EC: Romania has problems implementing environmental policies due to lack of planning, coordination and inadequate financing

Although the Romanian legislation reflects accurately the EU environment requirements, their implementation represents a serious challenge in several domains, caused, among others, by the lack of planning and coordination as well as the inadequate financing, shows the country report regarding Romania published on Monday by the European Commission (EC).The community executive published the fourth evaluation of the putting to practice the environment policies. It supports the observance of the environment legislation and the raising of the public awareness of the importance of EU environment rules to ensure prosperity, competitiveness and environment security in the European Union..According to the Commission evaluation, Romania implemented some good practices in conservation and restauration of nature. They include the creation of a natural reserve in the Southern Carpathians, conservation of saproxylic insects in the Eastern Carpathians and a co-operative approach for the good management of Natura 2000 meadows in southern Transylvania. There have also been successful LIFE projects targeting sturgeon conservation.Even so, among the main challenges identified by the community executive is circular economy, pollution, governance and investments.As regards the circular economy, the report shows that Romania's performance on waste and the circular economy remains insufficient: 'Further efforts are urgently needed to break Romania's dependence on landfill disposal, which remains significant. Although Romania has made some progress in closing substandard or illegal landfills, progress has been too slow, leading to fines,' the EU executive says.   With regard to pollution, the EU body estimates that the urban waste water collected in Romania is not adequately treated, as required by EU legislation. Measures taken to tackle air pollutants are still insufficient. There is non-compliance with commitments to reduce NOx and PM2.5 emissions for the period 2020-2029, exceedances of limit values for NO2 and PM10 and, despite some progress, problems persist in air quality monitoring,' says the European Commission. In terms of governance and investment, Brussels estimates that Romania's current investment shortfall amounts to €5.4bn per year, representing about 1.9% of national GDP, well above the EU average (0.77%). 'Romania has developed national guidelines for the preparation of EIA reports specific to hydropower projects. However, further efforts are needed in terms of the SEA and EIA information process, as well as informing the public about their rights of access to justice and improving access to the courts,' Brussels concludes. The fourth evaluation of the putting to practice of environment policies, published on Monday by the European Commission identifies the common trends at the level of the EU, on the basis of the individual country reports of the 27 member states of the EU. Revision includes a large range of information regarding how the member states protect the air quality which is breathed by the citizens, the water they drink and the nature they enjoy. Moreover, the revision mentions the concrete priority actions which must be improved in each state.'Investing in the implementation of environmental legislation is economically very favourable. This is a timely reminder that enforcement and competitiveness go hand in hand to protect our environment and the resources we need for the transition and for future generations,' said European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall. The costs of not implementing EU environmental legislation through air and water pollution, nature degradation and waste are estimated at €180 billion a year for the EU. This represents about 1% of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP). Implementing environmental policies can reduce these costs while ensuring a level playing field for businesses in the EU's single market.