Příloha
č. 1
Annual
Report on the Activities of the Visegrad Group, Bratislava -
Budapest - Prague - Warsaw, 2000 (Czech Presidency 1999-2000)
1. Introduction
1.1 Visegrad Group
The Visegrad Group was formed in
1991. The leaders of
three Central European countries met on 15 February
In October 1998, the Prime
Ministers of the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Poland declared their interest in revitalizing
Visegrad
cooperation. The Visegrad summit in Bratislava on 14 May 1999 was held
for the
first time in the new V4 format, with former Czechoslovakia divided
into two
independent states. The Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland
and Slovakia issued a joint statement and approved the programme
document
"Content of Visegrad Cooperation" outlining the political framework
for cooperation in the fields of foreign and security policy, internal
security, education, culture, youth and sports, science and technology,
environmental protection, infrastructure and cross-border cooperation.
The
Visegrad Group was finally getting down to business.
The Czech Republic coordinated
V4 activities in the
Visegrad Year between the May 1999 summit in Bratislava and the June
2000
summit in Prague. The primary achievement of this period is the full
utilization of the political framework for contacts on all levels, from
the
Presidents and Prime Ministers to parliamentarians and experts. A
genuine
spontaneous cooperation has been set in motion, with potential for
further
development in all useful areas.
Key priorities of the Czech
Republic´s term as V4
coordinator included the promotion of understanding of Visegrad
cooperation
among the general public. The new Website (http://www.visegradgroup.org) provides updates
on the Visegrad Group, its current activities, meetings and statements.
Information about the International Visegrad Fund and its grant
allocations
will be available shortly. The members of the Editorial Board of the
Website
come from all Visegrad countries.
Great numbers of articles
dealing with the Visegrad
cooperation appeared in press of V4 countries. Thanks to public
activities of
the politicians of V4 countries and other promoters the Visegrad
cooperation
became an integral part of political vocabulary.
1.2 Structure of Visegrad
cooperation
The Bratislava Summit agreed
that no institutional
structures should be set up for the Visegrad Group, with the sole
exception of
the secretariat of the International Visegrad Fund in Bratislava.
Visegrad
cooperation is based on regular meetings of representatives of the
Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia at various levels.
The Visegrad Year is structured
as follows:
§
The Prime
Ministers hold an annual official meeting in the coordinating country.
They may
also meet unofficially between the official summits.
§
The Ministers
may meet their respective counterparts as needed.
§
The Secretaries
of State of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs hold biannual meetings.
§
The Ambassadors
of the V4 countries meet regularly in individual countries.
§ The Visegrad
coordinators (National Coordinators in each V4 country) hold biannual
consultations at the level of directors of department at the Ministries
of
Foreign Affairs. The coordinator for the 1999/2000 Visegrad Year has
been
Director of the Central European Department of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of
the Czech Republic. The coordinator of the 2000/2001 Visegrad Year will
be
Director of the Central and South European Department of the Ministry
of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
Beside contacts at the
government level, the Content
of Visegrad Cooperation envisages meetings of Presidents,
parliamentarians and
representatives of the civil society.
2. Fields of cooperation
2.1 European integration
Like in the initial period
(1991-1992) the entry of
the V4 member countries into the EU remains a priority of the Visegrad
Group.
The Group does in no way regard itself as an alternative to the EU. On
the
contrary, it wants to be perceived as a contribution to the
all-European
integration efforts just like other regional groupings (Benelux, Nordic
Council).
The four Central European
countries are convinced
that they can well help each other on their road to the European Union.
By this
they do not mean merely taking joint positions towards the EU or closer
coordination of attitudes in the negotiation process. They rather have
in mind
the exchange of information related to the process of negotiations with
the EU
and the state of preparation of the V4 member countries for EU
membership. To
this end, consultations of negotiators with the EU have been agreed and
are
regularly held. An example of assistance of technical nature was a
meeting of
representatives of border police forces of the V4 countries to discuss
the
building and technical support of border guards with respect to the
Schengen
standards.
