Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network for Accession (ECENA)

Please note that ECENA's Multi-annual Work Programme for the period 2007 to 2010 ended on May 4, 2010. As of that date this website is no longer being maintained. However, the site has been archived and will remain accessible online.

ECENA is an informal network of environmental authorities from the EU candidate and potential candidate countries, as well as Bulgaria and Romania as new EU member states. The members of ECENA are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo (as defined under UNSCR 1244), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. The European Commission is also a member of ECENA.

ECENA is the successor to the Balkan Environmental Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement Network (BERCEN), the activities and publications of which you can find here.

The general objective of ECENA is to improve the ability of candidate and potential candidate countries to implement and enforce the EU environmental acquis. The network cooperates closely with IMPEL. The specific objectives of ECENA are to:

• increase the effectiveness of enforcement agencies and inspection bodies and to improve compliance with environmental legislation;
• bring about greater understanding of the steps and measures needed to improve implementation of the environmental acquis;
• train environmental inspectors and permit writers to enable them to perform their task of enforcement of the environmental acquis;
• improve the exchange of experience and knowledge with EU member states through stronger cooperation with IMPEL, as well as through training and exchange programmes; and
• promote a consistent approach among candidate and potential candidate countries in implementing the environmental acquis.

In the course of the 2007-2010 Multi-annual Work Programme, it is expected that:

• regional and national training programmes will result in the increased efficiency and capacity of SEE enforcement agencies and inspection bodies and the better implementation of the IPPC, Seveso II, Waste Landfill and LCP Directives and the Recommendation on the Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections (RMCEI);
• activities will be implemented towards the development and maintenance of the European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) and the combating of environmental crime;
• training and exchange programmes will help inspectors and permit writers to perform their tasks related to the implementation of environmental legislation, and the Inspection Training Pack will enable inspectors continuously to improve their knowledge and skills;
• project activities will result in a better understanding of the specific problems and solutions for beneficiaries when implementing and enforcing EU environmental legislation; and
• exchange programmes and participation in IMPEL and the projects of other networks will improve the exchange of information and experience and the transfer of best practices that will further strengthen the capacity of the beneficiaries to implement environmental legislation.

For further details please consult the ECENA Multi-annual Work Programme 2007–2010 (PDF - 56 KB) and the Implementation Schedule for 2007–2010 (XLS - 79 KB).

You can also download the ECENA Terms of Reference here.