COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review Country Report - AUSTRIA Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and how to combine efforts to deliver better results
Inhoudsopgave van deze pagina:
Council of the European Union
Brussels, 6 February 2017 (OR. en)
5967/17 ADD 2
ENV 103 ECOFIN 70 SOC 68 COMPET 74 POLGEN 9 CONSOM 37
COVER NOTE
From: Secretary-General of the European Commission, signed by Mr Jordi AYET PUIGARNAU, Director
date of receipt: 6 February 2017
To: Mr Jeppe TRANHOLM-MIKKELSEN, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union
No. Cion doc.: SWD(2017) 33 final
Subject: COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
The EU Environmental Implementation Review
Country Report - AUSTRIA
Accompanying the document
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and
how to combine efforts to deliver better results
Delegations will find attached document SWD(2017) 33 final.
Encl.: SWD(2017) 33 final
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 3.2.2017 SWD(2017) 33 final
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
The EU Environmental Implementation Review
Country Report - AUSTRIA
Accompanying the document
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and how to
combine efforts to deliver better results
{SWD(2017) 34 - 60 final}
Austria 2
This report has been written by the staff of the Directorate-General for Environment, European
Commission. Any comments are welcome to the following e-mail address: ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu
More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu).
Photographs: p.11 – ©bluejayphoto/iStock; p.12 – ©LIFE06 NAT/A/000127/AKL8-Tichy; p.15 – ©Philartphace/iStock; p.18 – ©Noppasin Wongchum/iStock; p.23 – ©Marcus Lindstrom/iStock
For reproduction or use of these photos, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder.
©European Union, 2017
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
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Table of Content
Executive summary .......................................................................................................................... 4
Part I: Thematic Areas ...................................................................................................................... 5
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1.Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and competitive low-carbon economy .................................................................................................................................. 5
Developing a circular economy and improving resource efficiency ..................................................... 5
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 7
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2.Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital ............................................................ 9
Nature and Biodiversity ......................................................................................................................... 9
Estimating Natural Capital................................................................................................................... 11
Green Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................... 12
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 12
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3.Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life .......................................................................... 14
Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 16
Enhancing the sustainability of cities .................................................................................................. 17
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 18
Part II: Enabling Framework: Implementation Tools ..................................................................... 19
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4.Market based instruments and investment .............................................................................. 19
Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 19
Green Public Procurement .................................................................................................................. 20
Investments: the contribution of EU funds ......................................................................................... 21
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5.Effective governance and knowledge ........................................................................................ 23
Effective governance within central, regional and local government ................................................. 23
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 24
Public participation and access to justice ........................................................................................... 25
Access to information, knowledge and evidence ................................................................................ 26
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Executive summary
About the Environmental Implementation Review Waste management is based on high recycling rates and
In May 2016, the Commission launched the low landfill, although waste generation is still high. In a Environmental Implementation Review (EIR), a two-year range of policy areas (circular economy, green cycle of analysis, dialogue and collaboration to improve infrastructure) Austria has developed modern the implementation of existing EU environmental policy overarching approaches (Master Plan Green Jobs, natural and legislation 1 . As a first step, the Commission drafted capital accounting) to implement environmental 28 reports describing the main challenges and objectives.
opportunities on environmental implementation for each Main Challenges
Member State. These reports are meant to stimulate a
positive debate both on shared environmental challenges The main challenges Austria faces with regard to for the EU, as well as on the most effective ways to implementing EU environmental policy and law are:
address the key implementation gaps. The reports rely on Improving the designation and protection of Natura the detailed sectoral implementation reports collected or 2000 sites. issued by the Commission under specific environmental Reducing nitrogen oxide emissions, in particular in legislation as well as the 2015 State of the Environment urban areas.
Report and other reports by the European Environment
Agency. These reports will not replace the specific Main Opportunities
instruments to ensure compliance with the EU legal
obligations. Austria could perform better on issues where a sound knowledge base and good practices already exist. This
The reports will broadly follow the outline of the 7th applies in particular to:
Environmental Action Programme 2 and refer to the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable development and related Further development of the natural capital account Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 to the extent to approach.
which they reflect the existing obligations and policy
objectives of EU environmental law 4 . Points of excellence
The main challenges have been selected by taking into Where Austria leads in environmental implementation, it account factors such as the importance or the gravity of could share its innovative approaches more widely the environmental implementation issue in the light of among other countries. Concrete examples include:
the impact on the quality of life of the citizens, the Austria has established a specific platform focusing distance to target, and financial implications. on Green Public Procurement, including a help-desk
The reports accompany the Communication "The EU for procurement officers to exchange experiences.