An informal meeting of V4 Prime Ministers (October 1999) and a meeting
of
Presidents (December 1999) focused among other topics on European
integration
issues. Both meetings, held in the High Tatra Mountains, stressed the
will of
the four Central European countries to provide support to one another
on their
road towards the European Union.
The first meeting of high-level
representatives of
the candidate countries responsible for the field of European
integration was
held in Bratislava from 4 to 5 November 1999.
Its agenda included cooperation
between the V4
countries in the European integration processes. The negotiators agreed
that
their aim was not to create an institutional framework but rather to
define the
contents of cooperation between the V4 and the EU. Their talks then
focused on
questions of the Third Pillar with particular attention paid to the
Schengen
system.
An informal meeting between the
V4 Deputy Foreign
Ministers and the British Minister of State for Europe Keith Vaz in
London from
31 March to 1 April 2000.
The meeting, confirming that the
UK perceives the V4
as a clearly defined group, focused on public opinion in the EU and
candidate
countries and on communication with the media. The Minister of State,
Mr.Vaz,
appreciated the V4 efforts to achieve EU membership in the foreseeable
future.
A meeting of V4 chief
negotiators in Brussels on 6
April 2000
The working meeting of the chief
negotiators was held
at the beginning of the Inter-governmental Accession Conferences at the
level
of deputies between the EU and the "Luxembourg Six" countries and
shortly after the beginning of the IGCs also between the EU and the
Slovak
Republic and other countries of the so-called Helsinki Six (28 March
2000). The
meeting was therefore a good opportunity for exchanging information and
views
on the results of the IGCs and other questions of common interest of
the V4
countries, including Schengen agreement. Apart from specific questions
of the
integration process, the negotiators discussed also how the public in
their
countries perceive negotiations with the EU.
Meeting of Prime Ministers of
the V4 countries with
FRG Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in Gniezno on 28 April 2000
The Prime Ministers discussed
European solidarity in
the process of integration and the situation in Central Europe. They
signed a
joint declaration in which they committed themselves to working
together in
their efforts to materialize the aspirations of nations and communities
to live
in a unified Europe and to cooperation in building a European future,
while
respecting the diversity of cultures, national traditions and regional
differences.
Meeting of the Prime Ministers
of the Visegrad Four
with French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in Budapest on 4 May 2000
French Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin met in Budapest
the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Countries, Miloš Zeman
of the Czech
Republic, Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Jerzy Buzek of Poland and
Mikulas Dzurinda
of Slovakia. The meeting took place upon the initiative of Hungarian
Prime
Minister Viktor Orbán. The Prime Ministers of France and of
the Visegrad Four
discussed the internal developments in the European Union and reviewed
the
progress of accession negotiations of their countries to the EU.The
special
importance of the Budapest meeting was emphasised by the fact that
France will
fill the rotating post of the EU Presidency in the second half of 2000.
The
period of the French presidency is of crucial importance for completing
the
EU's Inter-governmental Conference on institutional reforms, and
continuing the
enlargement process successfully.
2.2 Security issues
The Czech Republic, Hungary and
Poland joined the
North Atlantic Alliance on 12 March 1999. All three countries expressed
support
for the admission of Slovakia to NATO. Accordingly, they welcomed the
decision
taken at the NATO summit in Washington to include their partner from
the
Visegrad Group among the candidate countries.
The process of trilateral
consultations which gained
momentum following the NATO summit in Madrid helped increase the
efficiency of
overall preparations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland for NATO
membership. The three new Allies are now sharing their experience with
Slovakia.
The chairmen of foreign affairs
and defence and
security committees of the Parliaments of the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland
and Slovakia met in Budapest on 5 October 1999.
The statement issued by the
committee chairmen
underlines the importance of continued NATO enlargement and their
interest in
the open door policy. Together they called upon the Alliance to admit
another
V4 country, Slovakia, as soon as possible. The admission of Slovakia
would
comply with the conclusions of the Washington Summit and express
NATO´s
appreciation for the political changes in the country. They expressed
deep
concern over the Kosovo crisis caused by the undemocratic policy of
Slobodan
Miloševic, and support for the international action to halt
ethnic cleansing.
