Europaudvalget 2017
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EUROPEAN
COMMISSION
Brussels, 3.2.2017
SWD(2017) 37 final
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
The EU Environmental Implementation Review
Country Report - CZECH REPUBLIC
Accompanying the document
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and how to
combine efforts to deliver better results
{COM(2017) 63 final}
{SWD(2017) 33 - 36 final}
{SWD(2017) 38 - 60 final}
EN
EN
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2
This report has been written by the staff of the Directorate-General for Environment, European
Commission. Any comments are welcome to the following e-mail address:
[email protected]
More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu).
Photographs: p.9 – © subtik/iStock; p.10 – ©LIFE04 NAT/CZ/000015/Libor Kotouc; p.17 – ©Oleksiy
Mark/iStock; p.22 – ©matteusus/iStock
For reproduction or use of these photos, permission must be sought directly from the copyright
holder.
©European Union, 2017
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
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Table of Content
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 4
PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ............................................................................................................................... 5
1.
TURNING THE EU INTO A CIRCULAR, RESOURCE-EFFICIENT, GREEN AND COMPETITIVE LOW-
CARBON ECONOMY............................................................................................................................... 5
Developing a circular economy and improving resource efficiency ..................................................... 5
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 6
2.
PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL....................................................... 9
Nature and Biodiversity......................................................................................................................... 9
Estimating Natural Capital................................................................................................................... 11
Green Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................... 11
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 12
3.
ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE .......................................................................... 13
Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 13
Noise ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 14
Enhancing the sustainability of cities .................................................................................................. 17
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 17
PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ..................................................................... 18
4.
MARKET BASED INSTRUMENTS AND INVESTMENT ............................................................................ 18
Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 18
Green Public Procurement .................................................................................................................. 19
Investments: the contribution of EU funds ......................................................................................... 19
5.
EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND KNOWLEDGE...................................................................................... 21
Effective governance within central, regional and local government................................................. 21
Compliance assurance......................................................................................................................... 22
Public participation and access to justice ........................................................................................... 24
Access to information, knowledge and evidence................................................................................ 24
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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4
Executive summary
About the Environmental Implementation Review
In May 2016, the Commission launched the
Environmental Implementation Review (EIR), a two-year
cycle of analysis, dialogue and collaboration to improve
the implementation of existing EU environmental policy
and legislation
1
. As a first step, the Commission drafted
28 reports describing the main challenges and
opportunities on environmental implementation for each
Member State. These reports are meant to stimulate a
positive debate both on shared environmental challenges
for the EU, as well as on the most effective ways to
address the key implementation gaps. The reports rely on
the detailed sectoral implementation reports collected or
issued by the Commission under specific environmental
legislation as well as the 2015 State of the Environment
Report and other reports by the European Environment
Agency. These reports will not replace the specific
instruments to ensure compliance with the EU legal
obligations.
The reports will broadly follow the outline of the 7th
Environmental Action Programme
2
and refer to the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable development and related
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
3
to the extent to
which they reflect the existing obligations and policy
objectives of EU environmental law
4
.
The main challenges have been selected by taking into
account factors such as the importance or the gravity of
the environmental implementation issue in the light of
the impact on the quality of life of the citizens, the
distance to target, and financial implications.
The reports accompany the Communication "The
EU
Environmental Implementation Review 2016: Common
challenges and how to combine efforts to deliver better
results",
which identifies challenges that are common to
several Member States, provides preliminary conclusions
on possible root causes of implementation gaps and
proposes joint actions to deliver better results. It also
groups in its Annex the actions proposed in each country
report to improve implementation at national level.
Though there are more opportunities to move towards
circular economy than in other similar MS, these are not
fully exploited yet. Air quality remains a significant
problem in some areas of the country. Water scarcity is
giving a rise to growing concerns over the implementation
of a right mix of measures to combat it. Nature protection
benefits from a long tradition but conflicts remain with
other sectors as a continuous challenge. The EIA and
development consent processes suffer from the legacy of
non-compliance with EU law.
Main Challenges
The three main challenges with regard to implementation
of EU environmental policy and law in Czech Republic are:
Moving towards an effective and legally compliant
EIA process, including other environmental
assessments, which would build societal acceptance
and use best practices
Putting in place the infrastructures and conditions
(including reliable statistics in the waste sector) to
move towards a recycling economy
Improving air quality in critical regions of the country,
notably in urban areas, while promoting the right set
of measures
Main Opportunities
Czech Republic could perform better on topics where
there is already a good knowledge base and good
practices. This applies in particular to:
Building on experiences in nature protection
including the comprehensive nation-wide species and
habitat monitoring system towards a complete and
well managed Natura 2000 network
Working in water and climate change policy more
within the framework of EU Water Framework
Directive, and notably integrating RBMPs better into
planning and decision making in the water sector
More ambitious use of the opportunities provided by
the ESIF (and ESFI) to enhance environmental
integration
General profile
The Czech Republic has a varied performance when it
comes to the effectiveness in the implementation of
environmental policies.
1
Points of Excellence
Where Czech Republic is a leader on environmental
implementation, innovative approaches could be shared
more widely with other countries. Good examples are:
The monitoring of habitats and species under the
Habitats Directive is very well established and
organized in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic has a well-established EPR
scheme for municipal waste packaging.
Czech Republic is an advanced player in the field of
international cooperation (e.g. CITES)
Communication "Delivering the benefits of EU environmental policies
through a regular Environmental Implementation Review"
(COM/2016/
316 final).
2
Decision No. 1386/2013/EU of 20 November 2013 on a General Union
Environmental Action Programme to 2020 "Living
well, within the
limits of our planet".
3
United Nations, 2015.
The Sustainable Development Goals
4
This EIR report does not cover climate change, chemicals and energy.
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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5
Part I: Thematic Areas
1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and
competitive low-carbon economy
Developing a circular economy and improving
resource efficiency
The 2015 Circular Economy Package emphasizes the need
to move towards a lifecycle-driven ‘circular’ economy,
with a cascading use of resources and residual waste that
is close to zero. This can be facilitated by the
development of, and access to, innovative financial
instruments and funding for eco-innovation.
SDG 8 invites countries to promote sustained, inclusive
and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all. SDG 9 highlights
the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote
inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation. SDG 12 encourages countries to achieve the
sustainable management and efficient use of natural
resources by 2030.
The main challenges the Czech Republic faces with
respect to eco-innovation and circular economy are
related to the research and innovation system. The
education and public research systems also need to be
stepped up to address this challenge.
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2003-15
10
Measures towards a circular economy
Transforming our economies from linear to circular offers
an opportunity to reinvent them and make them more
sustainable and competitive. This will stimulate
investments and bring both short and long-term benefits
for the economy, environment and citizens alike.
5
The Czech Republic is performing below the EU average
in terms of resource productivity
6
(how efficiently the
economy uses material resources to produce wealth),
with 1.0 EUR/kg (EU average is 2 EUR/kg) in 2015. Figure
1 shows a modest but stable increase since 2003,
remaining stable since 2013.
7
To date, there is no national policy outlining a coherent
approach towards eco-innovation and the circular
economy
8
.
The new Waste Management Plan of the Czech Republic
for the period 2015-2024 has proposed the transition to
a circular economy as an objective.
There are some circular economy initiatives in the Czech
Republic, but these are rather scarce
9
.
5
6
Eco-innovation and circular economy developments in
the Czech Republic are primarily focused on energy
efficiency in buildings and infrastructure, sustainable
transport, and several environmental topics – such as
water efficiency and wastewater treatment, waste
management (e.g. municipal and food waste) and
resource efficiency (e.g. reuse and recycling of
construction and demolition waste, and reduced
resource consumption). In recent years, there appears to
have been rapid growth in innovation in bio- and
nanotechnologies.
The Czech Republic employed 96,381 people in the
environmental goods and services sector in 2013 (96.875
in 2012).
SMEs and resource efficiency
In the Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, resource
efficiency and green markets" it is shown that 56% of
Czech Republic's SMEs have invested up to 5% of their
annual turnover in their resource efficiency actions (EU28
the energy, environment and transport sectors, like project
NANOBIOWAT as a good practise, ; in September 2014, the Action
Plan for secondary raw materials strategy was adopted by the
Decision of the Government of the Czech Republic; the goal of the
mentioned document is the effective extraction and utilization of
secondary raw materials for the purpose of saving non-renewable
resources (energy and non-energy raw materials).
10
Eurostat,
Resource productivity,
accessed October 2016
European Commission, 2015. Proposed Circular Economy Package.
Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic
product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC).
7
Eurostat,
Resource productivity,
accessed October 2016
8
European Environment Agency, 2016.
More from less – material
resource efficiency in Europe.
Czech Republic Report
9
For example, the Epsilon programme managed by the Technology
Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR), supports projects that develop
industrial applications using new technologies and new materials in
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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average 50%), 22 % of them are currently offering green
products and services (EU28 average 26%), 67% took
measures to save energy (EU28 average 59%), 65% to
minimise waste (EU28 average 60%), 46% to save water
(EU28 average 44%), and 51% to save materials (EU28
average 54%). From a circular economy perspective, 42%
took measures to recycle by reusing material or waste
within the company (EU28 average 40%), 26% to design
products that are easier to maintain, repair or reuse
(EU28 average 22%) and 32% were able to sell their scrap
material to another company (EU28 average 25%).
