Substantial efforts still need to be made to bring environmental legislation in line with the European Union, alongside sizeable funds and deadlines for a number of activities this year in Serbia, Stana Božović stated in an interview with portal Reciklaža.
The government received a screening report for Chapter 27 and was invited to submit its negotiating position for the section, concerning the environment, said the state secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, who also heads the group for talks about Chapter 27. She added the country is the only candidate that enters the process without preconditions.
Financing will require consolidation of sources – budgets of the republic and the municipalities, the Green Fund and provisions on the provincial and local levels, loans, expanded utilization of public–private partnership (PPP) and other models, Božović added. According to estimates, half of the money for the environmental sector will come from the EU, the state secretary said.
The 28-member bloc is concerned because of the abolishment of the Serbian Chemicals Agency and the lack of an independent and operational environmental protection fund to manage all income from ecological levies, she revealed. Božović said other issues are the workforce fluctuation and the limitation of funds in relevant ministries and the environmental protection inspection.
October 25, 2022
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