The committee chairmen also supported the enhancement of the European
Security
and Defence Identity and at the same time expressed their conviction
that
transatlantic cooperation has an irreplaceable role in preserving peace
on the
continent. Issues of collective defence should in their opinion remain
within
the competence of NATO.
The Ministers of Defence met for
the first time in
the V4 format in Poland on 4 November 1999.
The Ministers discussed regional
security, defence
cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration. They emphasized the
commitment to
contribute to the international efforts to resolve the crisis in the
Balkans
and discussed their experience concerning SFOR and KFOR missions. The
Defence
Ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland reaffirmed their
preparedness to support Slovakia in its efforts to integrate into
Euro-Atlantic
structures and pledged to continue their cooperation namely in areas
enumerated
in the Membership Action Plan. An example of very concrete cooperation
were the
V4 consultations in the process of preparation for the adaptation of
the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)the significant
contribution of the
Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to the quality of the Slovak
National
Membership action plan.
Meeting of the Chairmen of the
Foreign Affairs,
European Integration and Defence Committees in Bratislava from 26 to 28
April
2000
Security issues among other
topics were on the agenda
of the meeting. In their joint statement representatives of V4
parliaments
expressed support for the endeavours of the Slovak Republic to join
NATO. They
expressed their conviction that the Alliance's policy of open doors is
a key
factor for the strengthening of security in the Euro-Atlantic area as
well as
their readiness to take part in the effort leading to the development
of Common
Defence and Security Policy. I this context representatives of V4
parliaments
are convinced that a wider cooperation of the V4 in the field of
defence
industry and procurement would be a positive contribution of V4
governments.
2.3 Justice and home affairs
During the Visegrad Year,
Ministers of the Interior
met once in the V4+Austria format, Secretaries of State/Deputy
Ministers of the
Ministries of the Interior met twice in V4 format. Representatives of
border
police forces of V4 counties met once. Expert Groups of the Ministries
of the
Interior of V4 countries have started their work.
The Border Police Directors met
in Budapest from 21
to 22 September 1999.
Representatives of border police forces discussed the tasks connected
with the
building of border guards according to the Schengen principles on the
protection of the prospective Schengen external border. Representatives
of the
border police agreed to hold regular meetings, to actively participate
in the
International Border Police Conference (IBPC), to exchange experience
and
technical experts. They agreed to increase their cooperation in
combatting
organized crime and illegal migration.
The meeting of Secretaries of
State/Deputy Ministers
of the Interior of V4 countries held at Donovaly, Slovak Republic, on
22
September 1999.
The Joint Statement adopted at
the conclusion of the
meeting contains an agreement concerning continued exchange of
information on
the progress of public administration reform in V4 countries. The
information
exchange should take place at two levels, namely at the level of
Secretaries of
State/Deputy Ministers who should meet annually, and at the level of
expert
groups on specific areas of public administration.
Expert groups were set up for
the following areas:
Working Group No. 1 - Distribution of competences
between the government
and local self-government;
Working Group No. 2 - Possibilities for utilization
of information
systems in public administration;
Working Group No. 3 - Preparation and training of
public servants and
local self-government staff.
Working Group No. 1 - Distribution of competences
between the government and local
self-government - met in Bratislava from 6 to 7 March 2000. The agenda
included
exchange of experience and debate on the decentralization of
competences, on
models of public administration, territorial units, competences of the
State
and self-government bodies at different levels, public administration
financing
and supervision.