According to the Flash 426 Eurobarometer, the resource
efficiency actions undertaken allowed the reduction of
production costs in a 45% of the Czech Republic's SMEs
(EU28 average 45%). The Flash 426 Eurobarometer
"SMEs, resource efficiency and green markets" shows
that 20% of the SMEs in Czech Republic have one or more
full time employee working in a green job at least some
of the time (EU28 average 35%). Czech Republic has an
average number of 1.2 full time green employees per
SME (EU28 average 1.7)
11
Figure 2: Eco-Innovation Index 2015 (EU=100)
13
6
Eco-innovation
The scoreboard shows that the overall 2015 eco-
innovation performance of the Czech Republic has
improved compared to 2013, with an overall index score
of 99 (compared to a score of 71 in 2013), ranking as
13th among the 28 EU Member States (compared to 17th
place in 2013). The significant improvement in ranking
and the overall score could have been caused by a data
source change and hence the results for these indicators
are not fully comparable with the data for 2013.
Existing barriers in R&D
12
are relevant also for eco-
innovation sector. The examples can be summarised as
follows:
Weak outcomes and results of Czech R&D activities,
limited cooperation between academia and business.
R&D policy and funding framework remains fragmented
High dependence of the Czech Republic’s economic
development on the activities of foreign-owned
companies that only use the Czech Republic as a
manufacturing base
The instability of the regulatory framework and the
administrative burden associated with complying with
the regulatory rules.
Suggested action
Strengthen the policy framework to speed up the
uptake of the circular economy providing further
support to local businesses and increasing investments
in the public research and education systems.
Incentivise investments in green products and services.
Foster R&D funding among SMEs.
Waste management
Turning waste into a resource requires:
Full implementation of Union waste legislation,
which includes the waste hierarchy; the need to
ensure separate collection of waste; the landfill
diversion targets etc.
Reducing per capita waste generation and waste
generation in absolute terms.
Limiting energy recovery to non-recyclable materials
and phasing out landfilling of recyclable or
recoverable waste.
SDG 12 invites countries to substantially reduce waste
generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and
reuse, by 2030.
The EU's approach to waste management is based on the
"waste hierarchy" which sets out an order of priority
13
11
The Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, resource efficiency and green
markets" defines "green job" as a job that directly deals with
information, technologies, or materials that preserves or restores
environmental quality. This requires specialised skills, knowledge,
training, or experience (e.g. verifying compliance with environmental
legislation, monitoring resource efficiency within the company,
promoting and selling green products and services).
12
Commission, (SWD(2016) 73 final)
Eco-innovation Observatory:
Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2015
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when shaping waste policy and managing waste at the
operational level: prevention, (preparing for) reuse,
recycling, recovery and, as the least preferred option,
disposal (which includes landfilling and incineration
without energy recovery). The progress towards reaching
recycling targets and the adoption of adequate
WMP/WPP
14
should be the key items to measure the
performance of Member States. This section focuses on
management of municipal waste for which EU law sets
mandatory recycling targets.
Figure 3: Municipal waste by treatment in Czech
Republic 2007-14
15
Figure 4: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2007-14
19
7
The main treatment option for municipal waste is still
landfilling. It accounts for 56% and it is above the EU
average of 28%.
Currently, a number of flaws in waste management
policy make it difficult for Czech Republic to comply with
EU targets: a high share of biodegradable waste goes to
landfills. Waste treatment is not fully in line with the
waste hierarchy, there is a non-harmonised national
waste data base and insufficient reporting structures.
Municipal waste
16
generation in Czech Republic remains
much lower compared to the EU average (310
kg/y/inhabitant compared to around 475 kg/y/inhabitant
on average).
17
Figure 3 depicts the municipal waste by treatment in
Czech Republic in terms of kg per capita, which shows a
slightly increase of the recycling rates compared to 2013.
Recycling of municipal waste accounts for 25% being
below the EU average (44%) as shown in Figure 4. Figure
4 also shows that Czech Republic, while having a steady
increase in recycling rate, must invest further in recycling
in the next coming years in order to reach the 2020
recycling target.
18
14
15
In order to help bridge the implementation gap in Czech
Republic, the Commission has delivered a roadmap for
compliance in which economic instruments play a crucial
role.
20
The Czech Republic adopted the revision of the
Waste Act mandating separate collection of
biodegradable waste in all municipalities since 2015, and
announcing a ban on landfilling of recyclable, recoverable
and mixed municipal waste since 2024
21
. These changes
in the Waste Act lead explicitly to divert waste from
landfills towards treatments higher in the waste
hierarchy.
However, an objective assessment of the performance of
Czech Republic in the area of municipal waste
management is hampered by large discrepancies
between the Ministry of Environment data used e.g. in
the national WMP and the official waste statistics of the
Czech Statistical Office, while only the latter was
validated by Eurostat.
The discrepancies are quite relevant in magnitude and
lead to different projections. The most visible aspect is,
that according to the new Waste management plan,
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50% recycling of
municipal waste.
19
Eurostat,
Recycling rate of municipal waste
,
accessed October 2016
20
European Commission, Roadmap Czech Republic
21
Act No. 229/2014 Coll., in force as of 01/01/2015 as amending the
Waste Act No. 185/2001 Coll.
Waste Management Plans/Waste Prevention Programmes
Eurostat,
Municipal waste and treatment, by type of treatment
method,
accessed October 2016
16
Municipal waste consists of waste collected by or on behalf of
municipal authorities, or directly by the private sector (business or
private non-profit institutions) not on behalf of municipalities.
17
The Czech Ministry of Environment uses data collected by the Czech
Environment Agency CENIA which diverge significantly from the data
reported to ESTAT by the Czech Statistical (i.e. the waste generation
is around 40% higher, recycling rates are 10% higher and incineration
rates lower). This data is used in the national and regional Waste
Management Plans as well as ESIF Operational programmes.
18
Member States may choose a different method than the one used by
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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additional waste to energy capacity is foreseen (of 18% in
2020 and 28% in 2024) claiming that only 11% of waste is
incinerated when, according to Eurostat, almost 20% of
the municipal waste was incinerated in 2014.
22
In August 2016, the Ministry of Environment and the
Czech Statistical Office agreed to reduce discrepancies
between data of both institutions on municipal waste
generation. The agreement includes short-term and long-
term objectives needed for a full consolidation of data.
Its implementation is still outstanding.
The National Waste Management Plan 2015-2024 was
adopted on 22 December 2014 by the Czech Government
(together with the National Waste Prevention
Programme). The Regional Waste Management Plans
were adopted by June 2016. The plans include policy
measures which should help the Czech Republic achieve
its recycling targets; there are however concerns as
regards planned capacity for residual waste treatment,
namely waste to energy. The issue is directly linked with
the problem of data escribed above.
The Czech Republic has a well-functioning EPR scheme
for packaging
23
and overachieves the relevant packaging
targets.
Estimates show that full implementation of the existing
legislation could create more than 8,800 jobs in Czech
Republic and increase the annual turnover of the waste
sector by EUR 930 million. Moving towards the targets of
the roadmap on resource efficiency could create
additional 10,788 jobs and increase the annual turnover
of the waste sector over EUR 1.1 billion.
24
Shift reusable and recyclable waste away from
incineration by introducing incineration taxes. Avoid
building overcapacities for residual waste treatment.
It is imperative that the Czech Republic uses waste
statistics that are compatible with the Eurostat
Guidelines.
8
Suggested action
Increase progressively the existing landfill tax
25
to
divert waste from landfill. Use the revenues to support
the separate collection and alternative infrastructure in
conjunction with a better allocation of the cohesion
policy funds to the first steps of waste hierarchy.
Focus on improving the effectiveness of separate
collection to increase recycling rates.
22
The difference is in the reported generation of municipal waste to
Eurostat by Czech Statistical Office (3.228 mil. t, 2013 and 3.260 mil.
t, 2014) while generation on municipal waste by MoE is much higher
(5.168 mil. t, 2013 and 5.324 mil. t, 2014).
23
According to data for 2015 provided by the national authorities, more
than 270 000 containers for separate streams of municipal waste
(plastics, glass, paper, metal, cardboard) are available for citizens.
24
Bio Intelligence service, 2011. Implementing EU Waste legislation for
Green Growth, study for European Commission. The breakdown per
country on job creation was made by the consultant on Commission
demand but was not included in the published document.
25
In the proposal for new Waste Act from 2015 it is suggested that
landfill tax to be gradually increased as of 2018. It also contains
explicit possibility for municipalities to implement PAYT system. This
proposal is pending the Government approval yet.
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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9
2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital
Nature and Biodiversity
The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to halt the loss of
biodiversity in the EU by 2020, restore ecosystems and
their services in so far as feasible, and step up efforts to
avert global biodiversity loss. The EU Birds and Habitats
Directives aim at achieving favourable conservation
status of protected species and habitats.
SDG 14 requires countries to conserve and sustainably
use the oceans, seas and marine resources, while SDG 15
requires countries to protect, restore and promote the
sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably
manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and
reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
The 1992 EU Habitats Directive and the 1979 Birds
Directive are the cornerstone of the European legislation
aimed at the conservation of the EU's wildlife. Natura
2000, the largest coordinated network of protected areas
in the world, is the key instrument to achieve and
implement the Directives' objectives to ensure the long-
term protection, conservation and survival of Europe's
most valuable and threatened species and habitats and
the ecosystems they underpin.
Directive SPAs covering 8.9% (EU average 12.3%) and
Habitats Directive SCIs covering 9.9% (EU average 13.8%).
There are 1116 Natura 2000 sites, including 41 SPAs and
1075 SCIs
27
.
While the designation of the SPAs is considered
sufficient, the assessment of the SCIs conducted in
previous years shows insufficiencies
28
(see Figure 5
29
).
