Members and organization

The REReP initiative brings together the countries in Central, Eastern and South East Europe with the International Financial Institutions (IFIs: EBRD, EIB, World Bank), the European Commission, the Stability Pact, interested EU Member States and other bilateral donors. The REReP taskforce, consisting of the ministers of environment of the countries of SEE, NGOs and the donor community, meets at least once per year. The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe provides the secretariat to the REReP. The Regional Environmental Center (REC) acts as secretariat to the REReP taskforce.

Aims

• To foster regional environmental cooperation in South East Europe

• Create conditions for sustainable environmental protection whilst focusing on four principal themes, institution building, civil society, support to existing regional mechanisms and reducing environmental health threat

• Support the countries of the region in meeting obligation on regional cooperation within the Stabilisation and Association process (SAp)

• Enable effective coordination of international assistance and initiatives on environmental issues in order to complement the SAP process

Activities

The REReP helped to develop and facilitate implementation of a list of priority environmental investment program covering the SEE countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro. The priority projects focus on air pollution control and monitoring, efficient energy use and conservation, solid waste management and water and wastewater management systems in so-called hot spots locations.

REReP primarily focuses on assisting the administrative reforms. It supports activities in the area of capacity building and institutional strengthening to develop and implement environmental legislation and thereby help attract environmental financing in South East Europe. Environmental Activities cover the development of SEE regional projects with an increased focus on regional long- term projects. REReP also supports training on the planning and programming of investments, project cycle management and the design and implementation of economic instruments.

Selected key outputs

Development of a Balkan Environmental Enforcement and Compliance Network (BERCEN), which is designed in the long-term to become a parallel network to the EU’s network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) in South East Europe

• A Regional Environmental Investment Strategy approved by all SEE countries

• Participation in the activities of the European Environmental Agency

• A series of bilateral Memoranda of Understanding on cross-border environmental cooperation have been signed

• A South East Europe NGO network has been established and continues to raise awareness on regional environmental issues

• A database available online has been created containing details of REReP projects

• An informal donor network was set up under REReP to enable an overview of bilateral projects to be developed