Environmental Implementation Review 2016: Common Austria has developed successful good practices in challenges and how to combine efforts to deliver better the field of eco-innovation and the circular economy, results", which identifies challenges that are common to such as the 'Buy Aware' initiative. several Member States, provides preliminary conclusions Austria's Green Infrastructure strategy promotes the on possible root causes of implementation gaps and systematic integration of natural ecosystems and proposes joint actions to deliver better results. It also their services into spatial planning.
groups in its Annex the actions proposed in each country report to improve implementation at national level.
General profile
Austria's performance in terms of environmental protection is good. Water quality is generally good.
1 Communication "Delivering the benefits of EU environmental policies through a regular Environmental Implementation Review"
( COM/2016/ 316 final ). 2 Decision No. 1386/2013/EU of 20 November 2013 on a General Union
Environmental Action Programme to 2020 " Living well, within the limits of our planet ".
3 United Nations, 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals
4 This EIR report does not cover climate change, chemicals and energy.
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Part I: Thematic Areas
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1.Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and
competitive low-carbon economy
Developing a circular economy and improving scenario productivity of resources is expected to grow at
resource efficiency an annual rate of 1.2%, additional efforts will be needed to meet the target established in the Action Plan.
The 2015 Circular Economy Package emphasizes the need
to move towards a lifecycle-driven ‘circular’ economy, Figure 1: Resource productivity 2003-15
7
with a cascading use of resources and residual waste that is close to zero. This can be facilitated by the development of, and access to, innovative financial instruments and funding for eco-innovation.
SDG 8 invites countries to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. SDG 9 highlights the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. SDG 12 encourages countries to achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources by 2030.
Measures towards a circular economy In addition, the recently developed RESET2020 initiative,
Transforming our economies from linear to circular offers aiming at integrating resource efficiency in the areas of an opportunity to reinvent them and make them more environmental technologies and sustainable production sustainable and competitive. This will stimulate and consumption, is one of the first initiatives that investments and bring both short and long-term benefits explicitly put circular economy principles in the centre.
for the economy, environment and citizens alike 5 . Concerning the opportunities within Austria, several
Austria is below average in the EU in terms of resource regional development initiatives are founded around the productivity (how efficiently the economy uses material principles of a circular economy and energy autonomy. resources to produce wealth), with 1.65 EUR/kg (EU These include, among others, the Styrian Volcano Land average is 2) in 2015 6 . This might be explained by the (www.vulkanland.at), the European Centre for high income and an export-orientated manufacturing Renewable Energy in Güssing
8 , the BioRegion
sector in Austria. Figure 1 shows a modest but stable Mühlviertel
9 or the Energy Vision Murau 10 .
increase in resource productivity since 2011. Austria has many good practices in the field of eco
In Austria, to date, no overarching circular economy innovation and circular economy. One is “Bewusst policy programme exists. A number of measures and kaufen”: the initiative "Buy Aware" is the first web portal initiatives have been set up by different government for sustainable consumption in Austria. It aims to bodies in recent years relating to eco-innovation and – to increase consumer awareness of sustainable products a limited extent – to circular economy. As well as relevant and provides extensive information on options for Ministries other organisations, such as the Austrian conscious, sustainable consumption.
Chamber of Commerce, play an important role in (co The number of employees in the environmental goods
)financing eco-innovation-related initiatives. and services sector has risen slightly from 167,665 full
In 2012, Austria adopted a resource efficiency Action Plan time equivalents (FTE) in 2008 to around 182,534 FTE in to improve the overall resource efficiency by 50 % 2013
11 . The Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture,
compared to 2008, by 2020. Since in a business-as-usual 7 Eurostat, Resource productivity , accessed October 2016
8 Güssing Renwable Energy Centre 9 Bioregion Mühlviertel
5 European Commission, 2015. Proposed Circular Economy Package 10 Energy Vision Murau
6 Eurostat, Resource productivity , accessed October 2016 11 Eurostat, Employment in the environmental goods and services
Austria 6
Forestry, Environment and Water Management 31% to design products that are easier to maintain, repair
(BMLFUW) considers that every 20th job is in the or reuse and 30% were able to sell their scrap material to environment sector and that 11% of the GDP are another company. generated by this sector. Between 2008 and 2011 the
environmental industry showed a clear positive trend as According to Eurobarometer
17 , the resource efficiency
regards the development of green jobs. While in the actions undertaken allowed the reduction of production economy at large employment increased by only 0.4%, costs in 35% of Austrian SMEs.