Figure 5: Sufficiency assessment of SCI networks in
Czech Republic based on the situation until December
2013 (%)
30
The adequate designation of protected sites as Special
Ares of Conservation (SAC) under the Habitats Directive
and as Special Protection Areas (SPA) under the Birds
Directive is a key milestone towards meeting the
objectives of the Directives. The results of Habitats
Directive Article 17 and Birds Directive Article 12 reports
and the progress towards adequate Sites of Community
Importance (SCI)-SPA and SAC designation
26
both in land
and at sea, should be the key items to measure the
performance of Member States.
By early 2016, 14% of the national area of Czech Republic
is covered by Natura 2000 (EU average 18.1%), with Birds
26
New sites were officially proposed
31
by the Czech
Republic in February and June 2016; with spatial data
submitted in September 2016. The issue of sufficiency of
the SCIs in the Czech Republic is currently being
addressed by the European Commission in the
infringement procedure initiated in February 2016.
SAC designation is still in process. A compliance check
27
28
Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) are designated pursuant to the
Habitats Directive whereas Special Areas of Protection (SPAs) are
designated pursuant to the Birds Directive; figures of coverage do
not add up due to the fact that some SCIs and SPAs overlap. Special
Areas of Conservation (SACs) means a SCI designated by the Member
States.
2016 submission is not reflected yet in the European list of SCIs.
For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the
species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of the Habitats
Directive, are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to
date. This is expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for
which further areas need to be designated in order to complete the
network in that country. The current data, which were assessed in
2014-2015, reflect the situation up until December 2013.
29
The percentages in Figure 5 refer to percentages of the total number
of assessments (one assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a
given biographical region with the Member State); if a habitat type or
a species occurs in more than 1 Biogeographic region within a given
Member State, there will be as many individual assessments as there
are Biogeographic regions with an occurrence of that species or
habitat in this Member State.
30
European Commission internal assessment, in CZ case does not take
into account the 2016 submission
31
(51 sites) and the target feature added into existing sites (70 sites)
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with provisions of the Habitats Directive will be done in
2016/2017.
The Natura 2000 sites are managed by professional state
administration bodies including National Parks as
independent entities devoted to nature conservation,
Regional Offices of Nature Conservation Agency of the
Czech Republic and Environmental Units of Regional
Administrative Authorities (a few sites are also managed
by Military area offices). Scientific support is provided by
the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.
The Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
bears the overall responsibility for Natura 2000 (including
methodological guidance for authorised AA experts). The
monitoring of habitats and species is based on long-term
experience of extensive expert base which provides
variety of quality data on occurrence, conservation
status, future perspective and threats for habitats and
species building on traditional approach of landscape and
nature protection.
32
Natura 2000 is regarded as complementary to the
national nature protection system in the Czech Republic.
This principle establishes a protection regime of majority
Natura 2000 sites that is derived from a parallel regime
of the Czech nationally protected areas.
unfavourable-inadequate (EU27: 42%) and 30%
unfavourable-bad status (EU27: 18%). This is depicted in
Figure 6
35
. 5% and 22% of the unfavourable assessments
respectively for species and habitats were showing a
positive trend in 2013.
A comparison of the results of Article 17 reports enables
to claim an overall improvement as concerns
conservation status of habitats and species of EU
importance. While in the period of 2007-2012 25.3 % was
found favourable only 18.9 % was found favourable in
the preceding reporting period.
36
Figure 6: Conservation status of habitats and species in
Czech Republic in 2007/2013 (%)
37
10
According to the official report submitted under Art. 12
of the Birds Directive
38
, 82% of the breeding species
showed short-term increasing or stable population trends
(for wintering species this figure was 20%).
According to the latest report on the conservation status
of habitats and species covered by the Habitats
Directive
33
, 16% of the habitats' biogeographic
assessments were favourable in 2013 (EU27: 16%).
Furthermore, 56% are considered to be unfavourable–
inadequate
34
(EU27: 47%) and 27% are unfavourable –
bad (EU27: 30%). As for the species, 27% of the
assessments were favourable in 2013 (EU27: 23%) 39% at
32
35
Another example is also The Territorial System of Ecological Stability
of the Landscape (TSES) – good practise developed already in late
1970s, tackles the landscape connectivity by the national multi-level
ecological network
33
The core of the ‘Article 17’ report is the assessment of conservation
status of the habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive.
34
Conservation status is assessed using a standard methodology as
being either ‘favourable’, ‘unfavourable-inadequate’ and
‘unfavourable-bad’, based on four parameters as defined in Article 1
of the Habitats Directive.
Please note that a direct comparison between 2007 and 2013 data is
complicated by the fact that Bulgaria and Romania were not covered
by the 2007 reporting cycle, that the ‘unknown’ assessments have
strongly diminished particularly for species, and that some reported
changes are not genuine as they result from improved data /
monitoring methods.
36
According to data of Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech
Republic, it was 22.95 % in the period of 2007-2012 and 17.05 % was
found favourable in the reporting period 2001(4)-2006
37
These figures show the percentage of biogeographical assessments in
each category of conservation status for habitats and species (one
assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a given biographical
region with the Member State), respectively. The information is
based on Article 17 of the Habitats Directive reporting - national
summary of Czech Republic
38
Article 12 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to report
about the progress made with the implementation of the Birds
Directive.
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Figure 7: Short-term population trend of breeding and
wintering bird species in Czech Republic in 2012 (%)
39
11
Estimating Natural Capital
The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 calls on the Member
States to map and asses the state of ecosystems and
their services in their national territory by 2014, assess
the economic value of such services, and promote the
integration of these values into accounting and reporting
systems at EU and national level by 2020.
As part of knowledge development efforts, the Czech
Republic has completed ecosystem
41
mapping by field
survey complemented with remote sensing data.
Information on structure and functions of semi-natural
habitats together with other data sources (agro-
environmental schemes, WFD etc.) can be utilised in
order to estimate the condition of ecosystems. A
scientific study on ecosystem services was completed in
2013 but its results have not been integrated into policy-
making. Policy support is also needed to get data from
other sectors.
Most natural and near-natural habitats occur in areas
with limited or less intensive agricultural production.
Problematic aspects of implementation of the national
and EU legislation are usually connected with general
nature protection issues. These are conflicts between
nature conservation and other socioeconomic interests
such as river navigation or forest management in the
national parks and Natura 2000.
Forest areas account for around 34% of the total area of
the Czech Republic which is below the EU average (42%).
Afforested area is steadily growing. 15% of the forest
benefits from a protection regime. Almost 60% of the
forest belongs to the state. The management of the
forest is done by the forest authorities, in accordance
with the Forest Management Plans focusing on the
production function of the forest (representing 75% of
the total forest area). As regards the health of forest,
though the trend has stabilised over last years, the forest
ecosystems suffer from a high level of defoliation
compared to other European countries.
40
Suggested action
Provide government support to the mapping and
assessment of ecosystems and their services, valuation
and development of natural capital accounting
systems, and use it for policy and decision-making.
Green Infrastructure
The EU strategy on green infrastructure
42
promotes the
incorporation of green infrastructure into related plans
and programmes to help overcome fragmentation of
habitats and preserve or restore ecological connectivity,
enhance ecosystem resilience and thereby ensure the
continued provision of ecosystem services.
Green Infrastructure provides ecological, economic and
social benefits through natural solutions. It helps to
understand the value of the benefits that nature provides
to human society and to mobilise investments to sustain
and enhance them.
The restoration and safeguarding of ecosystems has a
long background in the academic world in the Czech
Republic and is incorporated in the planning system.
However, the results of this work are not well
implemented.
In order to monitor landscape fragmentation, work is
underway to set indicators for the extent and rate of
fragmentation/connectivity of natural and semi-natural
ecosystems, allowing more efficient monitoring of trend
changes and comparison of larger territorial units.
Landscape connectivity is tackled by the national multi-
41
Suggested action
Complete the Natura 2000 designation process and put
in place clearly defined conservation objectives and the
necessary conservation measures for the sites and
provide adequate resources for their implementation
in order to maintain/restore species and habitats of
community interest to a favourable conservation status
across their natural range.
Develop and promote smart and streamlined
implementation approaches, in particular as regards
site and species permitting procedures (i.e. beyond EIA
procedures) and strengthen communication with
stakeholders.
39
Article 12 of the Birds Directive reporting - national summary of Czech
Republic
40
http://eagri.cz/public/web/file/426635/ZZ2014.pdf
Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food,
clean water and pollination on which human society depends.
42
European Union, Green Infrastructure — Enhancing Europe’s Natural
Capital, COM/2013/0249
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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Czech Republic
level ecological network called the Territorial System of
Ecological Stability of the Landscape. TSES is included in
the Nature and Landscape Protection Act, which cites
TSES as one of the main tools for landscape and nature
protection.
However, the mechanisms for practical protection and
restoration of its elements (core areas, ecological
corridors and stepping stones which overlap with Natura
2000 areas) are not always sufficient.
The percentage of built up land in 2009 was 3.28%, close
to the EU average (3.23%)
44
. The soil water erosion rate
in 2010 was 1.65 tonnes per ha per year, below EU28
average (2.46 tonnes)
45
. Figure 8 shows the different land
cover types in Czech Republic in 2012.
Figure 8: Land Cover types in Czech Republic in 2012
46
12
Soil protection
The EU Soil Thematic Strategy highlights the need to
ensure a sustainable use of soils. This requires the
prevention of further soil degradation and the
preservation of its functions, as well as the restoration of
degraded soils. The 2011 Road Map for Resource-
Efficient Europe, part of Europe 2020 Strategy provides
that by 2020, EU policies take into account their direct
and indirect impact on land use in the EU and globally,
and the rate of land take is on track with an aim to
achieve no net land take by 2050.