Working Group No. 2 - Possibilities for utilization
of information
systems in public administration - met during the European Information
Society
Workshop held in Hradec Králové from 27 to 28
March 2000, and the meeting
continued in Prague on 29 March. The agenda included the integration of
government authorities into social processes and the legislation
governing the
role of government authorities in the computerization of public
administration
(Czech Republic - Government Council on State Information Policy,
Hungary -
Interministerial Committee on Reform, Slovakia - Government Office,
Poland -
Government). The experts noted significant progress achieved in all V4
countries in the utilization of IT in public administration, although
the
development is not fully comparable in all respects due to different
policies
applied in the past. The meeting focused on the financing of public
administration computerization projects, the questions of basic
registers
(namely the register of inhabitants), transfer of certain functions
from the
police to civil authorities, production and distribution of basic
personal
documents such as identity cards, passports, driving licences.
Working Group No. 3 - Preparation and training of
public servants and
local self-government staff - met in Warsaw from 28 to 29 February
2000. The
agenda included questions relating to competent and trained public
servants,
the need for continuous training of public servants, the status of
local
self-government staff.
All expert group meetings issued
joint communiqués
summarizing the conclusions and outlining further possibilities and
areas for
cooperation. Expert group proposals for future cooperation were
submitted and
recommended for adoption at the meeting of Secretaries of State/Deputy
Ministers of the Interior of the V4 countries held in Prague from 12 to
13
April 2000.
The Ministers of the Interior of
the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Austria met on 15 October.
The Ministers appreciated the
work of the expert
groups established for combating corruption, car thefts, sport event's
violence, nuclear arms and material trafficking and agreed to create an
additional expert group for action against computer crime. They also
agreed to
explore possibilities for setting up joint posts at the borders on the
basis of
bilateral agreements. The responsibilities of such posts would include
readmission
of foreigners, coordination of border guards, joint operations
involving
specific thorough checks, and the addressing of any other problems that
may
arise in the border area. The Ministers paid special attention to the
harmonization of visa policies with EU standards. They agreed on the
importance
of cooperation and exchange of information on legislation, regulations
and
other measures adopted in connection with EU entry.
The Ministers of Justice met
informally from 5 to 6
November 1999.
Ministers of Justice have
expressed their full
support and they will create the conditions for further development of
the
mutual cooperation in area for law; for this purpose they have
exchanged the
informative materials accepted in their countries with the aim to
strengthening
the independence of the judiciary.
Ministers of Justice consider,
having in mind the
historical experience, as the most appropriate to use the natural law
as the
ideological ground of the prepared Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Ministers of
Justice have accepted the proposal of the Minister of Justice for the
Slovak
Republic to initiate in cooperation with the Council of Europe the
common
Slovak-Czech-Hungarian-Polish seminar in Tren_ianske Teplice on the
implementation of the Recommendation No. R(93)1 of the Committee of
Ministers
of the Council for Europe an effective access to the law and justice
for the
very poor.
2.4 Transport and communications
The State secretaries for
transport of the V4
countries met in Bratislava on 14 October 1999. The key issues
discussed were
the development of transport corridors connecting Northern and Southern
Europe
and the cooperation in the field of transport related to European and
North-Atlantic integration. The four officials expressed their
willingness to have
further consultations in year 2000, possibly on the level of ministers.
Cooperation between the Czech
Post, Hungarian Post,
Polish Post and Slovak Post
Closer cooperation between the four Posts has been developing since the
beginning of 1993. Originally, cooperation began to develop in this
field after
the proclamation of independence of the Czech Republic and Slovak
Republic when
there was a need to agree transitional measures to introduce a normal
regime of
international relations between the two countries in this area. Later
on, the
Polish Republic and the Republic of Hungary also joined in. Cooperation
has
been developing through consultations of representatives of the four
countries'
posts, twice a year as a rule, and focuses on the following fields:
§
increasing the
quality of postal services between the participating countries in order
to
achieve EU standards. Bilateral agreements on the quality of mail
services
concluded between the four posts form the basis for achieving this aim.
Special
bilateral quality tests are made to provide information on the real
levels
achieved;
§
introduction of
new products on both national and international scale, particularly
within the
exchange of experience;
§
coordination of
activities in relation to the Association of European Mail Operators
PostEurop.
