TABLE 9.1
areas and species. Hunting and fishing charges are quite common (introduced in eight coun-tries), as well as tree-cutting charges or taxes on the use of forests (also introduced in eight countries). Natural parks entrance fees are only found in a small number of countries.
The scope of economic instruments in the area of biodiversity and nature conservation, and the revenues collected through these instruments, are in principle not of such nature that could prevent biodiversity loss and ensure a sustainable management of natural resources. As the pressures on biodiversity increase throughout the region, mainly due to the growing adverse environmental impacts of transport and agriculture, and the increased demand for the exploitation of natural resources, there is a need to integrate biodiversity concerns into wider sectorial policies. Biodiversity is also an area where economic instruments have a rather lim-ited application, and where they could only be effectively used in conjunction with other types of interventions (e.g. legal instruments, specially designated areas, nature conservation programmes). Sustainable management of natural resources (such as forests, fish stocks etc.) is another area where economic instruments alone cannot serve as an effective tool but need to be combined with other management tolls like quotas, limits, reforestation schemes, etc.
At the EU level, one of the key measures protecting nature and biodiversity is the estab-lishment and implementation of the Natura 2000 network. The accession countries are there-fore expected to focus on the identification of areas and eco-systems that need special pro-tection and management regimes, and on the preparation of management plans and moni-toring systems for each of the sites. Further policy measures (as stipulated in the 6thEAP) include sectorial biodiversity action plans, and actions aimed at better protection of land-scapes through agricultural and regional policies.
Croatia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia levy charges on the conversion of agricultural (forest) land. In cases when agricultural (forest) land is used for other purposes, a charge is levied based on the land (forest) properties and environmental factors in the Czech Republic.
The charge is administered by the soil protection authorities, 60 percent of the revenue goes to the environmental fund and 40 percent into the municipal budget. A similar charge is levied in Slovakia where the revenue is earmarked for the State Fund for the Protection of Agricultural and Forest Land. Conversion of agricultural land is exempt from the charge in cases of the construction of water reservoirs, the provision of protection zones for water reservoirs, protection against floods, wastewater treatment plants, and construction of land-fills that meet technical conditions. Alternatively, the charge may be increased by 100 per-cent in the case of hop-fields, vineyards and orchards, and sub-standard landfills. In Croatia, the level of the charge is supposed to reflect the costs of converting unproductive marshland into arable agricultural land.
9.4 DIRECT TAX PROVISIONS
A number of environmentally motivated tax allowances and exemptions are in place in CEE. The most frequent tax provisions are VAT and import tax allowances for environmen-tally friendly technologies, i.e. equipment and know-how used for pollution abatement, wastewater and waste treatment, and for improving energy efficiency/generating energy from renewable resources. VAT exemptions or allowances applied to products that are deemed as environmentally friendly are discussed in detail in Chapter 10.
An accelerated depreciation rate is applied in Hungary to various forms of equipment, including solar cells, fluidised coal-fired equipment and other boilers, emission control equip-ment, electrostatic filters, dust separators, adsorptive gas cleaners, etc. No corporate tax has to be paid for services connected to renewable energy and other environmental protection relat-ed services carrirelat-ed out by public utility companies. In Romania, tax exemptions to promote energy conservation/efficiency are in place, benefiting the owners of buildings who introduce energy-saving measures and economic agents implementing energy efficiency measures.
Different forms of tax provisions are also found in Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland.
