Annual 2003 REPIN network meeting (Kiev, Ukraine)

The meeting in Kiev, Ukraine on 16-18 October 2003 was the fifth annual gathering of the EECCA Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network. The meeting gathered around 60 participants, including enforcement officers and environmental policy makers from environmental authorities in the region of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA). Experts and practitioners from the OECD countries and international institutions also participated along with the representatives of non-governmental organisations, business and industry who took part in the meeting as observers. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine hosted the meeting which was organised within the framework of the EAP Task Force.
The meeting objectives were three-fold:

• To discuss and agree on the main elements of the work programme on environmental policy instruments, compliance assurance, and compliance promotion following the 2003 “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference;
• To discuss the operational aspects of the Network and work programme implementation, especially in light of an extended scope of activities;
• To find synergies with on-going and future activities at the national and international level and establish partnerships for project implementation organisations, bilateral technical assistance programmes, NGOs and other stakeholders.

The main results of the meeting included:

• Endorsement of the draft Work Programme of the Network for the period 2003-2006 as presented in the document NISECEN(2003)2. During the discussion a number of implementation issues have been discussed on actions at the country and regional level. A number of countries expressed their readiness to take an active part in the implementation of specific projects.
• Endorsement of the Terms of Reference of the Network as presented in the document NISECEN(2003)14/REV1. The Terms of Reference provide a clear statement of the origins of the Network, its mission and goals as well as the means of operations and the decision-making and the management structure. The Terms of Reference will be the principal document for the governance of the Network activities.
• Establishment of the linkages between Network activities and projects supported by various donors in the region and identification of future co-operation steps with the European compliance and enforcement Network: Impel and Bercen.
  

Back to back to the Network meeting a seminar for the representatives of regional environmental inspectorates was organised jointly by the State Environmental Inspectorate and the EAP Task Force Secretariat. The meeting provided a forum for the presentation of the activities of the Network and its results and enabled to review the problems the regional authorities face in the implementation of national policies and possible support which can be provided within the EECCA Environment and Compliance. Network.

For more information contact:

Krzysztof Michalak

Non-Member Countries Division
Environment Directorate
tel: (33 1) 45 24 96 00
fax: (33 1) 45 24 96 71
e-mail: krzysztof.michalak@oecd.org