2.5 Culture, science and
education
The dominating V4 activity in
the field of culture,
science and education in the "Visegrad Year" were preparations for
the establishment of the International Visegrad Fund. Other events
included
meetings of representatives of the Ministries of Culture, Academies of
Sciences
and a Theatre Festival.
International Visegrad Fund
In the document entitled
"Contents of Visegrad
Cooperation", adopted in Bratislava on 14 May 1999, the Prime Ministers
of
the V4 countries undertook to "take steps aimed at the establishment of
a
fund to finance activities in the field of education, culture and
sports".
An Agreement on the Establishment of the International Visegrad Fund
will be
signed at the summit of the V4 Prime Ministers on 9 June 2000.
The main purpose of the
International Visegrad Fund
will be above all to promote and develop cultural cooperation,
exchanges in the
field of science, research, cooperation in education, youth exchanges
and
regional cooperation. The intention of the founders of the Fund is to
promote
activities outside the framework of projects funded by individual
Ministries.
Preference will be given to projects involving the greatest number of
member
countries and contributing to greater awareness of the jointly shared
Central
European area. Thanks to the joint efforts of the V4 Ministries of
Foreign
Affairs, the first grants will be awarded in the second half of 2000.
Immediately after the summit of the Prime Ministers, the Fund
Secretariat will
start gathering and processing grant applications. The V4 Governments
are
already now examining joint projects that will be eligible for grants
from the
Fund and informing potential applicants of this opportunity.
An International Theatre
Festival was held from 8 to
9 October 1999.
It was the 10th theatre festival
held under the title
"Na hranici" held alternatively in Český
Těšín, Czech Republic, and
in Cieszyn, Poland. In 1999, the festival was for the first time
attended by
all four V4 member countries which sent 19 ensembles to take part. The
festival
was organized by the civic society "Člověk na hranici" in Český Těšín,
The Theatre in Český Těšín, Dom
Narodowy Cieszyn, "Stoelnice" Český Těšín and Stowarzyszenie Solidarnosc Polsko -
Czesko - Slowacka, odzial
Regionalny Cieszin. The festival was held under the honorary patronage
of the
Council of Europe Secretary-General and the V4 Ministers of Culture.
The V4 Ministries of Culture
have set up a system of
cooperation, agreed regular meetings four times a year held in their
countries
by rotation.
In this "Visegrad Year", the
meetings
discussed above all the Visegrad Fund, funding in the field of culture,
promotion of joint projects taking into account the objectives of the
European
Community related to Euroregions and economic aspects of the protection
of
cultural heritage.
A communique from The meeting of
the Ministers of
Culture in Krakow (February 15-18, 2000) noted such issues as is the
commercialization of culture, problems of European integration and of
cultural
policy and funding of cinematography. The agenda of the meeting focused
further
on the following subjects:1. Model of funding cultural institutions; 2.
Sponsoring of artists; 3. Economic aspects of protection of cultural
heritage.
Delegations of Academies of
Sciences from the V4
countries met in Bratislava on 22 March 2000
The participants in the meeting
agreed to set up a
Central European academic forum to meet once or twice a year and to
discuss
topical issues in the field of science. The forum will hold its first
meeting
in Budapest in October 2000 to discuss brain drain issues. The forum is
expected
to welcome also participants from Slovenia and Austria. The Bratislava
meeting
further dealt with the significance of science as an integrating
factor, the
coordination of activities of the Academies of Sciences in various
fields,
including publication of journals, status of the Academies of Sciences
and
their cooperation with universities, implementation of projects of the
5th EU
Framework Programme and reflections on priorities of the future 6th
Framework
Programme.
