While Romanian legislation accurately reflects EU environmental requirements, their implementation on the ground is a serious challenge in several areas, prompted inter alia by a lack of planning, coordination and appropriate funding, according to the latest report on Romania published by the European Commission.
On Monday, the Europea Commission published the fourth Environmental Implementation Review. It supports environmental enforcement and raises awareness about the importance of EU environmental rules to ensure prosperity, competitiveness and environmental security in the European Union.
According to the review, Romania has implemented some good practices in nature conservation and restoration. These include the creation of a wilderness reserve in the Southern Carpathians, the conservation of saproxylic beetles in the Eastern Carpathians and a cooperative approach for the good management of Natura 2000 grasslands in Southern Transylvania. There have also been successful LIFE projects aimed at sturgeon conservation.
And yet, circular economy, pollution, governance and investment are the main challenges facing Romania.
As far as circular economy goes, the country's performance on waste and the circular economy remains insufficient. Further efforts are urgently needed to move away from Romania's reliance on waste disposal in landfills, which remains significant. Despite Romania having made some progress on closing substandard or illegal landfills, progress has been too slow, resulting in fines.
In terms of pollution, urban wastewater collected in Romania is also not adequately treated as required by EU law. Air quality in Romania continues to give cause for concern in some parts of its territory, with severe consequences on the health of the population. Measures taken to address air pollutants are still insufficient. There is non-compliance with the 2020-2029 emission reduction commitments for NOx and PM2.5, exceedances above the limit values for NO2 and PM10, and, despite some progress, issues persist in the air quality monitoring.
As far as governance and investment are concerned, the current investment gap in Romania stands at an estimated EUR 5.4 billion per year, representing around 1.9% of the national GDP, well above the EU average (0.77%). Romania has developed national guidelines for the preparation of EIA reports specifically for hydropower projects. However, further effort is needed with regard to the information process concerning the SEA and EIA, as well as information to the public on their access to justice rights and improvement for the access to courts.
The fourth Environmental Implementation Review, published on Monday by the European Commission, identifies common trends at EU level, based on the individual country reports of the 27 EU member states. The review includes a wide range of information about how well the Member States are protecting the quality of the air citizens breathe, the water they drink and the nature they enjoy. Furthermore, the review spells out concrete priority actions for improvement in each member state.
"Investing in the implementation of environmental law is very good value for money. This is a timely reminder that implementation and competitiveness go hand in hand to protect our environment and the resources we need for the transition and for future generations," according to European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall.
The costs of non-implementation of EU environmental laws through air and water pollution, nature degradation and waste are estimated at EUR 180 billion per year for the EU. That is approximately 1% of the EU Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Environmental implementation can reduce these costs while ensuring a level playing field for companies across the EU single market.
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