04 February 2017 04.02.2017 - Organized by the European Union instrument for Technical Assistance and Information Exchange - TAIEX and the German Federal Agency - UBA, a delegation from the Environmental Protection Agency of Kosovo and one from the National Environmental Agency of Albania, participated in a study visit to Berlin, Germany on the topic "Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR)". During the study visit, the delegations initially stayed at the German Federal Agency where they closely observed the management of the PRTR system by central institutions, the legal basis, and other aspects of cooperation with the European Environment Agency and the European Commission regarding the PRTR regulation and the Industrial Emissions Directive.
The delegations also visited the Administration of the Senate of the State of Berlin, specifically the Department for Urban Development and Environment, where they saw how the environmental permitting process is linked with the PRTR system and how the collection, processing, validation of data, and reporting from the local level to higher state levels are carried out.
Participants of the study visit from Kosovo and Albania also stayed at the Environmental Agency of the State of Saxony in Halle, where, through representatives of this agency, they gained experience from the management process of the PRTR system, data control and quality, data processing, connection with the permitting process, the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Large Combustion Plants Directive, as well as cooperation with the federal level and other relevant institutions.
A special part of the visit was also the visit to the plants that are part of the reporting in the PRTR system, such as the visit to the Vattenfall gas power plant in Berlin, Germany, and the coal-fired power plant KW Schkopau in Halle, in the state of Saxony.
During the visit, other meetings were also held, such as the one at the Berlin Laboratory of the Federal Environment Agency, where delegations closely observed projects and pilot plants for groundwater treatment, and the meeting at the Non-Governmental Organization Greenpeace, Berlin office, where they learned about the role of non-governmental organizations in the PRTR process, their influence on the decision-making process, and cooperation with governmental institutions and other organizations.
The visit concluded with a discussion between delegations from Kosovo and Albania and the representative of the German Federal Agency for PRTR, Ms. Sabine Grimm, where the recommendations from the visit were summarized, and the next steps and activities were discussed, as well as the possibility of continuing support from the German Government for the regional project Supporting the Establishment and Advancement of PRTR in the Western Balkans and in the Republic of Moldova, which is expected to also include Kosovo and Albania.