SDG 15 requires countries to combat desertification,
restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by
desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve
a land-degradation-neutral world by 2030.
Soil is an important resource for life and the economy. It
provides key ecosystem services including the provision
of food, fibre and biomass for renewable energy, carbon
sequestration, water purification and flood regulation,
the provision of raw and building material. Soil is a finite
and extremely fragile resource and increasingly
degrading in the EU. Land taken by urban development
and infrastructure is highly unlikely to be reverted to its
natural state; it consumes mostly agricultural land and
increases fragmentation of habitats. Soil protection is
indirectly addressed in existing EU policies in areas such
as agriculture, water, waste, chemicals, and prevention
of industrial pollution.
Artificial land cover is used for settlements, production
systems and infrastructure. It may itself be split between
built-up areas (buildings) and non-built-up areas (such as
linear transport networks and associated areas).
The annual land take rate (growth of artificial areas) as
provided by CORINE Land Cover was 0.43% in the Czech
Republic over the period 2006-12, around the EU average
(0.41%). It represented 2159 hectares per year
43
(in the
previous period 2000-2006 it was 1944 hectares) and was
mainly driven by housing, services and recreation as well
as industrial and commercial sites.
There are still not EU-wide datasets enabling the
provision of benchmark indicators for soil organic matter
decline, contaminated sites, pressures on soil biology and
diffuse pollution.
An updated inventory and assessment of soil protection
policy instruments in Czech Republic and other EU
Member States is being performed by the EU Expert
Group on Soil Protection.
In 2015 the Czech Republic adopted an amendment to
the Nature and Landscape Conservation Act which can
strengthens the protection of agricultural soil.
47
44
43 European Environment Agency
Draft results of CORINE Land Cover
(CLC) inventory 2012;
mean annual land take 2006-12 as a % of 2006
artificial land. In the period 2000-2006
European Environment Agency, 2016. Imperviousness and
imperviousness change
45
Eurostat,
Soil water erosion rate,
Figure 2, accessed November 2016
46
European Environment Agency,
Land cover 2012 and changes
country analysis
[publication forthcoming]
47
It makes the protection of best quality soil from sealing considerably
stricter, it focuses on reclamation of agricultural land after temporary
land claims, and regulates soil protection from erosion.
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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Czech Republic
13
3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life
Air quality
The EU Clean Air Policy and legislation require that air
quality in the Union is significantly improved, moving
closer to the WHO recommended levels. Air pollution
and its impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity should be
further reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding
critical loads and levels. This requires strengthening
efforts to reach full compliance with Union air quality
legislation and defining strategic targets and actions
beyond 2020.
The EU has developed a comprehensive suite of air
quality legislation
48
, which establishes health-based
emission ceilings
50
.
At the same time, air quality in Czech Republic continues
to give cause for concern. For the year 2013, the
European Environment Agency estimated that about
12,030 premature deaths were attributable to fine
particulate matter
51
concentrations, 370 to ozone
52
concentration and 330 to nitrogen dioxide
53
concentrations.
54
This is due also to exceedances above
the EU air quality standards such as shown in Figure 9
55
.
For 2014, exceedances above the EU air quality standards
have been registered related to particulate matter (PM
10
)
in ten air quality zones, and annual mean concentration
Figure 9: Attainment situation for PM10, NO2 and O3 in 2014
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants.
As part of this, Member States are also required to
ensure that up-to-date information on ambient
concentrations of different air pollutants is routinely
made available to the public. In addition, the National
Emission Ceilings Directive provides for emission
reductions at national level that should be achieved for
main pollutants.
The emission of several air pollutants has decreased
significantly in the Czech Republic
49
. Reductions between
1990 and 2014 for sulphur oxides (-93%), nitrogen oxides
(-77%), ammonia (-56%) as well as volatile organic
compounds (-54%) ensure air emissions for these
pollutants are within the currently applicable national
of nitrogen dioxide (NO
2
) in one air quality zone (Prague).
50
48
49
European Commission, 2016.
Air Quality Standards
See
EIONET Central Data Repository
and
Air pollutant emissions data
viewer (NEC Directive)
The current national emission ceilings apply since 2010 (Directive
2001/81/EC);
revised ceilings for 2020 and 2030 have been set by
Directive (EU) 2016/2284
on the reduction of national emissions of
certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC and
repealing Directive 2001/81/EC.
51
Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions.
PM10 (PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5)
micrometres or less. PM is emitted from many human sources,
including combustion.
52
Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution
and it is also a greenhouse gas.
53
NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities
and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising
nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
54
European Environment Agency, 2016.
Air Quality in Europe – 2016
Report.
(Table 10.2, please see details in this report as regards the
underpinning methodology).
55
Based on European Environment Agency, 2016.
Air Quality in Europe
– 2016 Report.
(Figures 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1)
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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Czech Republic
Furthermore, four air quality zones have indicated
exceedances regarding fine particulate matter (PM
2.5
), for
which the limit value has become binding only in 2015.
Target values for annual mean concentrations have been
exceeded in at least one air quality zone for cadmium,
benzo(a)pyrene, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide as well
as ozone.
56
The persistent breaches of air quality requirements (for
PM
10
and NO
2
), which have severe negative effects on
health and environment, are being followed up by the
European Commission through infringement procedures
covering all the Member States concerned, including
Czech Republic. The aim is that adequate measures are
put in place to bring all zones into compliance.
It has been estimated that the health-related external
costs from air pollution in Czech Republic are above EUR
6 billion/year (income adjusted, 2010), which include not
only the intrinsic value of living a full health life but also
direct costs to the economy. These direct economic costs
relate to 4 million workdays lost each year due to
sickness related to air pollution, with associated costs for
employers of EUR 388 million/year (income adjusted,
2010), for healthcare of above EUR 21 million/year
(income adjusted, 2010), and for agriculture (crop losses)
of EUR 102 million/year (2010).
57
environmental noise.
Excessive noise is one of the main causes of health
issues
59
. To alleviate this, the EU
acquis
sets out several
requirements, including assessing the exposure to
environmental noise through noise mapping, ensuring
that information on environmental noise and its effects is
made available to the public, and adopting action plans
with a view to preventing and reducing environmental
noise where necessary and to preserving the acoustic
environment quality where it is good.
The Czech Republic’s implementation of the
Environmental Noise Directive
60
is delayed. The noise
mapping for the most recent reporting round, for the
reference year 2011, is complete. However, action plans
for noise management in the current period have not
been adopted for any of the agglomerations, major
roads, major railways or major airports within the scope
of the Directive. The Commission contacted the Czech
authorities with regard to the missing action plans, and
continues to follow up on the situation. Complaints on
infrastructure development are often related to noise
issues, especially for infrastructure projects with
outdated EIA assessments.
14
Suggested action
Complete action plans for noise management and use
them in planning.
Suggested action
Maintain downward emissions trends of air pollutants in
order to achieve full compliance with air quality limit
values - and reduce adverse air pollution impacts on
health, environment and economy.
Reduce nitrogen oxide (NO
x
) emissions to comply with
currently applicable national emission ceilings
58
and/or
to reduce nitrogen dioxide (NO
2
) (and ozone
concentrations), inter alia, by reducing transport related
emissions - in particular in urban areas.
Reduce PM
10
emission and concentration, inter alia, by
reducing emissions related to energy and heat
generation using solid fuels, to transport and to
agriculture.
Water quality and management
The EU water policy and legislation require that the
impact of pressures on transitional, coastal and fresh
waters (including surface and ground waters) is
significantly reduced to achieve, maintain or enhance
good status of water bodies, as defined by the Water
Framework Directive; that citizens throughout the Union
benefit from high standards for safe drinking and bathing
water; and that the nutrient cycle (nitrogen and
phosphorus) is managed in a more sustainable and
resource-efficient way.
SDG 6 encourages countries to ensure availability and
sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
The main overall objective of EU water policy and
legislation is to ensure access to good quality water in
sufficient quantity for all Europeans. The EU water
acquis
61
seeks to ensure good status of all water bodies
59
Noise
The Environmental Noise Directive provides for a
common approach for the avoidance, prevention and
reduction of harmful effects due to exposure to
56
See
The EEA/Eionet Air Quality Portal
and the related Central Data
Repository
57
These figures are based on the
Impact Assessment
for the European
Commission Integrated Clean Air Package (2013)
58
Under the provisions of the revised National Emission Ceilings
Directive, Member States now may apply for emission inventory
adjustments. Pending evaluation of any adjustment application,
Member States should keep emissions under close control with a
view to further reductions.
WHO/JRC, 2011, Burden of disease from environmental noise,
Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds),
World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe,
Copenhagen,
Denmark
60
The Noise Directive requires Member States to prepare and publish,
every 5 years, noise maps and noise management action plans for
agglomerations with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and for major
roads, railways and airports.
61
This includes the
Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC);
the
Urban
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Czech Republic
across Europe by addressing pollution sources (from e.g.
agriculture, urban areas and industrial activities), physical
and hydrological modifications to water bodies) and the
management of risks of flooding.
River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) are a
requirement of the Water Framework Directive and a
means of achieving the protection, improvement and
sustainable use of the water environment across Europe.
This includes surface freshwaters such as lakes and rivers,
groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters up to one
nautical mile.
The Czech Republic has provided information to the
Commission from its second generation of RBMPs.
