17 October 2012
17.10.2012 - The European Environment Agency has published the report on the flow of priority data in the European Environmental Observation and Information Network for the period May 2011-April 2012. A special feature of this publication is that for the first time in the history of the European Environment Agency, an assessment has been made of the flow of priority data for Kosovo as well. The assessment of data flow was carried out for 13 priority topics, of which 5 were not relevant for Kosovo. The data reported by Kosovo through the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency were rated with the maximum score in the topics: Protected Nature Areas and River Water Quality, while they also received a good rating for groundwater quality, air emissions, and Ozone. In the overall ranking of countries, which includes all member states of the European Union
European and partner countries (Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia), Kosovo ranks higher than Malta, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. This is the 15th consecutive report on this topic, and its aim is to assess the progress made in data flow, to identify the problems that countries have with data flow, as well as to encourage them for better performance. Ensuring high-quality data in the European Environment Information and Observation Network - EIONET is one of the fundamental objectives of the European Environment Agency. To achieve this objective, it aims for this data to be provided on time, to be relevant, and to be reliable.
The participation of Kosovo, specifically the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, in the activities of the European Environment Agency has been enabled within the framework of the IPA project "Participation of the Western Balkan Countries in the work of the EEA." Kosovo joined this project initially in 2010, to continue with the second phase of the project which started at the beginning of this year and will continue until the end of 2013. The project is implemented within the framework of preparatory measures to support candidate and potential candidate countries in the European integration process, with a special emphasis on supporting the Environmental Protection Agencies of the Western Balkan countries in their participation in activities organized by the European Environment Agency. The main goal of the project is to support the Western Balkan countries in all the main activities planned in the program.
in the work of the European Environment Agency-EEA and the European Environmental Network for Information and Observation-EIONET. Among other things, the project aims to improve the process of data flow and exchange between the Environmental Agencies of the Balkan countries and the European Environment Agency, to include their contribution within the Assessments and Reports on the state of the environment in Europe, to support the National Focal Points and National Reference Centres in their participation in Workshops, Trainings, and meetings organized by EEA and EIONET, as well as to provide other technical support through experts and projects.