Information Collection and Impact Assessment of Possible Requirements for Environmental Inspections in the Area of EU Legislat
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Technical Report - 2013 - 074 Information collection and impact assessment of possible requirements for environmental inspections in the area of EU legislation on water, nature protection and trade in certain environmentally sensitive goods Final Report, July 2013 Environment Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union New freephone number: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://ec.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2013 ISBN 978-92-79-34173-1 doi: 10.2779/64011 © European Union, 2013 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Information collection and impact assessment of possible requirements for environmental inspections in the area of EU legislation on water, nature protection and trade in certain environmentally sensitive goods Final Report July 2013 Consortium coordinator: Project coordinator: Project Partners: 1 Citation and disclaimer: Recommended citation IEEP, Bio Intelligence Service and Ecologic Institute (2013). Information collection and impact assessment of possible requirements for environmental inspections in the area of EU legislation on water, nature protection and trade in certain environmentally sensitive goods. Final report for the European Commission, DG Environment. Institute for European Environmental Policy, Brussels and London, July 2013. Authors: Andrew Farmer, Peter Hjerp, Axel Volkery (IEEP), Mary Ann Kong, Shailendra Mudgal (Bio Intelligence Service), Lucas Porsch, Johanna von Toggenburg and McKenna Davis (Ecologic Institute). Disclaimer: The contents and views contained in this report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the European Commission. 2 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 7 ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................. 12 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 16 1.1 Purpose of the report ...................................................................................... 16 1.2 Environmental inspections and implementation of the EU environmental acquis 16 1.3 Concepts and definitions ................................................................................. 19 2 BASELINE ANALYSIS OF THE MEMBER STATES ......................................................... 22 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 22 2.2 The public consultation .................................................................................... 23 2.3 Baseline: lessons from the literature ................................................................ 25 2.4 Baseline analysis: water ................................................................................... 36 2.4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 36 2.4.2 Institutional framework ................................................................................... 37 2.4.3 Strategic approach to inspection ...................................................................... 38 2.4.4 Undertaking inspections .................................................................................. 39 2.4.5 Follow-up, including use of sanctions ............................................................... 41 2.4.6 Capacity .......................................................................................................... 42 2.4.7 Costs of inspection ........................................................................................... 43 2.4.8 Review and effectiveness of inspection ............................................................ 44 2.4.9 Conclusions: recommendations regarding the options ...................................... 48 2.5 Baseline: Nature Directives .............................................................................. 54 2.5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 54 2.5.2 Legislative and policy framework ..................................................................... 54 2.5.3 Inspection requirements .................................................................................. 56 2.5.4 Inspection planning ......................................................................................... 57 2.5.5 Administrative Arrangements .......................................................................... 57 2.5.6 Inspection and follow-up activities ................................................................... 58 2.5.7 Awareness raising ........................................................................................... 60 2.5.8 Inspection capacity, review and reporting ........................................................ 60 2.5.9 Effectiveness of the inspection system.............................................................. 62 2.5.10 Costs of inspection ........................................................................................... 63 2.5.11 Recommendations regarding the options ......................................................... 64 2.6 Baseline analysis of Trade in endangered species (CITES) ................................. 69 2.6.1 Legislative framework ..................................................................................... 69 3 2.6.2 Inspection planning and process ...................................................................... 70 2.6.3 Inspection capacity .......................................................................................... 71 2.6.4 Inter-institutional arrangements ...................................................................... 72 2.6.5 Inspection review and reporting....................................................................... 74 2.6.6 Effectiveness of the inspection system.............................................................. 75 2.6.7 Costs of inspections ......................................................................................... 77 2.6.8 Conclusions and recommendations for the options ........................................... 78 2.7 Conclusions on the baseline for the three study subject areas .......................... 82 3 IDENTIFICATION OF OPTIONS .................................................................................. 86 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 86 3.2 The range of action in the control chain ........................................................... 86 3.2.1 Inspection of stationary sites to check compliance with operational conditions. 87 3.2.2 Incident response inspection of a stationary activity ........................................ 87 3.2.3 Inspection to ensure certain activities are not undertaken ................................ 88 3.2.4 Control of transported objects ......................................................................... 88 3.2.5 Product standards ........................................................................................... 89 3.2.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 89 3.3 Why joined up inspection should be encouraged ............................................. 89 3.4 What should an inspection address? ................................................................ 90 3.5 Risk-based inspection ...................................................................................... 91 3.6 Who inspects? ................................................................................................. 92 3.7 Delivering environmental outcomes through inspection under other regimes .. 93 3.8 Follow-up ........................................................................................................ 93 3.9 Awareness raising ............................................................................................ 95 3.10 Co-ordination between institutions ................................................................. 95 3.11 Capacity of enforcement institutions ............................................................... 96 3.12 Public access to information and transparency ................................................. 96 3.13 Evaluation of performance .............................................................................. 96 4 THE OPTIONS .......................................................................................................... 97 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 97 4.2 Option 1 - Baseline .......................................................................................... 97 4.3 Option 2 – Non-legislative measures ................................................................ 97 4.4 Option 3 – Upgraded Recommendation ........................................................... 98 4.5 Option 4 – General binding instrument on criteria on control mechanisms in Member States ............................................................................................................