IP/99/648
Brussels, 31 August 1999
LIFE-Romania:
Commission
environment projects in 1999
co-finances
11
The European Commission has decided to co-fund 11 environment projects
in Romania under the LIFE programme for the year 1999. 7 projects deal with
nature conservation and 4 projects with other environmental sectors. The
financial contribution from the Commission towards these projects is euro
1.9 million. It is the first time that a candidate country from Central and
Eastern Europe will directly benefit from financial support from the LIFE
programme in order to prepare for their accession to the European Union
(EU).
The candidate countries for EU membership can participate in the second phase
(1996-1999) of the financial instrument for the environment LIFE1 (giving support to
nature protection measures and pilot actions for new technologies in the industry
sector and the promotion of a sustainable approach in land use planning) by
supplying a national financial contribution together with a partial support from
PHARE.
The Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC’s) which decide to participate
in LIFE are admitted on the same footing as Member States but under certain
conditions to be established in a specific decision to be taken by the Association
Council for the concerned candidate country.
For the moment Romania is the only applicant State, among the CEEC’s, which
decided to participate in 1999, offering a substantial financial participation (euro
1.36 million). The formal procedure for the Association Council decision entered
into force on the 1st October 1998 and 11 projects, from the 43 presented in
January 1999, were selected for LIFE financing for a total LIFE support of euro
1.887.846,78 for 1999.
All the selected projects were unanimously approved by the LIFE management
committee of the Member States representatives which fully appreciate the growing
interest of Romania in developing environmental policies and reinforcing their
national and local structures for the protection of the environment
This result has to be considered a great success in implementing LIFE in Romania.
A short presentation of the project’s aims is as follows.
1
LIFE Regulation 1404/96 (OJ L 181, 20.7.1996)
LIFE NATURE CONSERVATION PROJECTS
Number of projects funded:
Total cost of projects:
Total Life contribution:
7
euro 1.252.623
euro 863.201
Several projects aim at the conservation of threatened fauna species (listed in
Habitats and Birds Directives and in the Bern Convention2) through the
implementation of management plans. Among them are the big carnivores, such as
bear, wolf and lynx in the Carpathians, and a viper species in the Danube Delta.
One of the most endangered fish species in Europe, which is restricted to a single
river in the south of the country, will receive support from LIFE for the
implementation of an action plan in order to ensure its survival. Management plans
will also be implemented for the conservation of several priority bird species in two
important wetlands; one in the lower Danube and the other in an ornithological
reserve in western Romania. Threatened flora species and their habitats are also
targeted, including forestry habitats, for which conservation measures will be
applied in two protected areas in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains.
LIFE ENVIRONMENT PROJECTS
Number of projects funded:
Total cost of projects
Total LIFE contribution
4
euro 2.398.986,54
euro 1.024.646,04
The implementation of the selected projects in the area concerned will promote a
fruitful demonstration on the use of modern technologies or environmentally
friendly methodologies with the eventual aim to prepare the accession. The four
projects cover several key aspects of the protection of the environment.
First of all, in Romania, the industrial sector will benefit from a pilot action in a
paper production unit which aims to verify the effectiveness of an alternative
technology by separating the organic matter found in waste water, in order to reuse
the recycled water in the production process.
On the other hand the public Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology will be
supported by LIFE in order to provide a valid demonstration using high technology,
including satellite information, in an automatic station with the aim to improve the
quality and quantity of hydrological data for flood forecasting models in some high
risk areas. The same institute will also promote a second pilot project implementing
an integrated computerized system for urban environmental impact assessment.
Finally a complete system for the pre-collection, collection and selective
transportation of household waste including the optimization of the treatment
channels for recycling will be promoted by LIFE as a first experience in Romania.
2
Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild
fauna and flora (OJ L206, 22.7.1992)
Council Directive 79/409/EEC on conservation of wild birds (OJ L103, 25.4.1979)
Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats
2