However, as the Commission has not yet been able to
validate this information for all Member States, it is not
reported here.
In its first generation of RBMPs under the WFD Czech
Republic reported the status of 1069 rivers, 71 lakes and
173 groundwater bodies. Only 20% of natural surface
water bodies achieve a good or high ecological status
62
and 7% of heavily modified or artificial water bodies
63
achieve a good or high ecological potential. 72% of
surface water bodies, 67% of heavily modified and
artificial water bodies and only 21% of groundwater
bodies achieve good chemical status
64
. 65% of
groundwater bodies are in good quantitative status
65
.
The main pressure on Czech waters is flow regulation and
hydromorphological alteration that affect 67% of surface
water bodies. 51% of water bodies are affected by diffuse
sources of pollution sources
66
, 44% by point sources.
There are not large differences in pressures between
river basin districts. Abstraction is not identified as a
pressure to water status.
There were significant deficiencies identified in the 1
st
River Basin Management Plans that present gaps in the
monitoring
system,
assessment
of
pressures,
methodologies for classification of status of water
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC)
concerning
discharges of municipal and some industrial waste waters; the
Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC)
concerning potable water
quality; the
Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)
concerning
water resources management; the
Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC)
and the
Floods Directive (2007/60/EC)
62
Good ecological status is defined in the Water Framework Directive
referring to the quality of the biological community, the hydrological
characteristics and the chemical characteristics.
63
Many European river basins and waters have been altered by human
activities, such as land drainage, flood protection, and, building of
dams to create reservoirs...
64
Good chemical status is defined in the Water Framework Directive
referring to compliance with all the quality standards established for
chemical substances at European level.
65
For groundwater, a precautionary approach has been taken that
comprises a prohibition on direct discharges to groundwater, and a
requirement to monitor groundwater bodies.
66
Diffuse pollution comes from widespread activities with no one
discrete source.
15
bodies. This results in high level of uncertainties
concerning the pressures, status of water bodies and
effectiveness of Programmes of Measures. Planning of
new physical modifications and application of
exemptions is not transparent
67
. Programmes of
measures are expected to result only in a slight
improvement of the status, with the highest
improvement is expected in chemical status of
groundwater (8%).
Nitrate levels in a number of monitoring points, as well as
eutrophication, remain an issue. A recent Court of
Auditors report "Danube river basin II: Quality of water"
stated there is a lack of ambition in the Member States
concerned including the Czech Republic to address
causes of pollution. It stated that Member States are not
using all the possibilities offered by the Nitrates Directive.
The Czech Nitrates Action Programme is being reviewed
in 2016 and it is an opportunity to adjust its measures
taking into account the developments of agricultural
pressures and water quality, as well as the
recommendations of the Court of Auditors report.
As regards drinking water, Czech Republic reaches very
high compliance rates of 99.91 % for microbiological,
99.9 % for chemical and 99.2% for indicator parameters
laid down in the Drinking Water Directive.
68
Figure 10 shows that in 2015, in Czech Republic, out of
153 bathing waters, 79.1 % were of excellent quality,
12.4 % of good quality, 1.3 % of sufficient quality. 3
bathing waters were of poor quality or non-compliant
while it was not possible to assess the remaining 8
bathing waters.
69
The Czech Republic has a modest but
constant increase in excellent bathing water quality in
the past years.
The Czech Republic is subject to full compliance
obligations with the Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive since 2010. However, in Czech Republic,
according to the 2012 data, only 87.4% of the load
collected was subject to secondary treatment (in
accordance with Article 4 of the Urban Waste Water
Treatment Directive) and 53.7% of the waste water load
collected is subject to more stringent treatment in
accordance with Article 5 of the Urban Waste Water
Treatment Directive (target: 75.4%).
70
The use of EU
67
The Czech Republic transposed the requirements of Directive
2000/60/EC (Water Framework Directive) into Czech national
legislation in 2010 and it still necessary to amend the relevant Czech
legislation to ensure full compliance with Article 4(7) thereof.
68
Commission's
Synthesis Report on the Quality of Drinking Water in
the Union examining Member States' reports for the 2011-2013
period,
foreseen under Article 13(5) of Directive 98/83/EC;
COM(2016)666
69
European Environment Agency, 2016. European bathing water quality
in 2015, p. 26
70
European Commission, Eighth Report on the Implementation Status
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water
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Czech Republic
funds over last two programming periods 2004-2006 and
2007-2013 helped significantly to build or modernise the
waste water treatment infrastructure. The 2015 special
ECA report showed that some of the investments were,
however, oversized or inappropriate
71
. Despite the
availability of the EU funds, the Prague agglomeration
with the biggest waste water treatment plant in the
Czech Republic has not met the 2010 compliance
deadline in one parameter. The reconstruction of the
Prague Waste Water Treatment Plant has finally started
in 2015 from national funds.
The whole territory of the Czech Republic is delimited as
a sensitive area.
Figure 10: Bathing water quality 2012 – 2015
72
-
The proportion of the population connected to water
supply systems and to public sewerage systems
continued to increase
The amount of pollution discharged from point
sources has decreased every year
Surface water quality is improving only slowly
As a result of agricultural activities, water resources
are still exposed to considerable pressure
16
-
-
-
Flood risk areas have started to be identified and mapped
in the Czech Republic in the context of Flood Risk
Management Plans which were prepared together with
2nd RBMPs as outstanding conceptual documents based
on FD (2007/60/EC) requirements. The Czech Republic
was hit by flooding incidents with serious economic
damage in 2010 and 2013.
Management and prevention of floods is an area where
potentially more economical nature-based solutions
could improve resource efficiency through reducing costs
and delivering multiple benefits.
In its 2014-20
operational programmes, namely the Operational
Programme Environment, the Czech Republic is planning
to invest also in nature-based solutions.
Water scarcity is giving a rise to growing concerns over
the implementation of a right mix of measures to combat
it.
Suggested action
The Czech Republic should improve its water policy in
line with the intervention logic of the Water
Framework Directive
74
, i.e. do a more detailed
assessment of pressures to know the status of water
bodies and design effective Programmes of Measures
that address the main pressures identified.
In relation to diffuse pollution the Czech Republic
should implement measures to comply with the Nitrate
Directive taking into account agricultural developments
and the recommendations of the Court of Auditors
report.
New physical modifications of water bodies should be
assessed in line with article 4(7). In these assessments
alternative options and adequate mitigation measures
have to be considered. This particularly applies to large
scale infrastructure projects not built yet, but which
were designed decades ago outside the intervention
logic of Water FD, like dams or infrastructure to
combat floods or drought.
The Czech Republic should improve their water pricing
policy based on an analysis of environmental and
resource costs and covering a broad range of water
services. Exemptions from water fees should be
reconsidered. As the first step, 2
nd
River Basin
Managements plans include the Economic analysis
74
The estimated investment needs (reported by Czech
Republic under Article 17 of the Urban Waste Water
Treatment Directive) to reach full compliance with the
Directive are of EUR 95 million
73
.
According to the Czech 2014 Report on the Environment
the following information on water management and
water quality is available:
-
-
Total water abstraction as well as water
consumption in households is stable.
The water abstraction for public water supply
systems is decreasing due to the reduction of water
loss in the pipe network (16.6% in 2014 compared to
17.9% in 2013)
Directive (COM (2016)105 final) and Commission Staff Working
Document accompanying the report (SWD (2016)45 final).
71
Special report No 2/2015:
EU-funding of Urban Waste Water.
The
report focus on 1 out of 3 river basins covering 27,5% of the territory
of the Czech Republic. Treatment plants in the Danube river basin:
further efforts needed in helping Member States to achieve EU waste
water policy objectives
72
European Environment Agency, State of bathing water, 2016
73
European Commission, Eighth Report on the Implementation Status
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water
Directive (COM (2016)105 final) and Commission Staff Working
Document accompanying the report (SWD(2016)45 final).
The full set of recommendations relevant to the WFD is here
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17
Enhancing the sustainability of cities
The EU Policy on the urban environment encourages
cities to implement policies for sustainable urban
planning and design, including innovative approaches for
urban public transport and mobility, sustainable
buildings, energy efficiency and urban biodiversity
conservation.
SDG11 aims at making cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Europe is a Union of cities and towns; around 75% of the
EU population are living in urban areas.
75
The urban
environment poses particular challenges for the
environment and human health, whilst also providing
opportunities and efficiency gains in the use of resources.
The Member States, European institutions, cities and
stakeholders have prepared a new Urban Agenda for the
EU (incorporating the Smart Cities initiative) to tackle
these issues in a comprehensive way, including their
connections with social and economic challenges. At the
heart of this Urban Agenda will be the development of
twelve partnerships on the identified urban challenges,
including air quality and housing
76
.
The European Commission will launch a new EU
benchmark system in 2017.
77
The EU stimulates green cities through awards and
funding, such as the EU Green Capital Award aimed at
cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the EU
Green Leaf initiative aimed at cities and towns, with
between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants.
which 82 cities fulfil requirements for categories A-D).
Czech Republic has currently also 9 signatories with
commitments to mitigate and adapt to climate change
under Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy,
supported by European Commission. Ministry of
Environment runs yearly dotation programme Village of
the Year – Green Ribbon, awarding villages or rural towns
for good practice in green area, water and urban nature
management.
International agreements
The EU Treaties require that the Union policy on the
environment promotes measures at the international
level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental
problems.
Most environmental problems have a transboundary
nature and often a global scope and they can only be
addressed effectively through international co-operation.
