Benchmarking and Indicators- Tools to help Strengthen Environment Institutions ECENA Workshop- March 2007 Karin Shepardson, World Bank

Taking a Broader Perspective 1. Understanding Benefits and Importance of Acquis 2. New legal framework implies institutions need to change and integrate with new tasks so “implementation” becomes real 3. Institutions are just “People” with a common vision or goal

Multifaceted Benefits of Acquis “Principles” of public participation and inclusiveness; inter-government collaboration and exchange of data; accountability and reporting, and decentralization- all important aspects of good governance Improved quality of air, water, and soils; More efficient management of wastes and the natural and urban environments Improved health and welfare of citizens; Technology and infrastructure upgrades critical for a higher level of economic development. Stronger ownership and voice of citizens in government decisions; More transparent and locally owned governance of common resources; Improved investment project programming and planning capacity; More effective decision-making and prioritization for the use of public funds; More attractive and predictable legal framework for foreign and private sector investors; Preservation of natural assets as economic drivers for growth in priority sectors like tourism; Improved access to agriculture subsidies and export markets; and More sustainable growth and development for future generations. Demonstration of ability to undertake obligations of EU member states

Survey of CEE States (over 380 environment professionals responded) “Transposition was the easiest part of the process, implementation was more difficult as there was a lack of communication about how implementation should be taken forward.” Interview with Baltic Environmental Forum November 2005 “Precipitous, insufficiently coordinated transposition of acquis communitaire lead to non-integrated, unclear, complicated and low quality of transposed legislation. It is necessary to amend this legislation almost immediately after it comes into force, sometimes even several times. Little time and effort for preparation of practical application of new legislation was spent (incl. related secondary legislation). This should be done well in advance before legal acts come into force.” Interview with a representative of the MoE territorial state administration office in Ostrava, Czech Rep., Jan 2006 “If I had to go through the process of transposing the EU legislation again I would include more human resources, make more comprehensive plans, and take more time. I would also prepare more thoroughly, have more extensive and wiser discussion for state legislation. More cooperation with regional authorities would also be needed” Interview with Stockholm Environmental Institute, Dec 2005

Key drivers of organizational reform to meet acquis obligations A need to separate Policy-based and Regulatory-based functions to help manage conflicts of interest and allow decentralization of regulatory functions where possible- (EPAs Common Solution) A need to centrally consolidate environmental data for reporting to the European Union A need to integrate environmental permitting, monitoring, and inspection functions across environmental media (i.e. air, water, soil/waste, nature protection, and noise) A need to introduce public consultation into the permitting, EIA, and decision-making process more frequently than in the past

CEE Environment Staffing Changes

Structural Institutional Reforms happened in CEE as part of accession

Lessons to learn from Environment and decentralization reforms contradicted each other at times Water and Waste Directives most complex Time horizon was too short to achieve needed reforms Under-estimated importance of building capacity at local levels Staff burn out and retention problems remain today; need for human resources strategy Extent of public consultation and staff time was under-estimated Learning by Doing process that involved a change in behavior and practices

New laws have already been adopted so change is underway… Reactive or Proactive approaches Do it alone or work with partners.. Be open and honest about challenges and face them directly, or delay and pretend everything will work itself out.. Focus on internal turf battles or look outward to a wider EU community for support

Benchmarking.. Internationally – Experience with Benchmarking is still in early stages of use by environment institutions.. The opportunity of having a common legal framework in the EU makes benchmarking very feasible.. Environment staff in a position to help propose own goals and outcomes as institutional benchmarks to achieve…