TWReferenceNET

1. Nomos + Physis TWReferenceNET 2nd Annual meeting Athens, 30-31 January 2006 Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece Dr. Petros Patronos / Dr. Vivi Roumeliotou

2. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [1] • No specific legislation for protection of transitional waters as such • Legal protection of transitional waters mainly based on legislation regarding nature conservation/ management of protected areas and water management • General normative framework of Greek legal order concerning environmental protection applies also to transitional waters

3. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [2] • Greek Constitution, Art. 24: general duty of State to protect the (natural) environment; right of citizens to a healthy environment; principle of prevention (and precaution); sustainability principle • Greek Constitution, Art.5A: right of citizens to information, including environmental information.

4. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [3] Nature Management: • Greek nature legislation contains: • Rules of general application concerning the management of protected areas, including transposition of Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC; • Ratifiedrelevant international conventions; • Rules of specific application (JMDs) to significant coastal wetlands, commonly containing transitional waters

5. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [4] Nature Management: • Framework Law 1650/1986 for environmental protection lays down guiding rules for nature conservation and management of protected areas • Types of protected areas: “absolute nature protection areas”, “nature protection areas”, “national parks”, “protected natural formations” and “eco-development areas”

6. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [5] Nature Management: • Protected areas established by means of Presidential Decrees, based on Special Environmental Studies • Followed by Regulations for the administration and operation of the protected areas • A Management Plan to be issued for each protected area complemented with Action Plans • Management Bodies are to be established for protected areas

7. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [6] Nature Management: • Law 2742/1999 regulates administration and management of protected areas • By means of Presidential Decrees, Management Bodies to be established as private legal persons – done for two protected areas up to now • By 2002 amendment, 25 such management bodies have been established for protected areas, not on the basis of Presidential Decrees, but of Joint Ministerial Decisions - quicker and more flexible process

8. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [7] Nature Management: • Boards of Management Bodies: 7-11 members, representing competent Ministries, relevant Region, Prefecture and Municipality, social and professional groups, expert scientists, and NGOs. Term of office:3 years, renewable • Under certain conditions, other entities can also run the administration and management of protected areas in the absence of Management Bodies

9. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [8] Nature Management: • JMD 33318/3028/1998 transposes the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC in the Greek legal order • Two types of sites to be included in the NATURA 2000 network, Special Protection Areas (SPAs) according to Directive 79/409/EEC and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to be designated • Currently, the national list of Greece consists of 268 sites, 52 SPAs and 234 future SACs

10. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [9] Nature Management: • Assessment of projects’ impacts on protected areas is carried out under JMDs that transpose Directive 85/337/EEC as amended • EIA process to be undertaken for any projects likely to have significant effects on the sites • Competence for approving the environmental impacts statements for projects carried out within sites of the national list belongs to the Minister of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works

11. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [10] Nature Management: • Ramsar Convention ratified by Legislative Decree 191/20-11-1974 and Law 1950/1991 • Currently, 10 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, most of which comprising lagoons and deltas • Since 1990, JMDs of limited duration issued for almost all of the Ramsar sites, defining the zoning and the terms, conditions and prohibitions on activities and works

12. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [11] Nature Management: • Preliminary Management Schemes for almost all Ramsar sites have also been set up through Specific Agreements signed jointly by the Ministers for the Environment and Agriculture, the Administrative Regions and local authorities • Law 2204/1994 ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity. Sectoral biodiversity integration is, however, still lacking and commitments of national funds for biodiversity conservation are far from satisfactory

13. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [12] Water Management: • Law 3199/2003 is the basic instrument of legal transposition of the WFD 2000/60/EC in the Greek legal order. It includes in its scope protection and management of transitional waters • It establishes: an interministerial National Waters Committee; a multi-stakeholder National Waters Council; a Central Water Agency at the Ministry of Environment; Regional Water Directorates for the protection and management of the River Basins; multi-stakeholder Regional Water Councils for the River Basins

14. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [13] Water Management: • Regional Management Plans containing, amongst other, Programmes of Measures and Programmes of Monitoring for the River Basins to be elaborated • New legal framework not yet fully developed and applied. Thus, provisions of the former basic water law 1739/1987 that regulate specific issues still valid

15. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [14] Other EC water legislation: • 1999/2002 Joint Ministerial Decision designating certain coastal areas in Greece, including transitional waters, as “sensitive”, according to the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 91/271/EECand thus protecting them from urban wastewater pollution and eutrophication. • 1986 Joint Ministerial Decision specifying requirements and standards laid down in various water Directives, among which the Shellfish Waters Directive 79/923/EEC

16. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [15] Interim Conclusions: • Gaps still exist in the designation of protected areas and several problems hinder the effective functioning of management bodies thereof • Effective control of the application of environmental law, particularly as regards protected areas and integrated water management, is still missing

17. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [16] Interim Conclusions: • Were specific regulation on transitional waters to be adopted, it should be based on lessons already learned in related fields (nature conservation, water management) • Specific provisions on protected transitional waters could be incorporated in already existing basic legal acts for environmental protection, if the science of applied ecology identifies significant respective gaps in the related legislation

18. Nomos + Physis Legal Protection of Transitional Waters in Greece [17] Interim Conclusions: • If that is not the case, guidelines on the protection and management of transitional waters should be developed • These guidelines should be taken into account both by the Management Bodies of protected areas and by the Administrative Organs that are responsible for the implementation of the WFD