MINISTER SAROVIC AT THE THIRD MEETING OF THE MINISTERS OF ENVIRONMENT OF THE EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES AND POTENTIAL CANDIDATES – BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 25



Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH attended the third Meeting of the Ministers of Environment of the EU Candidate Countries and Potential Candidates in Brussels.

Within the several-day-long programme organized under RENA network (Regional Network for EU accession in the field of environment), a meeting was held on September 25^th, 2012 between Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Iceland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo*, Albania and European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potocnik and Executive Director, Mr. Jos Delbeke.

The Ministerial meeting was also attended by Mr.Toni Vidan, Representative of the Environment Forum, Ms. Laurence Graff, Head of Unit - DG Climate Action, Mr. Francois Wakenhut, Head of Unit - DG Environment, Mr. Gustaaf Borchardt, Director, European Commission - DG Environment and Mr. Timo Makela, Director - DG Environment

As envisaged by the agenda, after the official opening, the Ministers addressed the meeting and presented the results of their countries within the RENA programme, problems they face and objectives they planned to pursue in the future. The ministers expressed great political support for this project – which is of great importance - and confirmed awareness of the importance of cooperation in the field of environment and climate change - all in order to better prepare for EU accession.

In his address, Minister Sarovic expressed firm commitment of Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the European Union and to define, adopt and implement the EU environmental policy, and informed that in order to achieve these priorities, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH cooperates with the entity ministries of environment and coordinates activities in the area.

Minister Sarovic stressed the importance of strengthening the environmental sector in order to ensure sustainable use of natural resources through institutional strengthening and said that, given the fact that no country in the world can solve environmental issues by itself, Bosnia and Herzegovina supports regional cooperation and recognizes this cooperation as an important instrument for strengthening political, economic and safety stability.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers of the environment, the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Potočnik and Executive Director, Mr. Delbekom agreed on a Joint Declaration with the aim of continuing regional dialogue on environmental protection and climate change among the candidate countries for membership in the EU, countries that have status of potential candidate and the European Commission. Joint Statement of Ministers represents a consensus view on the following issues:

The Joint Declaration represents a common position on the following issues:

1. Re-affirmation of the view that the priority for all countries is approximation to the acquis related to the protection of the environment;

2. Highlighting the need to raise awareness and strengthen administrative capacity at all levels of government;

3. Recognizing the role of RENA network as a platform for exchange of information and experiences between candidate countries and potential candidates on various technical aspects of the harmonization with EU requirements.

4. Commitment to extending cooperation in the framework of pre-accession.

5. Supporting the European Commission's intention to provide the necessary financial assistance so that the RENA project can be continued in the form of the Regional Network for Environment and Climate Change for accession to the EU ECRAN;

6. Supporting cooperation with civil society.