Europos Sąjungos aplinkos apsaugos politika ir jos įgyvendinimas Lietuvoje

Abstract

Basic concepts: environmental protection, legal regulation, sustainable development, protection of water and air quality, waste management, financing of environmental protection, transposition and implementation of legislation. The aim of the thesis is to determine and look into the influence of the EU environmental policy on the formation of Lithuania’s environmental policy. To this end, the analysis of EU environmental policy documents and directives has been carried out, and their transposition and implementation in Lithuania’s environmental policy have been considered. Focus has also been placed on the financing of the EU environmental policy and absorption of EU assistance in Lithuania. An expert survey has been carried out to attain this objective. The object of the thesis is the process of implementation of the EU environmental policy and its legal norms in Lithuania. The thesis raises a hypothesis that the implementation of the EU environmental policy in Lithuania depends on the competence of Lithuania’s management authorities and EU financial assistance, as the failure to absorb it indicates an inadequate level of development and efficiency of Lithuania’s environmental policy. The research performed in the thesis has supported the hypothesis. The present master’s thesis consists of three sections. The first section of the thesis analyses EU environmental programmes and their impact on the development of the EU environmental policy and presents the legal regulation of this area, namely, the main agreements stipulating the principles and aims of the environmental policy. The section also analyses legal requirements in the water, air and waste sectors and specifies measures for the implementation of the requirements as well as financing instruments. The second section is related to the main goal of the EU environmental policy, namely sustainable development. This section analyses the factors of sustainable development which had the greatest impact on the formation of the EU environmental policy. The section also identifies priorities of the EU sustainable development policy, with climate change being the top priority. The third section presents an analysis of the situation with regard to water and air quality as well as waste management in Lithuania. An overview of the major tendencies towards changes in this situation is provided, strategies of the environmental policy and the main legal acts regulating this field in Lithuania are pointed out and analysed, and description of Lithuania’s environmental management institutions and their functions is presented. The section further investigates the transposition and implementation in Lithuania (at the national level) of the EU directives related to environmental protection. Focus is placed on EU assistance for the implementation of these provisions and its absorption. At the end of the master’s thesis, conclusions and recommendations are presented concerning a more efficient implementation of the EU environmental policy in Lithuania and proper absorption of the assistance which is granted by the EU.