plans & programmes & obtained at other levels of decision-making or through other EU legislation may be used for providing Annex I information.]

Not to be scored- discretionary provision

Art. 5.4

Art. 6.3 authorities shall be consulted when deciding on scope & level of detail of information which must be included in environmental report.

Law on Env. Art.67 (para 3) (However authorities are not yet defined)

YES


Page 32 of 45




If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)


EU obligation


stage)


Art. 6.1

Draft plan or programme & Art. 5 environmental report shall be made available to Art. 6.3 authorities & public.

Law on Env. Art.69 (para 1&2))

No L (amend the Law)

Art. 6.2

Art. 6.3 authorities & Art. 6.4 public shall be given an early & effective opportunity within appropriate time-frames to express their opinion on the draft plan or programme & accompanying environmental report before adoption of the plan or programme or its submission to legislative procedure.

Law on Env. Art.69 (para1, 2, 3 and 5) (change days to working days)

NO MO

Art. 6.3

MSs shall designate authorities to be consulted which, by reason of their specific environmental responsibilities, are likely to be concerned by the environmental effects of implementing plans & programmes.

Law on Env. Art 69 (3) and (5) NO MO

Art. 6.4

MSs shall identify the public for Art. 6.2 purposes, including the public affected or likely to be affected by, or having an interest in, the decision-making subject to this Dir., including relevant non-governmental organisations, such as those promoting environmental protection & other organisations concerned.

Law on Env. Art 69 (5) NO MO

Art. 6.5

Detailed arrangements for information & consultation of authorities & public shall be determined by MSs.


NO MO

Art. 7.1

Where MS considers that a plan or programme’s implementation being prepared in relation to its territory is likely to have significant effects on environment in another MS, or where a MS likely to be significantly affected so requests, the MS in whose territory the plan or programme is being prepared shall, before its adoption or submission to legislative procedure, forward a copy of draft plan or programme & relevant environmental report to the other MS.

Law on Env. Art.70 Some clarifications are needed as regards the Focal point for ESPOO

NO MO


Page 33 of 45




If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)


EU obligation


stage)


Art. 7.2

Where MS is sent Art. 7.1 copy of a draft plan or programme & an environmental report, it shall indicate to other MS whether it wishes to enter into consultations before adoption of the plan or programme or its submission to legislative procedure &, if it so indicates, the MSs concerned shall enter into consultations concerning the likely transboundary environmental effects of implementing the plan or programme & measures envisaged to reduce or eliminate such effects.

Law on Env. Art.70 (para 1) Note: no description, but copy of the draft plan or programme should be sent The amendment to the provision should be recommended

YES L

Where such consultations take place, MSs concerned shall agree on detailed arrangements to ensure that Art. 6.3 authorities & Art. 6.4 public in the MS likely to be significantly affected are informed & given an opportunity to forward their opinion within reasonable time-frame.

Law on Env. Art.70 (para 1 allinea 3))

No MO

Art. 7.3

Where MSs are required under Art. 7 to enter into consultations, they shall agree, at beginning of such consultations, on a reasonable time-frame for the consultantions’ duration.

Law on Env. Art. 70 (3) NO L and MO

Art. 8 Art. 5 environmental report, Art. 6 expressed opinion & results of any Art. 7 transboundary consultations shall be taken into account during preparation of plan or programme & before its adoption or submission to legislative procedure.

Law on Env. Art 73 (para 1)

YES


Page 34 of 45




If not, how will

transpos’n occur?

(L, GO, MO)


EU obligation


stage)


Art. 9.1

MSs shall ensure that, when a plan or programme is adopted, Art. 6.3 authorities, the public & any MS consulted under Art. 7 are informed & following items are made available to those so informed: (a) plan or programme as adopted, & (b) a statement summarising how environmental considerations have been integrated into the plan or programme & Art. 5 environmental report prepared, Art. 6 expressed opinions & results of Art. 7 consultations have been taken into account in accordance with Art. 8 & reasons for choosing the plan or programme as adopted, in light of other reasonable alternatives dealt with, &

(c) monitoring measures decided as per Art. 10

NO L (amend law and provide for sub-sequent legislation)MO

Art. 9.2

Detailed arrangements concerning Art. 9.1 information shall be determined by MSs.

NO L (amend law and provide for sub-sequent legislation)MO

Art. 10.1

MSs shall monitor significant environmental effects of plans & programmes implementation in order, inter alia, to identify at an early stage unforeseen adverse effects,& to be able to undertake appropriate remedial action.


YES

Art. 10.2

[To comply with Art. 10.1, existing monitoring arrangements may be used if appropriate, with a view to avoiding d

directive specific implementation plan - zeleni.org.mk › uploads › media › plan_za...mars...

Documents