Strategic Moves - Regional Environmental Center for Central and ...

90
C H A P T E R 4
E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T A N D T H E E U A C C E S S I O N P R O C E S S
TABLE 7: Benefits of implementing the EU environmental acquis over different sectors
BENEFIT TYPE AIR WATER WASTE
Health Reduction in respiratory Households benefiting from Reduced share of population at risk
diseases and early mortality connection to (improved) of exposure to contaminated water/
quality water hazardous substances/odour/
explosion (methane)
Resource Reduced damage to building Reduction of contaminants in Reduced primary inputs through
stock, crops etc. surface water recycling, energy recovery etc.
Eco-systems Reduced pollution stress to Likely changes in river and Avoidance of leachates, methane emis
terrestrial and aquatic
eco-systems (acidification and
ground-level ozone)
lake water quality sions
Social Quality of life Confidence in drinking water Reduced discrimination by fewer low
income households living close to
unprotected landfills etc.
Wider Employment in air pollution Employment via tourism Employment for recycling etc.
control equipment, increased
locational quality
related to water recreation
Source: Arcadis Ecolas NV and IEEP, 2007
S T R AT E G I C M O V E S
ment of new and existing industries or economic sectors, and economic benefits from
natural resources (e.g. tourism). Some benefits arising from the implementation of directives
— such as biodiversity protection — are more difficult to estimate in monetary
form. The environmental benefits will increase if principles of sustainability are
implemented horizontally in other sectors, such as transport, energy and agriculture.
Environmental capital investment needs
An analysis of the state of the environment and the status of utilities for environmental
services in SEE countries exposes the deficiencies in the environmental
infrastructure. Experiences from the new EU member states show that the development
of realistic, long-term national strategies for implementing the environmental
acquis was a crucial step in the overall process, and assisted in the
mobilisation of domestic and foreign sources of finance. In the case of the new EU
member states, overall assistance from the EC and foreign sources constituted only
a small proportion of the total amount needed. Certain environmental directives
will be especially difficult to implement, not only because of the investment required,
but also because of the amount of infrastructure to be built. Some of the
most financially demanding directives are presented in Box 6.
It has been estimated that the candidate countries will have to spend on average
between 2 and 3 percent of their GDP over several years in order to achieve full
implementation (REC, 2005). Table 9 shows the estimated investments needed in
order to comply with the total EU environmental acquis.