EU:WARNS POLAND OVER THE ENVIRONMENT

[Anonymous]

EU warns Poland over environment
Poland
could face legal action and EU penalties for failing to “adequately
protect” its natural habitats, a European Commission official has
said.EC biodiversity expert Agata Zdanowicz said Poland had so far
failed to comply with the EU’s Natura 2000 programme, describing the
situation as “serious”.The Commission started an “infringement
procedure” against Poland in April.This could lead to a court case and
the blocking of EU funds for projects in Poland’s environmentally
fragile areas.Natura 2000 is an EU-wide programme to safeguard the
25-nation bloc’s most important wildlife areas and species.

‘Repair programme’
Half
of Europe’s mammal species, one-third of reptile, amphibian and fish
species, as well as one-third of plant species are threatened with
extinction, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).Poland is home
to rare species such as bison, wolves, bears and eagles living in river
valleys, wetlands and forests.The Commission rejected Poland’s
proposals on Natura 2000 earlier this year, describing them as
“significantly insufficient”.
The proposals did not comply with the
EU’s Birds and Habitats directives, Ms Zdanowicz, policy officer at the
EC’s nature and biodiversity unit, told the BBC News website.Poland
designated 72 sites as special protection areas under the Birds
directive, but Ms Zdanowicz said the Commission was pushing for 140
such sites.She said the situation was particularly “serious” with the
implementation of the Habitats directive, which protects plant and
animal species other than birds.She said Warsaw had so far failed to
“adequately protect” some 85% of such sites.In April, the Commission
launched the infringement procedure against Poland by sending it a
written warning.Poland formally responded in July, and Ms Zdanowicz
said EC experts were currently analysing the amended proposals.Both the
EC and Polish officials are refusing to elaborate on the content of the
new proposals, but Ms Zdanowicz said the EC could take the case to
court if it deemed the plan to be inadequate.Polish Environment
Ministry spokesman Slawomir Mazurek told the BBC News website that
“some mistakes” had been made during the development of Natura 2000 for
Poland.”Some areas have been appointed without a detailed knowledge of
what is in them. Local governments do not agree on many of those
areas,” Mr Mazurek said.He added that the ministry submitted to the EC
what he described as “a repair programme”.

Conservation row
Last
week, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski reignited the row by
hinting at a possible downsizing of the programme.”Natura 2000 has
expanded so much that it is practically impossible to build anything,”
he said.His statement drew criticism from environmentalists, who said
Poland needed to take urgent steps to protect its environment.Natura
2000 protects 18% of land in the 15 countries that formed the EU before
the expansion in 2004.The size and number of protected sites is
currently being negotiated for each of the 10 new member states.The
Commission has already warned 13 EU states over non-compliance with the
bloc’s environmental directives

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August 14, 2006 at 10:26 AM