Spreading the wings of protection
Seminar on implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Armenia was organised at the Republic of Armenia National Assembly.
Czech Parliament was represented by the two Czech senators - Mr. Zbynek Linhart, Head of Committee on Public Administration, Regional Development and the Environment of the Senate, and Mr. Petr Orel, Deputy Head of Committee on EU Affairs of the Senate.
H.E. Bedrich Kopecky, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Armenia pointed out that sharing Czech transition experience from the post-soviet bloc country to the full-fledged member of the European Union is the main purpose of the meeting. Not only achievements but also mistakes and drawbacks should be discussed to help Armenian partners avoid their repeating.
H.E. Bedrich Kopecky, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Photo: National Assembly
Mr. Orel described the advantages of implementing EU directives on birds and habitats into a national legislation and gave specific examples of cases that resulted in protection of valuable natural assets in the Czech Republic. Director of the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Mr. Frantisek Pelc explained the proces of approximation of the EU directives in the Czech republic and concluded: "Approximation of EU Directives on nature conservation is without no doubts a good step. For the successful approximation it is necessary to strenghten existing institutions or even think about creating new ones with sufficient expert capacities."
Frantisek Pelc, Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic
The seminar was jointly organised by the two Twinning projects run by Greek-Italian consortium and Czech-Finnish consortium assisting the Armenian National Assembly and the Armenian Ministry of Environment respectively.
Separate meetings were also organised with the Standing Committee of Territorial Administrations, Local Self-governments, Agriculture and Environmental Protection lead by Mr. Vahe Ghalumyan, and also with the Friendship Group Armenia-Czech Republic of the Armenian National Assembly lead by Mr. Artur Hovhannisyan.
Zbynek Linhart, senator, Parliament of the Czech Republic, Vahe Ghalumyan and Artur Hovhannisyan, members of National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
Law on Flora, Law on Fauna and Law on Protected Areas are the target acts to be compared with respective directives and amended accordingly within the EU Twinning project “Strengthened protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in Armenia in line with the European standards” implemented by the Ministry of Environment of the RA, Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic and Finnish Environmental Institute (SYKE). The effective legislative elaboration and oversight of environmental provisions falls within the EU Twinning project “Strengthening the capacity of the National Assembly to further support CEPA oversight and implementation” implemented by the Hellenic Parliament, the Italian Parliament, and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia as Beneficiary.
Photo: National Assembly
Armenian Ministry of Environment reported about the seminar here.
The seminar was financially supported by the European Union.
The content of this press release is the sole responsibility of Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic and Armenian Ministry of the Environment and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