International environmental agreements concluded by
the Union are binding upon the institutions of the Union
and on its Member States. This requires the EU and the
Member States to sign, ratify and effectively implement
all relevant multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs) in a timely manner. This will also be an important
contribution towards the achievement of the SDGs,
which Member States committed to in 2015 and include
many commitments contained already in legally binding
agreements.
The fact that some Member States did not sign and/or
ratify a number of MEAs compromises environmental
implementation, including within the Union, as well as
the Union’s credibility in related negotiations and
international
meetings
where
supporting
the
participation of third countries to such agreements is an
established EU policy objective. In agreements where
voting takes place it has a direct impact on the number of
votes to be cast by the EU.
The Czech Republic has signed and ratified almost all
MEAs. The Czech Republic is an advanced player in the
field of international cooperation in water protection
based on long term experience. There are bilateral
agreements signed with all 4 neighbouring countries and
CZ is a party to International Commissions for protection
of rivers Elbe, Danube and Oder, which cover all Czech
river basins. Implementation and enforcement of
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauns and Flora (CITES) and the EU Wildlife Trade
Regulations could be regarded as another example.
78
Czech Republic widely promotes several initiatives.
National “Strategy of support Agenda 21 2020” has been
adopted in 2012 followed by Action plan in 2016. Until
present, 215 Czech cities are in UN MA21 database (of
75
76
European Environment Agency, Urban environment
http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/
77
The Commission is developing an
Urban Benchmarking and
Monitoring ('UBaM') tool
to be launched in 2017. Best practices
emerge and these will be better disseminated via the app featuring
the UBaM tool, and increasingly via e.g. EUROCITIES, ICLEI, CEMR,
Committee of the Regions, Covenant of Mayors and others.
78
The Czech Republic has been awarded with the prestigious
“Certificate of Commendation“ by the General Secretary CITES for its
exemplary efforts in the fight against illegal wildlife trade.
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18
Part II: Enabling Framework: Implementation Tools
4. Market based instruments and investment
Green taxation and environmentally harmful
subsidies
The Circular Economy Action Plan encourages the use of
financial incentives and economic instruments, such as
taxation to ensure that product prices better reflect
environmental costs. The phasing out of environmentally
harmful subsidies is monitored in the context of the
European Semester and in national reform programmes
submitted by Member States.
Taxing pollution and resource use can generate increased
revenue and brings important social and environmental
benefits.
Czech Republic's revenues from environmentally related
taxes and fees continued to decline across the last 10
years
79
and reached 2.12% of GDP in 2014 against an EU
average of 2.46%. Energy taxes constitute 1.96% of GDP,
slightly above the EU average of 1.88%. Taxes on
transport (excluding fuel) in the Czech Republic are
among the lowest in the EU (0.14% of GDP compared to
the EU28 level of 0.49% GDP). As shown in Figure 11, in
2014 environmental tax revenues accounted for 6.22%
(up from 6.15% in 2013) of total revenues from taxes and
social-security contributions (EU28 average: 6.35%)
80
.
A 2016 study suggests
81
that there is considerable
potential for shifting taxes from labour to environmental
taxes in Czech Republic. Under a good practice scenario
82
the amount could be as much as CZK 30.29 billion in 2018
(EUR 1.09 billion), rising to CZK 55.32 billion in 2030 (EUR
1.99 billion) (both in real 2015 terms). This is equivalent
to an additional 0.62% and 0.83% of GDP in 2018 and
2030, respectively. Given the low level of transport taxes
(excluding fuel), there is a potentially considerable scope
for generating additional revenue form this source: it
accounts for CZK 14.45 billion in 2030 (EUR 0.52 billion in
real 2015 terms), equivalent to 0.22% of GDP. An
increase in the existing circulation tax, with the tax base
potentially including particulate matter (as well as CO
2
emissions) will help foster improvements in air quality.
The next largest potential contribution to revenue comes
from the proposed amendments to taxes on transport
fuels. This accounts for CZK 12.48 billion in 2030 (EUR
0.45 billion) (real 2015 terms), equivalent to 0.19% of
GDP (real 2015 terms), equivalent to 0.42% of GDP.
Figure 11: Environmental tax revenues as a share of
total revenues from taxes and social contributions
(excluding imputed social contributions) in 2014
83
79
80
With the exception of 2009 and 2011
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/5936129/KS-GQ-
13-005-EN.PDF/706eda9f-93a8-44ab-900c-
ba8c2557ddb0?version=1.0
81
Eunomia Research and Consulting, IEEP, Aarhus University, ENT,
2016.
Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential
for the EU28.
N.B. National governments are responsible for setting
tax rates within the EU Single Market rules and this report is not
suggesting concrete changes as to the level of environmental
taxation. It merely presents the findings of the 2016 study by
Eunomia
et al
on the potential benefits various environmental taxes
could bring. It is then for the national authorities to assess this study
and their concrete impacts in the national context. A first step in this
respect, already done by a number of Member States, is to set up
expert groups to assess these and make specific proposals.
82
The good practice scenario means benchmarking to a successful
taxation practice in another Member State.
83
Eurostat,
Environmental tax revenues,
accessed October 2016
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Czech Republic
19
Green Public Procurement
The EU green public procurement policies encourage
Member States to take further steps to reach the target
of applying green procurement criteria to at least 50% of
public tenders.
Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a process whereby
public authorities seek to procure goods, services and
works with a reduced environmental impact throughout
their life-cycle when compared to goods, services and
works with the same primary function that would
otherwise be procured.
The purchasing power of public procurement equals to
approximately 14% of GDP
84
. A substantial part of this
money is spent on sectors with high environmental
impact such as construction or transport, so GPP can help
to significantly lower the impact of public spending and
foster
sustainable
innovative
businesses.
The
85
Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria .
The Ministry of Environment has prepared “Rules for
implementing environmental requirements in public
procurement of state administration and self-
administration”, which is based on European
Commission’s toolkits and is developed instead of a
National Action Plan (NAP) or a National Strategy on GPP.
GPP criteria are partially developed at the national level
and include the product groups for furniture and IT office
equipment. Toolkits for other product groups will be
introduced subsequently.
86
In a 2010 study, the share of Czech authorities that
included GPP requirements in between 50% and 100% of
their contracts was estimated between 10 and 20%
87
.
environmental goals and integrate these into other policy
areas. Other instruments such as the Horizon 2020, the
LIFE programme and EFSI may also support
implementation and spread off best practice.
Global budget for the implementation of Cohesion Policy
in the Czech Republic in 2014-2020 is EUR 24.2 billion
89
(see Figure 12). The Czech Republic will receive about
20% less funds in 2014-2020 period compared to 2007-13
period (EUR 22 billion, excl. CEF, in current prices).
Despite this reduction, it will continue to benefit from
high rate investment intensity, well above the Member
States average per capita.
Figure 12: European Structural and Investment Funds
2014-2020: Budget Czech Republic by theme, EUR
billion
90
Investments: the contribution of EU funds
European Structural and Investment Funds Regulations
provide that Member States promote environment and
climate objectives in their funding strategies and
programmes for economic, social and territorial
cohesion, rural development and maritime policy, and
reinforce the capacity of implementing bodies to deliver
cost-effective and sustainable investments in these areas.
Making good use of the European Structural and
Investments Funds (ESIF)
88
is essential to achieve the
84
As regards the planned investments per environmental
sector, these target water, waste, air, floods protection
and nature. It is too early to draw conclusions as regards
the use and results of ESIF for the period 2014-2020, as
the relevant programmes are still in an early stage of
their implementation.
There are 9 programmes for ESIF in 2014-2020. The main
programme for implementation of environmental
policies is Operational Programme Environment.
European Commission, 2015.
Public procurement
85
In the Communication “Public procurement for a better environment”
(COM /2008/400)
the Commission recommended the creation of a
process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic concept of GPP
relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and ambitious
environmental criteria for products and services, based on a life-cycle
approach and scientific evidence base.
86
European Commission, 2015. Documentation on National GPP Action
Plans
87
Adelphi et al. 2011. Strategic Use of Public Procurement in Europe
88
ESIF comprises five funds – the European Regional Development
Funds (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund
(ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
(EAFRD), and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The
ERDF, the CF and the ESF together form the Cohesion Policy funds.
89
European Commission, Regional policy Atlas Czech Republic
90
European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds
Data By Country
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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Czech Republic
The environmental expenditure (ERDF +CF) estimates to
10.3% (based on specific environmental related
categories of expenditure), which, in 2007-2013 period
corresponded to 18.1%.
The interventions in the period 2014-2020 should lead to
additional waste recycling capacities of 700,000 t/year or
additional population of 150,000 citizens and 60,000
citizens served by improved water supply and
wastewater treatment, respectively.
For the period 2007-2013, the total funds used as of April
2016 for the Czech Republic are 95% for all investment
categories; for OP Environment the total funds used
amount to 94%.
91
The challenge for Czech Republic in
programming period 2014-20 is to make good use of EU
funds for targeted investments and to enhance the
environmental integration as well as to use the potential
of the green economy for competitiveness and job
creation.
The National Rural Development Program of the Czech
Republic, its European Agriculture and Rural
Development Fund part, amounts to EUR 2,500 million.
Budget for agri-environmental-climate measures
represents 29,4% of the total EAFRD budget. Measure on
compensation for legal restrictions emanating from
implementation of Natura 2000 in the RDP takes up 0,1%
of the budget, while the implementation area is very
limited (the only limitation in agricultural areas in first
zone of National Parks is ban on fertilisation). Measure
on natural constraints represents 22% of the whole
budget accounted under environmental objectives (but
is, like for other countries, without any environmental
condition).
