Sector-specific Conferences — The EDEN Conference Series
“Environmental Dialogue of European Neighbours” (EDEN) ” to support the accession of central and eastern European countries” as part of the German Federal Government“s TRANSFORM Programme.
The Single European Act of 1986 and amendments in the Maastricht Treaty (1992) and the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) gave the European Union a coherent competence in environmental policy. Refuse policy has become one of the most important and most developed areas of EU activity in its efforts to protect the environment. As such, the adoption of the Community acquis in environmental policy presents accession countries with many problems.
The international conference series known as EDEN addresses this by (1) encouraging a dialogue based on partnership between those involved in the utilization of waste products in EU member states and in accession countries long before the latter join and (2) fleshing out common interests in this sensitive area of policy. The aim here is to bring the utilization of waste products in accession countries into line with EU standards before they join. To this end, the competence of accession countries in the utilization of waste products is to be increased on the basis of partnership in an exchange of know-how between EU members and accession countries (“neighbourly help”). The international conference series provides a forum for experts to discuss the legal issues involved and to share their experience. The longer-term goal is to create a lasting dialogue on waste management.
The Institute for European Politics runs EDEN in those accession candidates bordering the EU on behalf of and in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Administrative officials, commercial representatives, decision-makers and experts from Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary participate in the two-day conferences. Participating countries take turns hosting the conferences.
Should you be interested in learning more about our programmes, the staff in the Studies & Capacity Building Section of the IEP will be glad to help you with your enquiries.