2.6 Environment
In 1999, the Visegrad Group paid
intensified
attention to environmental issues. Cooperation in the field of
environment
became one of the key issues of the Visegrad Cooperation. The first
meeting of
the V4 Ministers for the Environment held in Banská
Štiavnica, Slovak Republic,
from 7 to 8 May 1999.Ministers discussed concrete forms of further
cooperation
in the context of efforts of the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic,
Republic of
Poland and Republic of Hungary in speeding up the process of their
entry into
the European Union. This meeting restarted the process of
intensification of
contacts between the four countries. A joint statement adopted at the
conclusion of the Banská Štiavnica talks
specified the most important fields of
cooperation. These include the solution of environmental issues related
to the
transboundary environmental impact assessment, transboundary air
pollution,
transboundary waste management, contamination of surface and subsoil
water
resources, overall regional development and landscape policy and
ecosystems.
The Ministers also agreed on cooperation in environmental education and
awareness as well as in promoting the exchange of information on the
basis of
harmonized environment information systems in keeping with
international
standards and close cooperation in implementing international
programmes aimed
at reducing risks of climate change. The Ministers further encouraged
the
integration of environmental factors, including all basic issues, in
all
sectoral policies, in particular those concerning economy. The second
meeting
of the Ministers for the Environment of the V4 countries took place in
Český
Krumlov from 8 to 9 October 1999.
The meeting focused on four
specific areas:
Climate change
The V4 countries will regularly
exchange information
on the preparation of their delegations for the 5th Conference of the
Parties
to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change with a view to
coordinating
their positions. They will try to move forward the negotiations
concerning
compliance with the ultimate objectives of Article 3 of the Kyoto
Protocol.
They will cooperate in the formulation of national strategies on
climate change
issues as one of the priorities of their respective countries in the
field of
the environment. The Environment Ministries of the V4 countries will
support
AIJ/JI projects for GHG emission reductions under Article 6 of the
Kyoto
Protocol as the most effective tool of the Kyoto mechanism. They will
cooperate
in formulating national rules for the development and assessment of
such
projects, in line with the envisaged international rules. In
negotiations on
GHG trading, the V4 countries will bear in mind the high degree of
inaccuracy
in their GHG emission projections for the period 2008-2012. They will
also
intensify cooperation in the field of science and research, education
and
public awareness. In order to contribute to the international
negotiations on
cooperation with developing countries and on possible incentives for
their
increased commitment, the V4 countries will seek options enabling the
developing countries to commit themselves to GHG stabilization or
reduction on
a voluntary basis. These commitments should be based on economic
factors. The
V4 countries will intensify cooperation in the field of climate change
research. A very effective tool for increasing the efficiency of such
cooperation are the national climate programmes supported by the 13th
Congress
of the World Meteorological Organization.
Accession to the European Union
The Ministers agreed, inter
alia, that their
countries will exchange information on the formulation of financial
strategies
and their successes and failures. The Ministers also agreed that their
countries should, whenever possible, file joint applications for
funding from
different international sources. The primary tools for integrating
environmental issues into other sectors are the National Environmental
Policies
adopted in all V4 countries, and the strategic environmental impact
assessment
enabling the evaluation of economic and development policies from the
perspective
of environmental impact. The V4 governments have adopted strategies for
informing the general public about the implications of EU membership.
The
Ministers agreed that the environment will be among the crucial
concerns in
this process and are prepared to cooperate and exchange experience in
this
respect. The Ministers are aware that all candidates for accession to
the EU,
and namely the V4 countries, are faced with similar problems in the
accession
process. The current relatively good information exchange should be
further
improved e.g. within the AC-Impel framework or through expert meetings
on
specific topics. The Ministers support more extensive exchange of
experience
among all candidate countries. The Ministers would welcome an
opportunity to take
part in the process of formulation EU environment policies already
before their
entry into the EU. For this reason, they call upon the EU to involve
the
candidate countries in the preparation of the 6th Action Programme on
the
Environment.
The Ministers also agreed to
strengthen the
cooperation between the Cleaner Industrial Production Centres in their
respective countries and to regularly exchange information and
experience
concerning the transposition and implementation of the IPPC directive
(integrated
pollution prevention and control) in individual V4 countries.
