Implementation in Ukraine of a European system of environmental impact assessment is a prerequisite for the signing the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement
Implementation in Ukraine of a European system of environmental impact assessment is a prerequisite for the signing the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, said the participants of the roundtable held in Lviv on October 21-22. The event was organized by the International Charitable Organization Environment-People-Law with support of the International Renaissance Foundation’s European Program.
During the discussion, Iryna Sekh, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy, Use of Natural Resources, and Chornobyl Aftermath Mitigation, stated that the “lack of environmental impact assessment opens up possibilities for abuse and non-compliance by developers of environmental legislation, attempts to economize on environmental protection and healthy living conditions.”
“Under the current impact assessment system in Ukraine, such assessments and public debates are organized by the investors or the developer of the project documentation, not a state agency,” said project expert Dmytro Skrylnikov. “State agency involvement only at the stage of transfer of final documentation for assessments makes Ukraine’s legal framework unable to implement the requirements of the Aarhus Convention and Espoo Convention.”
Project coordinator Yelyzaveta Alekseyeva warned that if Ukraine doesn’t adopt the necessary legislation in the nearest future, in June 2014 Ukraine will be subject to the most stringent international sanctions and will be deprived of its rights and privileges under two conventions. “Such sanctions have never been imposed on any other country. It will be particularly sad if this happens in the year when Ukraine will host the Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention.”
Contacts:
Environment-People-Law
(+380 32) 24 33 888
epac@mail.lviv.ua
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The essential role of the European Program lies in promotion of Ukraine’s European integration, combining external pressure of the EU with the domestic one of the Ukrainian civil society, and thus contributing to promotion of open society values in Ukraine.