employment in the environment sector saw a notable SMEs provide more than two thirds of jobs and over 60% plus with a growth of 2.1%. During the same period the of total value added. The Eurobarometer shows that 34% turnover in the environment sector rose by 5.1%, thus of the SMEs in Austria have one or more full time reaching EUR 2.6 billion. employee working in a green job at least some of the
In 2010, Austria set up a master plan on "green jobs" 12 time. Austria has an average number of 1.6 full time with the aim of increasing the number of employees in green employees per SME.
the environmental sector by 100,000 until 2020. The
master plan is supported by the specific online portal Eco-innovation
green-jobs 13 and a targeted qualification initiative With a total score of 108 in the overall Eco-Innovation klimaaktiv Bildungskoordination 14 . Scoreboard (Eco-IS) 2015, Austria ranked eighth in the list
In general, Austria offers a wide range of measures to of EU countries, located between France and Spain and support business in improving its resource efficiency, slightly above the EU average as shown in Figure 2. ranging from voluntary measures to regulatory measures. Compared with the Eco-IS used in the last country profile An analysis 15 shows that Austria offers nine out of ten from 2013, Austria thus improved its ranking by one assessed support activities so that it belongs to the ten place.
best performing Member States. The following initiative Figure 2: Eco-Innovation Index 2015 (EU=100) 18
could be mentioned as successful examples: As regards providing targeted resource efficiency information and advice to companies the ÖKOPROFIT programme which was launched in 1991 and which aims to help companies to implement environmental measures, thereby reducing industrial emissions, decreasing the operational costs for companies and strengthening the partnership between public agencies, companies and experts.
SME and resource efficiency
In the Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, resource
efficiency and green markets" 16 it is shown that 63% of
Austrian's SMEs have invested up to 5% of their annual turnover in their resource efficiency actions (EU28 average 50%), 43% of them are currently offering green products and services, 67% took measures to save energy (EU28 average 59%), 61% to minimise waste (EU28 average 60%), 39% to save water (EU28 average 44%), and 57% to save materials (EU28 average 54%). From a circular economy perspective, 47% took measures to recycle by reusing material or waste within the company,
12 Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und
Wasserwirtschaft, 2010. Masterplan "green jobs"
13 Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und
Wasserwirtschaft: Karriereportal green jobs :
14 Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Regarding drivers of eco-innovation activities, a survey
Wasserwirtschaft: klimaaktiv Bildungskoordination conducted among 200 Austrian eco-innovative 15 Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers, Mandy Hinzmann, Emma Watkins, Patrick entrepreneurs revealed the most important driving
ten Brink, Leonidas Milios and Sebastien Soleille, 2016. A framework for Member States to support business in improving its resource
efficiency , 2015, p. 59 17 European Commission, 2015. Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, 16 European Commission, 2015. Flash 426 Eurobarometer "SMEs, resource efficiency and green markets"
resource efficiency and green markets" 18 Eco-innovation Observatory : Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2015
Austria 7
forces and framework conditions for business actors recoverable waste.
(Eurobarometer, 2011). According to this survey, the key SDG 12 invites countries to substantially reduce waste drivers for high eco-innovation activity in Austria are the generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and availability of suitable business partners, potential high reuse, by 2030. energy prices in the future, expected limitations regarding access to raw materials, technological and The EU's approach to waste management is based on the management skills available within the companies, and "waste hierarchy" which sets out an order of priority access to relevant knowledge 19 . when shaping waste policy and managing waste at the
Regarding general driving forces in support of ecooperational level: prevention, (preparing for) reuse, innovation in Austria, several issues have already been recycling, recovery and, as the least preferred option, highlighted in previous country reports of the Ecodisposal (which includes landfilling and incineration Innovation Observatory (EIO), which continue to have without energy recovery). The progress towards reaching
high relevance: recycling targets and the adoption of adequate WMP/WPP 20 should be the key items to measure the
− Well-established, fast-growing and innovative performance of Member States. This section focuses on environmental technologies sector. management of municipal waste for which EU law sets
− Significant increase in funding in the area of mandatory recycling targets.
company-related research and technology
development. Figure 3: Municipal waste by treatment in Austria 2007-
However, actors in Austria also face a number of 14
21
important barriers, several of which are closely connected to the structure of the Austrian economy and business sectors, such as the following:
− SME-type structure of the industry and notably the limited financial and human resources in SMEs, and difficult trade-offs due to scarce resources either in R&D or in production and planning.