The Czech Republic proposes targeted sub-measures for
natural values in agricultural areas, and very limited, but
as well targeted approach for forestry measures -
replacement of stands of site inappropriate species of
trees in zones with high depositions, other on restoration
by planting exclusively pioneering species of trees, of
non-productive investments in forests etc. Anti-flood
measures in forests are also foreseen. There is a high
potential of RDP to address environmental pressures and
to finance also investments with higher added value (e.g.
forest machinery eligible only in case of them having soil
conservation attributes).
With regard to the integration of environmental concerns
into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the two key
areas for the Czech Republic (as for all Member States)
remain as challenges: firstly, using Rural Development
funds to pay for environmental land management and
other environmental measures, while avoiding financing
measures which could damage the environment;
91
20
secondly, ensuring an effective implementation of the
first pillar of the CAP with regard to cross compliance and
'greening' of 1st pillar
92
. A more environmentally
ambitious implementation of 1st pillar greening would
clearly help to improve the environmental situation in
areas not covered by rural development, including
intensive areas, and if appropriate, the Czech Republic
could review its implementation of this still during the
period 2014-2020.
93
92
Final data for the period 2007-2013 will only be available at the end
of 2017.
30 % of direct payment envelope could be allocated to greening
practices beneficial for the environment.
93
For the purpose of greening implementation in 2015 (Regulation (EU)
1307/2013), the Czech Republic made it possible to use 12 elements
as ecological focus areas (EFA), out of possible 19 elements. Neither
fertilisers nor plant protection products are allowed on short rotation
coppice as EFA. Implementation of EFA in form of nitrogen fixing
crops can be done via soybean (though divergences of views exist on
the biodiversity benefits of soya). 100% of Natura 2000 grasslands
were designated as environmentally sensitive, in total 410,595 ha
(33% of those inside Natura 2000) 273,211 ha were designated
outside Natura 2000. At the same time it is allowed to convert these
grasslands to forested areas via RDP measure.
Environmental Implementation Report – Czech Republic
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Czech Republic
21
5. Effective governance and knowledge
SDG 16 aims at providing access to justice and building
effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all
levels. SDG 17 aims at better implementation, improving
policy coordination and policy coherence, stimulating
science, technology and innovation, establishing
partnerships and developing measurements of progress.
Effective governance of EU environmental legislation and
policies requires having an appropriate institutional
framework, policy coherence and coordination, applying
legal and non-legal instruments, engaging with non-
governmental stakeholders, and having adequate levels
of knowledge and skills
94
. Successful implementation
depends, to a large extent, on central, regional and local
government fulfilling key legislative and administrative
tasks, notably adoption of sound implementing
legislation, co-ordinated action to meet environmental
objectives and correct decision-making on matters such
as industrial permits. Beyond fulfilment of these tasks,
government must intervene to ensure day-to-day
compliance by economic operators, utilities and
individuals ("compliance assurance"). Civil society also
has a role to play, including through legal action. To
underpin the roles of all actors, it is crucial to collect and
share knowledge and evidence on the state of the
environment and on environmental pressures, drivers
and impacts.
Equally, effective governance of EU environmental
legislation and policies benefits from a dialogue within
Member States and between Member States and the
Commission on whether the current EU environmental
legislation is fit for purpose. Legislation can only be
properly implemented when it takes into account
experiences at Member State level with putting EU
commitments into effect. The Czech Republic is following
the Make it Work initiative
95
.
Capacity to implement rules
It is crucial that central, regional and local
administrations have the necessary capacities and skills
and training to carry out their own tasks and co-operate
and co-ordinate effectively with each other, within a
system of multi-level governance.
The administrative capacity is in general sufficient;
however the high turnover of the staff with every
election has been generating a negative impact on
implementation of environmental law and policies. The
Civil Service Act adopted in 2015 (precondition for the
adoption of the Czech operational programmes for PP
2014-2020) should allow the necessary reform and bring
the stability, however it is difficult to judge whether this
is the case yet.
Although the fall of the former Soviet bloc allowed for
environmental awareness and the preparation for the
accession to the EU helped to form the environmental
agenda, environmental policies lacked ownership at
political and administrative levels over the last decade.
This is mirrored in the difficulties not only with the
adoption of environmental legislation but also in its
effective application. On the other hand, the Czech
Republic has a wide pool of excellent environmental
experts available, but often beyond the national or
regional administration.
The responsibility for environmental laws and policies lies
with the Ministry of Environment or Regional Authorities
(e.g. environmental departments of regional authorities).
Local authorities are typically in charge of sectorial
policies, like waste management. The Ministry has also
general supervisory and controlling role. Legislative
competences are with the Parliament; however the
central government has also a strong role submitting in
general drafts laws.
There are approximately 120 environmental NGOs
operating at national or local level in the Czech Republic.
The role of NGOs in environmental education, nature
conservation and support of sustainable living is
traditionally very important, since 1960s. Around 30
NGOs are organised since 1989 in the platform "Green
Circle". The impact of NGOs varies.
The Czech Republic has an average number of
infringements concerning mainly non-conformity and
bad-application of EU environmental acquis, in particular
delayed transposition of the EIA Directive. The sectors
with the main shares of cases were waste, water, air,
impact assessment.
Effective governance within central, regional
and local government
Those involved in implementing environment legislation
at Union, national, regional and local levels need to be
equipped with the knowledge, tools and capacity to
improve the delivery of benefits from that legislation,
and the governance of the enforcement process.
94
The Commission has work ongoing to improve the country-specific
knowledge about quality and functioning of the administrative
systems of Member States.
95
a Member State driven project, established in 2014, organizes a
discussion on how the clarity, coherence and structure of EU
environmental legislation can be improved, without lowering existing
protection standards
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Czech Republic
the integration of environmental policies has only slightly
improved over the last decade, being fragmented also by
the competences allocation. Long-term thinking is often
prevailed by political decisions.
The transposition of the revised EIA Directive
101
will be an
opportunity to streamline the regulatory framework on
environmental assessments. The Commission encourages
the streamlining of the environmental assessments
because this approach reduces duplication and avoids
unnecessary overlaps in environmental assessments
applicable for a particular project. Moreover,
streamlining helps reducing unnecessary administrative
burden and accelerates decision-making, without
compromising the quality of the environmental
assessment procedure. The Commission has issued a
guidance document in 2016
102
regarding the setting up of
coordinated and/or joint procedures that are
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA
Directive, Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive,
and the Industrial Emissions Directive
103
.
22
The environmental agenda is narrowly linked to the
planning and permitting, which is in hands of the Ministry
of Regional Development and Construction authorities.
The Czech development system is multistage – the EIA
process is followed by the zoning decision and building
permit stages. The current system is often regarded as
too slow and complex; however a unified opinion on its
reform does not exist.
The Czech Republic's legislation has been found not to be
in conformity with the Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) Directive and therefore it was twice subject to an
EU infringement procedure since the accession of the
Czech Republic into the EU
96
. This had an impact on the
legality of the projects which fall under the EIA Directive
and which were subject to the development consent
procedures during this period. The amendment to EIA Act
(and other relevant Acts), should in principle provide for
rectification of identified deficiencies
97
. However, a long
pipeline of projects with old/pre-accession EIAs which are
to be co-financed in PP 2014-2020 exist in transport
sector
98
. This situation also led to the number of
individual complaints increasing in 2016 for the issues of
bad-application of the EIA Directive.
Suggested action
Improve the application of EIA and SEA as important
tools to ensure environmental integration.
Compliance assurance
EU law generally and specific provisions on inspections,
other checks, penalties and environmental liability help
lay the basis for the systems Member States need to
have in place to secure compliance with EU
environmental rules.
Public authorities help ensure accountability of duty-
holders by monitoring and promoting compliance and by
taking credible follow-up action (i.e. enforcement) when
breaches occur or liabilities arise. Compliance monitoring
can be done both on the initiative of authorities
themselves and in response to citizen complaints. It can
involve using various kinds of checks, including
inspections for permitted activities, surveillance for
possible illegal activities, investigations for crimes and
audits for systemic weaknesses. Similarly, there is a range
of means to promote compliance, including awareness-
raising campaigns and use of guidance documents and
online information tools. Follow-up to breaches and
liabilities can include administrative action (e.g.
National Action Plan for Clean Mobility (2015)
Strategy of Ministry of Agriculture with prospect of 2030 (2016)
Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change in the CZ (2015)
101
The transposition of Directive 2014/52/EU is due in May 2017
102
European Commission, 2016. Commission notice —
Commission
guidance document on streamlining environmental assessments
conducted under Article 2(3) of the Environmental Impact
Assessment Directive (Directive
2011/92/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU).
103
European Commission, [forthcoming 2016]
Coordination and integration
The Czech Republic has adopted its national SD Strategy
already in 2004, the currently valid dates to 2010.
99
Though several other strategies have been developed
100
96
The Czech Republic was the only Member State in a considerable risk
of interruption of EU funds 2014-2020 for the ex-ante conditionality
related to the Environmental Impact Assessment. The risk was
eliminated by the adoption of the amendment of the EIA law in April
2015 in response to second horizontal EIA infringement
97
The amended EIA Act introduces e.g. coherence check, however only
projects with "full" EIAs are covered. Also, it requires the verification
of old non-binding EIA Statements, for which new EIA process is
inevitable in cases of some projects (projects with EIAs pursuant to
the 1992 EIA Act)
98
In order to allow key transport projects to be early implemented, nine
infrastructure projects with EIAs pursuant to 1992 EIA Act will be
subject to an accelerated procedure provided by the Government
Resolution adopted in June 2016, while almost 90 would undergo an
updated EIA.
