Ministry of Environment and
Water
State of the Environment Bulgaria 2003
Public Access to Information and Public Participation
Environment-related laws and regulations at all levels
All laws adopted by the National Assembly, as well as the environment-related Council of Ministers regulations and decisions, are promulgated in the State Gazette. Their full text is also available in an electronic version in the statute-book data bases, such as APIS, CIELA, DIGESTA etc., provided by various private companies. The MoEW Internet site posts the full texts of the new laws and regulations on the environment which have been harmonized with the acquis. This level also contains a Bulgarian translation of the key EU environment directives. There is a link to European environmental legislation.
This is very helpful to everybody interested in the process of harmonization of Bulgarian environmental legislation with the EU acquis.
International treaties, conventions, and agreements on the environment
The MoEW Internet site has a special level entitled "International Cooperation," where the environmental conventions to which Bulgaria is a party are listed.
At the "European Integration" level on the MoEW Internet site, one can access the Programme for Application of European Environmental Legislation. There, the effective Bulgarian legislation is surveyed in terms of transposition of individual EU directives and regulations; legislative measures are laid down for comprehensive transposition of the respective directive or regulation and application of legislation; requirements and priority measures are set, and a deadline is fixed for their implementation on the part of Bulgaria so as to apply the European directives or regulations in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's EU accession negotiations on Chapter 22 "Environment" opened on 27 July 2001. A special sub-level, designated "Working Group 22," has been constructed on the MoEW Internet site, providing information on Bulgaria's positions during the negotiations with the European Union on the "Environment" chapter. This sub-level also names the experts involved in the principal working group and the sub-groups for the negotiations.
Environment-related policies, programmes and plans
The principal strategies, action plans and programmes on the environment are posted at a special level designated "Strategies and Plans" on the MoEW Internet site: the Bulgarian Government Programme: Environment and Water Protection, the National Environmental Strategy and the 2000-2006 Action Plan, the National Development Plan for the Period ending 2006, and the Environment Sectoral Programme.
Part of the new legislation, the implementing strategies, programmes and action plans have been published on a paper-based medium, such as the ones on waste. The National Environmental Strategy and the 2000-2006 Action Plan have come out in a Bulgarian and an English version. The principal policies, strategies, action plans and programmes are available at the Information Centre and the competent MoEW departments.
Last update on March 2003