− weak domestic eco-industry market.
− perception of Austrian business representatives that investments into new, eco-innovative technologies represent a disproportionate risk.
Austria has 286 organisations registered for EMAS, which represents 7% of all registered organisations.
Concerning the EU Eco-label, Austria has 187 licenses, which makes Austria the fifth Member State in terms of
Eco-label licenses.
The Minister of Environment has launched the initiative Municipal waste 22 generation in Austria has been
“Best of Austria” in 2016 to promote products and ideas decreasing over the years. However, waste generation is from Austrian companies, including environmental still relatively high compared to the EU average (566 technologies. kg/y/inhabitant compared to around 474 kg on EU
Waste management average).
Austria is among the top performers in the EU with
Turning waste into a resource requires: regard to waste management. Figure 3 depicts the − Full implementation of Union waste legislation, municipal waste by treatment in Austria in terms of kg
which includes the waste hierarchy; the need to per capita. What can be seen from the statistics is that ensure separate collection of waste; the landfill the rate of incineration slightly increased, while diversion targets etc. composting rates slightly decreased.
− Reducing per capita waste generation and waste generation in absolute terms.
− Limiting energy recovery to non-recyclable materials 20 Waste Management Plans/Waste Prevention Programmes
and phasing out landfilling of recyclable or 21 Eurostat, Municipal waste and treatment, by type of treatment
22 Municipal waste consists of waste collected by or on behalf of 19 IHS, 2014. Das Potenzial von Öko-Innovationen für den Standort municipal authorities, or directly by the private sector (business or
Österreich . Institut für Höhere Studien (IHS), Wien. private non-profit institutions) not on behalf of municipalities.
Austria 8
Figure 4 shows that Austria has already met all the EU turnover of the waste sector by over EUR 350 million 26 . recycling targets 23 , including packaging waste recycling.
The 2014 recycling rate of municipal waste was relatively Suggested action
high (58% of which 32% is composting) and was well • Introduce new policy instruments, including economic above EU level (44%). The landfilling rate in Austria is instruments, to promote prevention, make reuse and very low (4%) and far below the EU average (28%). recycling more economically attractive.
Austria has complied with both the 2006 and the 2009 • Shift reusable and recyclable waste away from landfill diversion targets. In 2009 Austria had already a incineration by gradually phasing out subsidies to ban on landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste in incineration.
place.
Figure 4: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2007-14 24
In the light of the on-going review of the recycling targets
and landfill restrictions for municipal waste 25 , additional
efforts will be needed to meet the recycling target of 65% for 2030. Therefore Austria should now focus on prevention and diverting waste from incineration to recycling.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems are in place for different waste streams. However, some MS are covering more waste streams than Austria. Incentive systems to favour prevention and participation in separate collection schemes (Pay as you throw-system,
PAYT systems) are in place but don’t cover the whole country.
Moving towards the targets of the Roadmap on resource efficiency which outlines how we can transform Europe's economy into a sustainable one by 2050, could create over 3400 additional jobs and increase the annual
23 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50% recycling of municipal waste.
24 Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste , accessed October 2016
25 European Union, Proposal for a Directive on the landfill of waste, 26 European Commission, Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe,
COM/2015/0594 & European Union, Proposal for a Directive COM/2011/571 , which outlines how we can transform Europe's amending Directive 2008/98/EC i on waste, COM/2015/0595 economy into a sustainable one by 2050.
Austria 9
•
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2.Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital
Nature and Biodiversity variations amongst the 9 Austrian regions in the share of
The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to halt the loss of land covered by Natura 2000, two of the regions only having coverages around 6%.
biodiversity in the EU by 2020, restore ecosystems and
their services in so far as feasible, and step up efforts to The latest EU-wide assessment of the SCIs part of the avert global biodiversity loss. The EU Birds and Habitats Natura 2000 network shows that there are insufficiencies
Directives aim at achieving favourable conservation in designation 28 as shown in Figure 5 29 . This is subject to
status of protected species and habitats. an infringement procedure.
