OSCE, Montenegrin authorities discuss environmental impact project

Facilitating efficient implementation of the laws on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA) was the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism and the Environmental Protection Agency in Podgorica on 20 December 2012. 

During the event Deputy Environment Minister Ivana Vojinović emphasized the need to strengthen the quality of both types of assessments as they are crucial instruments for effective implementation of environmental policy, as well as for a stronger regional approach.

Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro Waldemar Figaj noted the large participation of public officials in information meetings about the two laws, said that environmental impact assessments should not be seen as barriers for attracting investments, but on the contrary, their establishment would increase the prospects for investment. He also stressed the importance of public participation in environmental policy making.

Director of the Environmental Protection Agency Daliborka Pejović said that the issue of licenses and authorization of experts performing SEA and EIA were a specific problem and quoted the example of the Czech Republic, where this is done by a specialized environmental institution. Pejović recommended increasing the number of regional Aarhus Centers providing access to environmental information in order to improve the quality of communication among neighboring countries.