Transposition of European Directive on the assessment of the effects of plans and programmes on the environment in planning in Serbia

Abstract

Serbia faces with major challenges in terms of environmental protection, in particular in connection with the implementation of the European Directive on the assessment of the effects of plans and programs on the environment. These challenges are further gaining strength due to negotiations on the accession of Serbia to the EU, given the poor performance of public policy of Serbia in the field of environmental protection. The aspect of environmental protection in Serbia is still treated as a peripheral problem which results in a range of negative impacts on the space. Although the Government of the Republic of Serbia in the last twelve years has brought a large number of regulations in the field of environmental protection, including the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment, which has improved its policy in the field of the environment and the challenges of European integration, but is questionable the quality of harmonization carried out, in particular the effect on implementing the objectives of the Directive. The paper analyzes the key problems in the transposition of the Directive on the assessment of the effects of plans and programmes on the environment in Serbia, with a framework proposal for solving the identified problems.

Srbija se suočava sa velikim izazovima u pogledu zaštite životne sredine, konkretno u vezi sa implementacijom evropske Direktive o proceni uticaja planova i programa na životnu sredinu. Ovi izazovi dodatno dobijaju na snazi zbog pregovora o pristupanju Srbije EU, a kada se ima u vidu nedovoljan učinak javnih politika Srbije u oblasti zaštite životne sredine. Aspekt zaštite životne sredine se u Srbiji još uvek tretira kao periferni problem, što za posledicu ima čitav niz negativnih (često i stihijskih) uticaja na prostor. Iako je Vlada Republike Srbije u prethodnih dvanaest godina donela veliki broj propisa u oblasti zaštite životne sredine, među kojima je i Zakon o strateškoj proceni uticaja na životnu sredinu, čime je unapredila svoju politiku u oblasti životne sredine i odgovorila na izazove evropskih integracija, upitan je kvalitet sprovedene harmonizacije, a naročito učinak na polju implementacije ciljeva pomenute direktive. U radu je izvršena analiza ključnih problema u transponovanju Direktive o proceni uticaja planova i programa na životnu sredinu i dat je predlog okvira za rešavanje identifikovanih problema.