SDG 14 requires countries to conserve and sustainably Figure 5: Sufficiency assessment of SCI networks in use the oceans, seas and marine resources, while SDG 15 Austria based on the situation until December 2013 requires countries to protect, restore and promote the (%) 30
sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
The 1992 EU Habitats Directive and the 1979 Birds
Directive are the cornerstone of the European legislation aimed at the conservation of the EU's wildlife. Natura
2000, the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world, is the key instrument to achieve and implement the Directives' objectives to ensure the longterm protection, conservation and survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats and the ecosystems they underpin.
The adequate designation of protected sites as Special
Ares of Conservation (SAC) under the Habitats Directive and as Special Protection Areas (SPA) under the Birds
Directive is a key milestone towards meeting the objectives of the Directives. The results of Habitats
Directive Article 17 and Birds Directive Article 12 reports and the progress towards adequate Sites of Community
Importance (SCI)-SPA and SAC designation 27 both in land Austria is largely compliant with the formal (Special Areas and at sea, should be the key items to measure the of Conservation) SAC designation requirements that
performance of Member States. concern those SCIs that have been proposed more than 6 years ago. Many of the site-level SAC designation acts,
Austria has an exceptionally diversified landscape, while formally indicating conservation objectives and climate and hence biodiversity. In Austria, the Alpine, the measures, are unlikely to provide a sufficient level of Continental and the Pannonian biogeographic regions protection against site deterioration. This is notably converge. Agriculture and forestry areas account for because they include an exemption of all "contemporary about 80% of the country’s territory. agricultural and forestry practises" from the site
By early 2016, 15.1 % of the Austrian national territory is
covered by Natura 2000 (EU average 18.1 %), with Birds 28 For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the
Directive Special Protection Areas (SPAs) covering 10.9 % species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to date.
(EU average 12.3 %) and Habitats Directive Sites of This is expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for which
Community Importance (SCIs) covering 12.1% (EU further areas need to be designated in order to complete the
average 13.8 %). However, there are substantial network in that country. The current data , which were assessed in
2014-2015, reflect the situation up until December 2013. 29 The percentages in Figure 5 refer to percentages of the total number
of assessments (one assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a
27 Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) are designated pursuant to the given biographical region with the Member State); if a habitat type or
Habitats Directive whereas Special Areas of Protection (SPAs) are a species occurs in more than 1 Biogeographic region within a given designated pursuant to the Birds Directive; figures of coverage do Member State, there will be as many individual assessments as there not add up due to the fact that some SCIs and SPAs overlap. Special are Biogeographic regions with an occurrence of that species or Areas of Conservation (SACs) means a SCI designated by the Member habitat in this Member State.
States. 30 European Commission, internal assessment.
Austria 10
protection requirements. In the last years, there is between 2007and 2013, the trend for species improved. increasingly strong evidence that this exemption is
leading towards a widespread (and perhaps systematic) Figure 6: Conservation status of habitats and species in deterioration of many habitats and decline of many Austria in 2007/2013 (%)
36
species populations for which sites have initially been designated.
The level of nature-related complaints and infringement cases is overall high in Austria, which might partially be explained by the absence of a federal legislation
transposing the EU Nature directives 31 . Therefore, each
of the nine Länder has a different legal basis for implementing the EU nature directives. In addition to this, the high number of complaints can be also explained by the insufficient access to justice. For example, citizens and NGOs turn to the Commission because no legal redress is available in Austria apart from EIA and IPPC procedures.
The Austrian report under Article 12 Birds Directive 32 and
Article 17 Habitats Directive 33 confirm that species and
habitats depending on agricultural land use are those that are suffering the most serious declines.
This is primarily due to widespread agricultural land use intensification in the more favoured areas, but land abandonment is an increasing issue in higher alpine
regions, in particular for alpine semi-natural grassland Figure 7 shows that as far as birds are concerned, 70% of habitats and associated species. the breeding species showed short-term increasing or
According to the latest report on the conservation status stable population trends (for wintering species this figure of habitats and species covered by the Habitats Directive, was 68%).