10.1 INTRODUCTION
The process of CEE countries applying for membership to the European Union, or acces-sion, raises a number of issues for the environment in CEE and Europe as a whole.34 Transition to a functioning market economy and the political objective of EU accession brings with it a number of opportunities for improved environmental quality, primarily through increased efficiency and modernization of production processes, and the political will required to achieve environmental quality targets that EU membership demands. The process will also bring new environmental pressures, traditionally associated with Western Europe, such as threats to the comparably more extensive biodiversity of CEE, pressures on the environment by the transport sector because of the increase of private transport, indus-trialised agriculture and increased tourism.35
The European Union has committed itself to maintaining the acquis communautaire, which sets out the body of common rights and obligations of membership. The environment represents only one of over 30 “chapters” or issues of negotiation between the European Commission (EC) and applicant countries. Nevertheless, it is one of the more complex chap-ters for several reasons: the link between environmental policies and trade and competition, the EU policy of “integration” of environmental concerns into economic policies (the Cardiff Process 1999), and the potential costs of achieving many of the requirements in sectors such as energy, water quality and wastewater treatment, and waste management.36Since a great deal of experience has been gained with economic instruments over the past ten years in these sectors, economic instruments are poised to play an important role during the acces-sion process. This section provides an analysis of how economic instruments will serve to expedite the transition process and help to implement the acquis, and reviews the success of these instruments to date.
The Europe Agreements provide the framework for bilateral relations between the European communities and their member states on the one hand, and the partner countries on the other. As basic legal instruments, they cover trade-related issues, political dialogue, legal approximation and other areas of cooperation, including industry, environment, trans-port and customs. They aim to gradually establish a free-trade area between the EU and the associated countries over a given period of time.37Under the Agreements, the partner coun-tries also commit themselves to approximating their legislation to that of the European Union, particularly in the areas relevant to the internal market.
Table 10.1 shows the chronological dimension of the accession process starting with the signing of the Association Agreements, also referred to as the Europe Agreements, between the candidate countries and the EU. From a legal point of view, the Europe Agreements are characterised as international treaties between the EC, its member states and the respective accession country. The agreements are referred to as a guideline for decisions under the reg-ulations on pre-accession aid.
10.2 THE ACQUIS COMMUNAUTAIRE
The acquis communautaire sets out the body of common rights and obligations that are binding to all the member states within the European Union. The European Union has com-mitted itself to maintaining the acquis in its entirety, and to developing it further. Member states are responsible for the approximation of the acquis in domestic legislation, which requires the transposition, implementation, and enforcement of all aspects of the acquis.
10. The Role of Economic Instruments in
European Union Accession
The acquis comprises the:
• content, principles and political objectives of the treaties;
• legislation adopted in application of the treaties and the case law of the Court of Justice;
• declarations and resolutions adopted by the European Union;
• measures relating to the common foreign and security policy;
• measures relating to justice and home affairs; and
• international agreements concluded by the Community and those concluded by the member states between themselves in the field of the European Union’s activities.
The process of approximation, or harmonisation of acquis by members and applicants of the European Union, is not an easy task. As far as the environmental acquis is concerned, most of the obligations can be found in directives, and, from the European Commission’s point of view, harmonisation of the environmental protection legislation is one of the priori-ties for the candidate countries. Legal transposition of approximately 300 legal acts is not a sufficient condition for harmonisation. Directives also impose requirements related to specif-ic technologies, provision of partspecif-icular servspecif-ices and the establishment of administrative struc-tures to monitor and enforce various forms of legislation. Exemptions and derogations from the acquis are only granted in exceptional circumstances and are limited in time and scope.
An early estimate (EDC 1997) of the investment needed for the compliance with EU envi-ronmental requirements was EUR 120 billion for the first 10 applicant countries. A more recent study (Jantzen/TME 1999) has estimated costs of EUR 72 billion (excluding drinking water investments). This estimation is based on individual national reports, whose method-ologies may not be fully compatible. The most recent estimates, which are based on the costs of the implementation of specific directives, indicate a range of values of EUR 80 billion to EUR 110 billion (EC 2001a) for achieving full compliance with the requirements of the acquis. However, the actual costs of implementation may be higher still because the costs of investments for newly adopted or forthcoming legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive, are not always included. Moreover, normal maintenance and operational costs of environmental infrastructure are often not included in these estimates, as these costs should, in principle, be covered by user charges.
TABLE 10.1