Sustainable development
The Ministers are aware of the
urgent need to work
for more friendly attitudes of the general public to the environment;
the
urgency is due to the impacts of globalization on the environment as
well as to
the growth of the world population and its needs. A factor of
overriding
importance is the involvement of the entrepreneurial sector which at
present
plays a crucial role in environmental protection. The Environment
Ministries of
V4 countries will work together to identify and address priority
problems,
incorporate them in the National Environmental Policies and to
intensify the
activities promoting the change of consumption and production patterns.
Cooperation in this field will focus on Ecolabelling, namely exchange
of
information in the context of accession to the EU. Another area of
concern are
the environmental management and audit schemes (EMAS) which should,
inter alia,
improve the competitive potential of producers from the V4 countries.
The process of environmental
impact assessment
With regard to the fact that
most bilateral
agreements on environmental protection concluded between the V4
countries do
not consistently and sufficiently emphasize cooperation in the field of
EIA,
the Ministers agreed to work together for the implementation of the
Convention
on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo
Convention). The Ministers appreciate the ratification of the Espoo
Convention
by Poland (12 June 1997) and Hungary (11 July 1997). Slovakia signed
the Espoo
Convention on 28 May 1993 and the proposed ratification was approved by
the
Slovak Parliament on 30 September 1999. The Czech Republic succeeded
into the
signature of the Espoo Convention on 30 September 1993. The
ratification
proposal is presently going through the Government and Parliament and
the whole
process should be completed in the first half of 2000. The above facts
indicate
that in the year 2000, all V4 countries will be Parties to the Espoo
Convention. The Ministers are aware of the need to conclude bilateral
agreements. Agreements on EIA cooperation in a transboundary context
will
comply with the provisions of Article 8 of the Espoo Convention
concerning
further enhancement of cooperation between neighbouring countries. To
this end,
the Ministers intend to set up bilateral working groups of neighbouring
countries for the formulation of agreements in the field of
international EIA.
In the context of implementation of these agreements, the V4 countries
will
exchange information and experience.
The meeting in Český
Krumlov was concluded by the
signature of a joint statement based on the results of the expert
negotiations,
containing four joint statements including proposals for future
cooperation
between the V4 countries in the field of the environment. The meeting
in Český
Krumlov was held on the occasion of the 25th international festival of
films
and videos on the environment - EKOFILM. The Ministers attended the
events
organized during the festival and the closing ceremony.
The third meeting of the Ministers for the Environment of the V4
countries took
place in Budapest from 11 to 12 May 2000. The meeting focused on four
specific
areas:
§
preparation for
EU accession
§
prevention and mitigation
of climate change
§
nature
conservation
§ environmental aspects of privatisation
First officials of the state
geological surveys of
the V4 countries met for the first time in Visegrad from 10 to 12
January
3. Conclusion
The primary task set for the
first year after
Bratislava summit was to prepare for signature the Agreement on the
Establishment of the Visegrad Fund to support activities in the fields
of
science, education, culture and sport. The task has been completed
successfully, opening new avenues for cooperation and closer contacts
between
the citizens of the V4 countries.
A major political task has been
to assist Slovakia in
catching up with the integration processes. Again, the Visegrad
cooperation is
bearing fruit. Over the past year, Slovakia has made remarkable
progress in its
integration efforts and actively contributed to V4 activities. The
Visegrad
Group is today well known in member countries and carries weight far
beyond
their borders. The "V4 format " joint positions presented on many
occasions by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are
accepted and
respected by international fora. The Group´s significance is
further underlined
by the interest of other countries who seek to participate in its
activities.
Although the Visegrad Group decided in Bratislava not to admit any new
members,
it is interested in seeking suitable forms of cooperation leading to an
expansion of the zone of stability and mutually beneficial cooperation.
And
this, together with the need to develop V4 activities at the regional
level, is
the challenge for the upcoming year after Prague summit.
The report on the "Visegrad
Year" 1999/2000
(period from Bratislava Prime Ministers summit in May 1999 to Prague
Prime
Ministers summit in June 2000) was drafted by the Central European
Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The Ministry
was
responsible for the coordination of the Visegrad cooperation in the
year under
review.