Latvia and Environmental Implementation Review (EIR) Paul Speight Head of Unit, Environmental Enforcement, DG Environment, European Commission 13 December 2017
Introduction https://we.tl/eyfevOheIy
Why a new tool? EIR EU environmental policy and legislation bring many benefits Weak implementation generates high societal, economic and environmental costs & uneven playing field for businesses The EIR is a tool to improve implementation . It complements (not replaces) other efforts such as compliance assurance and infringements DG ENV Dec 2017
The EIR cycle EIR The EIR is a two-yearly cycle of analysis, dialogue and concrete collaboration to boost environmental implementation Inclusive, cross- 28 Country reports sectoral, multi-level with main challenges, Dialogue Analysis country dialogues opportunities & successes Political exchanges in the Council Communication: Synthesis report on common trends and Collaboration challenges Annex with all suggested actions Concrete action : e.g. guidance; (administrative) reforms; Peer 2 Peer tool for sharing experiences & expertise; bilateral projects; political conclusions, etc. DG ENV Dec 2017
Objective: support spreading good practice which can be adapted to the specific situations in different Member States. •Quality -controlled •Light •Flexible •Rapid •Targeted Expert missions, study visits and workshops can be financed. All information, registration links and the P2P leaflet in 23 languages are available on the TAIEX-EIR P2P webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/p2p/index_en.htm DG ENV Dec 2017
Latvia Main challenges … • Improving waste management, particularly increasing recycling, rolling-out separate collection and reducing landfilling; • Reducing resource intensity which would lessen the exposure of Latvian businesses to rising resource costs. DG ENV Dec 2017
Suggestions Suggested action • Introduce and gradually increase landfill taxes to phase-out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste. Use the revenues to support the separate collection and alternative infrastructure in conjunction with a better allocation of the cohesion policy funds to the first steps of waste hierarchy. Avoid building excessive infrastructure for the treatment of residual waste. • Focus on implementation of the effective separate collection scheme to increase recycling rates. Once this is in place consider introducing PAYT (Pay As You Throw) schemes. DG ENV Dec 2017
Nature Latvia must still: -make effort to complete the SAC designation process, -put in place clearly defined conservation objectives and the necessary conservation measures for the sites and -provide adequate resources for their implementation.
Latvia … and main opportunities • Use of the opportunities provided by EIB loans and EFSI support to further promote environmental projects; • Use of market based instruments to encourage resource efficiency, particularly in waste and water resources management; • High potential for Green Infrastructure development in order to address flood and erosion risks, while improving the connectivity of natural areas. DG ENV Dec 2017
Latvia Points of excellence Latvia is a leader on environmental implementation with a good compliance record, having a low number of complaints and infringements. DG ENV Dec 2017
DG ENV - CHAP (557), EU Pilot (240) and NIF (356) cases per MS on 30/11/2017 250 200 150 100 50 0 AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK UK NIF 18 13 10 16 17 16 6 2 28 31 8 9 11 8 16 20 4 4 4 8 3 17 18 14 9 16 13 17 EUP 5 4 9 8 14 9 7 5 8 17 10 9 9 2 6 19 10 4 9 3 5 14 7 12 8 7 10 10 DG ENV Nov 2017 CHAP 26 4 11 4 10 87 14 0 9 66 9 55 4 1 18 184 4 1 2 1 2 8 1 7 3 6 10 10
EIR website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/index_en.htm Contact: ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu Thank you for your attention DG ENV Dec 2017
Recommend
More recommend