13.9% of the habitats' biogeographic assessments were Figure 7: Short-term population trend of breeding and favourable in 2013 (EU 27: 16 %). On the other hand, 41 wintering bird species in Austria in 2012 (%) 37 % are considered to be unfavourable–inadequate 34
(EU27: 47%) and 39 % are unfavourable – bad (EU27:
30%). As for the species, 15.9 % of the assessments were favourable in 2013 (EU 27: 23%) 47 % at unfavourableinadequate (EU27: 42%) and 34% unfavourable-bad
status (EU27: 18%). This is depicted in Figure 6 35 . Only
9.8% and 3% of the unfavourable assessments respectively for species and habitats were showing a positive trend in 2013. While the unfavourable assessments remained the same with regard to habitats
31 According to the Austrian Constitution nature protection falls within
the competence of the provinces.
32 Article 12 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to report
about the progress made with the implementation of the Birds
Directive. Austria is the only EU member State where a population
33 The core of the ‘Article 17’ report is the assessment of conservation of large carnivore species became extinct since EU
status of the habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive.
34 accession of the country (Central Alpine brown bear Conservation status is assessed using a standard methodology as
being either ‘favourable’, ‘unfavourable-inadequate’ and ‘unfavourable-bad’, based on four parameters as defined in Article 1 36 These figures show the percentage of biogeographical assessments in of the Habitats Directive. each category of conservation status for habitats and species (one
35 Please note that a direct comparison between 2007 and 2013 data is assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a given biographical
complicated by the fact that Bulgaria and Romania were not covered region with the Member State), respectively. The information is by the 2007 reporting cycle, that the ‘unknown’ assessments have based on Article 17 of the Habitats Directive reporting - national strongly diminished particularly for species, and that some reported summary of Austria changes are not genuine as they result from improved data / 37 Article 12 of the Birds Directive reporting - national summary of monitoring methods. Austria
Austria 11
population). Whereas populations of large carnivores are forests. overall increasing in Europe, no such increase currently in
observed in Austria. Media reports suggest that high Suggested action
levels of illegal poaching are the main driver behind this • Complete the SAC designation process and put in place phenomenon. clearly defined conservation objectives and the
The 5 th national report to the Convention on Biological necessary conservation measures for the sites and
Diversity (CBD) 38 indicates a net deterioration of 7–8% provide adequate resources for their implementation for habitat types and 2–3% for species, compared to the in order to maintain/restore species and habitats of previous reporting period covering 2001-2006. The community interest to a favourable conservation status conservation status of habitats and species is less across their natural range. favourable in the continental than in the Alpine region. • Develop and promote smart and streamlined Amongst all ecosystem types in Austria freshwater, mire implementation approaches, in particular as regards
and grassland ecosystems are doing worst. site and species permitting procedures, ensuring the necessary knowledge and data availability.
Major threats to biodiversity include agricultural
intensification and land abandonment, increased sealing Estimating Natural Capital of land caused by housing and infrastructure The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 calls on the Member development with the related loss and fragmentation of States to map and asses the state of ecosystems and habitats; afforestation and dead wood removal; their services in their national territory by 2014, assess pollution, hydrological modifications, invasive alien the economic value of such services, and promote the species and climate change. integration of these values into accounting and reporting
systems at EU and national level by 2020.
MAES related activities in Austria focused on the development of biodiversity indicators. The mapping and
assessing of ecosystems and their services 40 is also part
of the Austrian Strategy on Biological Diversity 2020+
published in 2014 41 . Further activities regarding mapping
and assessing of ecosystems and their services are planned.