99
http://www.mzp.cz/cz/udrzitelny_rozvoj
100
Regional Development Strategy of the CZ (2013)
Secondary Raw Materials Policy of the CZ (2014)
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withdrawal of a permit), use of criminal law
104
and action
under liability law (e.g. required remediation after
damage from an accident using liability rules) and
contractual law (e.g. measures to require compliance
with nature conservation contracts). Taken together, all
of these interventions represent "compliance assurance"
as shown in Figure 13.
Best practice has moved towards a risk-based approach
at strategic and operational levels in which the best mix
of compliance monitoring, promotion and enforcement is
directed at the most serious problems. Best practice also
recognises the need for coordination and cooperation
between different authorities to ensure consistency,
avoid duplication of work and reduce administrative
burden. Active participation in established pan-European
networks of inspectors, police, prosecutors and judges,
such as
IMPEL
105
, EUFJE
106
, ENPE
107
and EnviCrimeNet
108
,
is a valuable tool for sharing experience and good
practices.
Figure 13: Environmental compliance assurance
evaluation
110
.
The responsibilities it exercises across different
environmental policy areas should put the Czech
Environmental Inspectorate (CEI)
111
in a good position to
undertake both strategic and operational risk-based
compliance assurance. The CEI operates an informative
web-site on which annual activities reports are published,
including statistical information
112
. Evidence was found of
use of risk-based approaches to target environmental
inspections for industrial installations, but with certain
limitations.
The CEI has established cooperation with other
authorities with relevant functions but the cooperation is
not based on formal agreements
113
. The Czech Republic is
active within IMPEL and EnviCrimeNet and hosted an
IMPEL peer review in 2015 and the 2016 EnviCrimeNet
annual conference.
Up-to-date information is nevertheless lacking in relation
to the following:
data-collection arrangements to track the use and
effectiveness of different compliance assurance
interventions;
the extent to which risk-based methods are used to
direct compliance assurance at the strategic level
and in relation to critical activities outside of
industrial installations, in particular in specific
problem-areas highlighted elsewhere in this Country
Report, i.e. the threats to protected habitat types
and species, air quality breaches and the pressures
on water quality from diffuse water pollution;
how the Czech authorities ensure a targeted and
proportionate response to different types of non-
compliant behaviour, given that environmental
inspectors have a limited set of enforcement tools
114
.
The Czech Republic has established mandatory financial
security for liabilities under the Environmental Liability
Directive (ELD) from 2013 on. There have been no cases
of confirmed environmental damage under the Directive,
but 15 cases were reported as dismissed in the period
between 2007 and 2013, and a few cases were initiated
110
23
Currently, there exist a number of sectoral obligations on
inspections and the EU directive on environmental
liability (ELD)
109
provides a means of ensuring that the
"polluter-pays principle" is applied when there are
accidents and incidents that harm the environment.
There is also publically available information giving
insights into existing strengths and weaknesses in each
Member State.
For each Member State, the following were therefore
reviewed: use of risk-based compliance assurance;
coordination and co-operation between authorities and
participation in pan-European networks; and key aspects
of implementation of the ELD based on the Commission's
recently published implementation report and REFIT
104
105
European Union, Environmental Crime Directive 2008/99/EC
European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement
of Environmental Law
106
European Union Forum of judges for the environment
107
The European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment
108
EnviCrimeNet
109
European Union, Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/CE
COM(2016)204 final and COM(2016)121 final of 14.4.2016. This
highlighted the need for better evidence on how the directive is used
in practice; for tools to support its implementation, such as guidance,
training and ELD registers; and for financial security to be available in
case events or incidents generate remediation costs.
111
. See for details http://www.cizp.cz/lang/l2
112
http://www.cizp.cz/Annual-Report. The reports are structured per
environmental policy-subject areas and include, inter alia,
information on number of inspections undertaken, penalties
imposed and a more detailed description of major cases with naming
the non-compliant duty-holders. The data covers mostly output
parameters rather than information and analysis of the outcomes of
compliance assurance work.
113
http://www.cizp.cz/file/Ot3/Czech-IRI-Report-Final-v-14-01-16.pdf
114
The IMPEL 2015 IRI report (p. 3 and 34-35) observes that fines are
the most commonly used instrument which however are often low
and have little deterrent effect.
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Czech Republic
upon public requests.
ensured in multi-stage system.
24
Suggested action
Improve transparency on the organisation and
functioning of compliance assurance and on how
significant risks are addressed, as outlined above.
Encourage greater participation of competent
authorities in the activities of ENPE, EUFJE and
EnviCrimeNet.
Step up efforts in the implementation of the
Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) with proactive
initiatives, in particular by drafting national guidance.
Suggested action
Take the necessary measures to ensure standing of
environmental NGOs to challenge acts or omissions of
a public authority in all sectoral EU environmental laws,
in full compliance with EU law as well as the
Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice
in environmental matters (Aarhus Convention).
Public participation and access to justice
The Aarhus Convention, related EU legislation on public
participation and environmental impact assessment, and
the case-law of the Court of Justice require that citizens
and their associations should be able to participate in
decision-making on projects and plans and should enjoy
effective environmental access to justice.
Citizens can more effectively protect the environment if
they can rely on the three "pillars" of the Convention on
Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-
making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
("the Aarhus Convention"). Public participation in the
administrative decision making process is an important
element to ensure that the authority takes its decision on
the best possible basis. The Commission intends to
examine compliance with mandatory public participation
requirements more systematically at a later stage.
Access to justice in environmental matters is a set of
guarantees that allows citizens and their associations to
challenge acts or omissions of the public administration
before a court. It is a tool for decentralised
implementation of EU environmental law.
For each Member State, two crucial elements for
effective access to justice have been systematically
reviewed: the legal standing for the public, including
NGOs and the extent to which prohibitive costs represent
a barrier.
In the Czech Republic the costs to bring an environmental
case to the national courts are not considered as being
prohibitively high. However, the Czech Republic had for
long period shortcomings in providing the public, notably
individuals and NGOs, with legal standing which would
allow them to initiate court actions in environmental
matters
115
and to challenge the substantial breaches of
their rights. For the EIA, the situation was in principle
addressed with the amendment of the EIA Act, which
came into force in April 2015, while access to justice is
applicable also outside the EIA context and has to be
115
Access to information, knowledge and
evidence
The Aarhus Convention and related EU legislation on
access to information and the sharing of spatial data
require that the public has access to clear information on
the environment, including on how Union environmental
law is being implemented.
It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public
and business that environmental information is shared in
an efficient and effective way. This covers reporting by
businesses and public authorities and active
dissemination to the public, increasingly through
electronic means.
The Aarhus Convention
116
, the Access to Environmental
Information Directive
117
and the INSPIRE Directive
118
together create a legal foundation for the sharing of
environmental information between public authorities
and with the public. They also represent the green part of
the ongoing EU e-Government Action Plan
119
. The first
two instruments create obligations to provide
information to the public, both on request and actively.
The INSPIRE Directive is a pioneering instrument for
electronic data-sharing between public authorities who
can vary in their data-sharing policies, e.g. on whether
access to data is for free. The INSPIRE Directive sets up a
geoportal which indicates the level of shared spatial data
in each Member State – i.e. data related to specific
locations, such as air quality monitoring data. Amongst
other benefits it facilitates the public authorities'
reporting obligations.
For each Member State, the accessibility of
environmental data (based on what the INSPIRE Directive
envisages) as well as data-sharing policies ('open data')
116
See study on access to justice in environmental matters in
2012/2013
UNECE, 1998. Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters
117
European Union, Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to
environmental information
118
European Union, INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC
119
European Union, EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 -
Accelerating the digital transformation of government COM(2016)
179 final
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have been systematically reviewed
120
.
Czech Republic's performance on the implementation of
the INSPIRE Directive as enabling framework to actively
disseminate environmental information to the public is
good, but leaves room for further improvement.
Czech Republic has indicated in the 3-yearly INSPIRE
implementation report
121
that the necessary data-sharing
policies allowing access and use of spatial data by
national administrations, other Member States'
administrations and EU institutions without procedural
obstacles are not yet fully available and implemented.
The use and sharing of data has improved, but different
licensing approaches still pose a major barrier. The Czech
Republic aims at solving existing licensing issues for
spatial information by 2020. In this respect, INSPIRE
Coordination Committee of the Czech Republic has
approved a set of actions aiming at unique licence
approach applied on INSPIRE data.
Assessments of monitoring reports
122
issued by Czech
Republic and the spatial information that Czech Republic
has published on the INSPIRE geoportal
123
indicate that
not all spatial information needed for the evaluation and
implementation of EU environmental law has been made
available or is accessible. So far
124
, 84 % (27 out of 32
themes relevant for the Czech Republic) of information
has been published and the Czech Republic has been
constantly working on its commitment to make all
necessary data themes available before the end of 2016.
25
Suggested action
Critically review the effectiveness of its data policies
and amend them, taking 'best practices' into
consideration.
Identify and document all spatial data sets required for
the implementation of environmental law, and make
the data and documentation at least accessible 'as is'
to other public authorities and the public through the
digital services foreseen in the INSPIRE Directive.
120
Upon request by the Commission, most Member States provided an
INSPIRE Action Plan addressing implementation issues. These plans
are currently being assessed by the Commission.
121
European Commission, INSPIRE reports
122
Inspire indicator trends
123
Inspire Resources Summary Report
124
As of August 2016
Environmental Implementation Report6 – Czech Republic