15 September 2010
Kosova is welcomed in the process of exchanging environmental data at the European Environment Agency and in EIONET. At the invitation of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Dr. Ilir Morina, Chief Executive Officer of AMMK in the capacity of senior executive, and Rizah Hajdari, Director of the Reporting Directorate at AMMK, in the capacity of NFP (National Focal Point), participated in the high-level plenary meeting between the Management Board of the EEA, chief executives, and NFPs of Environmental Agencies of the Western Balkan countries, held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and representatives from Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and other European Union member states were also present at the meeting.
The central topic of the discussions was the Strategy of work priorities of the EEA for the year 2010, which was presented by representatives of the EEA Board, while senior executives from the Western Balkan countries presented important environmental developments in the Western Balkans. At this point, the representatives of Kosovo also presented the current developments in the environmental management system in Kosovo, including monitoring, the environmental information system, and environmental reporting. Another topic discussed at the meeting was the possibility of benefiting from the fund for IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession) Projects, as well as the presentation of the ENP (European Neighbourhood Programme) and RENA (Regional Environmental Network for Accession) environmental programs.
A very important point of the discussion was also the Reporting on the state of the environment in the EEA and in EIONET (the European Environment Information and Observation Network).
Apart from the plenary session during the stay in Copenhagen, the CEO of AMMK also held several separate meetings with the leaders of the EEA as well as with representatives of the Environmental Agencies of the Western Balkan countries, where the exchange of experiences and cooperation opportunities in the environmental reporting process in EEA and EIONET was discussed.
The meeting was also of particular importance due to the fact that Kosovo is invited for the first time to participate in the meetings of the European Environment Agency as an equal partner with all other Western Balkan countries.
From this meeting, even practically, Kosovo has been accepted as a partner in the process of exchanging environmental data with the European Environment Agency and in EIONET. Reporting and exchanging data with these institutions, which is expected to begin from June of this year, is a very important factor for Kosovo in the process of European Integration.