On Friday, June 11, 2021, the last of three conferences was held to present the Approximation Status Report of three areas covered by the project “EU for a better environment”.
As pointed out at the conferences, the Approximation Status Report is an overview of the situation and a starting point for the development of specific plans for implementation of the EU directives and regulations covered by the project. As such the Approximation Status Report is a first step in the development of the Specific Implementation Plans (DSIPs/ RSIPs), which are the basic tools for planning the transposition and implementation of each individual EU directive in the candidate countries for EU membership.
"The process of drafting these reports [DSIPs/ RSIPs] is very complex and serves to determine the necessary measures for full compliance with EU directives, and also includes defining the transition periods required for full implementation of directives in certain areas, as well as financial investments needed to public and private sector, on which the working groups of this project worked very intensively", said Vesna Mitrović, Head of the Department for Protection of Air and the Ozone Layer.
These plans should identify and assess shortcomings in Serbia's ability to implement European directives after EU accession, by defining measures to address them, concrete activities and priority actions, the timeframe for their implementation and the necessary financial investments required for full implementation arising from negotiations with the EU. Also, these documents serve to provide support to Serbia's negotiating requirements for the transitional periods required for the implementation of certain provisions of the directives, because due to financial and administrative complexity, it will not be possible to implement all directives as soon as Serbia joins the EU.
Further to the presentation of the Approximation Status Report and the review of the Specific Implementation Plan for the INSPIRE Directive (first conference), an overview that represents the starting point for the development of specific plans for implementation of the EU Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and the EU Regulation on Biocidal Products were also presented (second conference). In the field of air quality, the status of development of the Specific Implementation Plan for the Ambient Air Quality Directive, the Directive for national emission reduction commitments, the Directives for Fuel Quality and Sulphur Reduction Content in liquid fuels the and VOC Petrol Directive (Phases I and II) were overviewed.
As Sandra Milićević Sperlić, Head of the Department for Coordination of European Integration Processes in the Field of Environment, stated: “At the moment all these documents represent the results of the project, but when they are implemented and adopted by the RS Government they will become strategic documents and policies in a particular area and will certainly determine the path that Serbia will take in achieving a better quality of the environment”.
As Aleksandra Imširagić Đurić, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environmental Protection, emphasized, one of the most important priorities of the Ministry is air protection, where intensive work is currently being done on strategic documents to improve air quality, which requires teamwork, intersectoral cooperation and significant investments. The result of the project will be the National Program for Air Protection, an extremely important document for the Republic of Serbia.
The government is very interested in this project and its activities and all the actors who participate in it and make a key contribution, the assistant minister Aleksandra Imširagić Đurić said.
An important conclusion of the assessment as highlighted during the three conferences is the need for additional resources (financial as well as human resources) so that institutions have the full capacity to implement new responsibilities stemming from the environmental acquis.
Presentations from conferences on Approximation Status Reports for the INSPIRE Directive, in the field of chemicals and biocidal products, and air quality can be found on the following links (click on download sign):