European Values in Environmental Governance of the Eastern Partnership Countries

Abstract

Main objective of the study is the analysis of the environmental governance in the Eastern Partnership countries. Methodology of the study includes an analysis of the European Union and the countries of the Eastern Partnership documents devoted to the implementation of the environmental governance principles. The study clarifies the concepts of "governance", "environmental governance", "European environmental governance". The main principles and values of the European environmental governance are determined. The environmental vector of the Eastern Partnership and measures that promote the implementation of environmental governance, in particular the Flagship initiative of the Eastern Partnership on Effective Environmental Governance (2009) and the Ministerial Declaration on Environmental Cooperation and Climate Change (2016) have been analyzed. The results of the study show the role of the European Union in improving governance and conducting effective reforms in the Eastern Partnership countries, including the implementation in the environmental policy such European values as democracy, rule of law, engagement, transparency, impact assessment. It has concluded that during 2009–2017, there was a certain progress in the implementation of environmental governance in Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, but still there are many problems on this way. Ukraine, the first one among the Eastern Partnership countries, has developed a "soft" instrument for implementing the principles of good environmental governance, which has been put in the "Roadmap for the implementation of the provisions of the Luxembourg Declaration" (2017). This document is currently under development. The significance of the study is in the determining the key role of the European values in the implementation of environmental governance and proposal for their wider inclusion not only in this document, but in practices in Ukraine.