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The European Business Association welcomes the aspiration of the State Environmental Inspectorate to reform the control system in the field of environmental protection and to update the staff of the Inspectorate. The experts of the Association emphasize that the issue of ecological safety, along with the dynamic development of the economy, is essential for the business community, which supports the implementation of European rules and standards.<\/span><\/p>\n For this reason, the community seeks to be involved in the process of improving environmental legislation and inspection procedures, ensuring the approximation of European environmental law.<\/span><\/p>\n In this regard, it is crucial to formulate first and foremost the correct and rational directions for reforming the State Ecological Inspectorate – the body that directly controls: key performance indicators, the scope of inspectors\u2019 duties, the effectiveness of public oversight and its accordance with established procedures and the best European practices.<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, the business emphasizes that all changes must be implemented holistically and comprehensively. However, on February 3, 2020, there was a publication on the Government portal that the State Ecological Inspectorate will carry out comprehensive inspections of the companies that pose a threat to the environment regarding the TOP-100 Biggest Polluters Ranking for 2018 (published on the official website of the Ministry of Energy). It is worth noting that the mentioned ranking “is based on official statistics according to the results of the company\u2019s reporting on the amount of industrial discharge, emission, and waste”. This leads to the conclusion that companies that evade reporting and actually pollute the environment may not be subject to such inspection at all.<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, under the law, all activities listed in the publication of the Ministry of Energy can be carried out only if the economic entity has respective permits. Thus, on the one hand, the state allows the economic entity to damage the environment, and, on the other, accuses the entity of the pollution and, in fact, exerts pressure by carrying out measures of public oversight (control) without sufficient legal grounds.<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, the Government portal states that one of the reasons for the urgent measures is that the State Ecological Inspectorate worked ineffectively and did not fulfill the tasks it had set. It is worth noting that the inefficiency of the government body cannot be the reason for carrying out unscheduled inspections. Because, as a result, we have a situation when the same inefficient government body overtakes the control functions and thus increases the pressure on economic entities.<\/span><\/p>\n The European Business Association emphasizes that legal businesses want to work in the legal environment. Therefore, it is crucial to adhere to the principles of objectivity, the impartiality of public oversight (control) and non-interference of the public oversight authority into business activities carried out within the law. So, hopefully, there will be a constructive solution for this situation, and we will be able to build high quality and effective environmental protection system. For its part, the Association proposes to be a platform to discuss legislative initiatives in the field of oversight (control) and declare the readiness of the business for a constructive dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European Business Association welcomes the aspiration of the State Environmental Inspectorate to reform the control system in the field of environmental protection and to update the staff of the Inspectorate. The experts of the Association emphasize that the issue of ecological safety, along with the dynamic development of the economy, is essential for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23406,"featured_media":247884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n