A 2013 report on the situation and the significance of biological diversity maps out the different types of
ecosystems and evaluated their conditions. 42
Work on natural capital accounting is at an early stage of
Compared to other Member States of similar size, Austria development 43 with a number of initiatives for the
has been very successful in obtaining LIFE-Nature improvement of the knowledge base. A nation-wide funding, in particular for Alpine river restoration projects. mapping of ecosystems is underway with a spatial
Austrian regional river administrations are well suited for resolution of 10 x 10 metres 44 . An inventory of ecosystem
preparing and implementing such projects, successfully services in agricultural context, taking into account combining nature conservation and flood protection. human well-being and economic input, was published in
3.9 million hectare (46%) of the total area in Austria are 2011
45 followed by an inventory of ecosystem services of
forest land 39 (0.5 ha per capita). The forest area is forests in 2015
46 . A 2011 study 47 supplied the first
steadily increasing by some 2000 ha a year depending on experience with monetary assessments of ecosystem
afforestation of abandoned agricultural land. Coniferous
forests of mixed and/or pure stands of spruce, fir, pine, 40 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food,
larch, beach, maple, oak, alder, etc. find good growing clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 41 Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und
conditions. 80% (3.1 million hectare) serve as commercial Wasserwirtschaft, 2014. Biodiversitäts-Strategie Österreich 2020+
forests, 20% are protected forests. 42 Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Wasser und
Umweltwirtschaft, 2013. Zustand und Bedeutung der biologischen
The main tree species are conifers (70%, predominantly Vielfalt in Österreich . spruce; and 30% broad-leaved species (mainly beech). 43 Austria: 5 th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity :
44
Slightly above a half (53%) is small private forests (<200 Peterseil, 2014. Karte der Habitattypen in Österreich 45
ha), 32% private estates (>200 ha), and 15% federal Götzl, M. et al., 2011. Ökosystemleistungen und Landwirtschaft. Erstellung eines Inventars für Österreich.
46
Götzl, M. et al, 2015. Ökosystemleistungen des Waldes. Erstellung eines Inventars für Österreich
38 Austria: 5 th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity 47 Getzner et al., 2011.: Fließstrecken der Mur – Ermittlung der
39 FAO Forest harvesting and environment in Austria Ökosystemleistungen – Endbericht.
Austria 12
services, along stretches of the river Mur in Styria. A 2015 natural river dynamics and new land-use practices; the report examined the potential, requirements and risks of restoration of the floodplain habitats of the Traisen and
the economic valuation of ecosystem services 48 . An the Ybbs rivers through Life+ projects; and other projects.
assessment and economic valuation of five ecosystem services were carried out by the Austrian Federal
Forests 49 .
Suggested action
• Provide government support to further improve knowledge on the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, including valuation and development of natural capital accounting systems.
Green Infrastructure
The EU strategy on green infrastructure 50 promotes the
incorporation of green infrastructure into related plans and programmes to help overcome fragmentation of habitats and preserve or restore ecological connectivity, enhance ecosystem resilience and thereby ensure the continued provision of ecosystem services.
Green Infrastructure provides ecological, economic and social benefits through natural solutions. It helps to understand the value of the benefits that nature provides to human society and to mobilise investments to sustain and enhance them.
The Austrian Biodiversity Strategy 2020+ 51 includes
actions to strengthen biotope connectivity. Austria has specific targets for integrating biodiversity and ecosystem
services in spatial planning 52 , with measures such as
incorporating ecological infrastructure in spatial planning,
consideration of functional connectivity and the habitat The Austrian League for Nature Conservation network when establishing compensating areas, increase (Naturschutzbund) coordinates land purchase, of grasslands in urban areas, abandoned buildings and management and public awareness raising activities in the provision of features that promote biodiversity in the 1,300km that Austria contributes to the European newly established green areas, and the preservation of Green Belt
53 .
un-fragmented areas and migration corridors. Most
activities are executed at the local or federal province Soil protection
level and are funded by a variety of sources, including EU The EU Soil Thematic Strategy highlights the need to support. ensure a sustainable use of soils. This requires the
Green Infrastructure projects in Austria include crossprevention of further soil degradation and the border spatial planning and habitat management preservation of its functions, as well as the restoration of measures in the Alps-Carpathians passage aimed at degraded soils. The 2011 Road Map for Resourcecreating and preserving a coherent 120-km wide Efficient Europe, part of Europe 2020 Strategy provides ecological corridor from the Alps to the Carpathians; the that by 2020, EU policies take into account their direct
restoration of the Lower Morava Floodplains to nearand indirect impact on land use in the EU and globally, and the rate of land take is on track with an aim to
achieve no net land take by 2050.
48 Schwaiger, E. Berthold et al, 2015. Wirtschaftliche Bedeutung von
Ökosystemleistungen. Monetäre Bewertung: Risiken und Potenziale. SDG 15 requires countries to combat desertification,
Umweltbundesamt Report restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by 49 Österreichische Bundesforste, 2016: Werte der Natur – Ermittlung, desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve
Bewertung, Ausblick. Fachjournal der NaturraummanagerInnen, a land-degradation-neutral world by 2030.
Natur. Raum .Management, Nr. 28. 50 European Union, Green Infrastructure — Enhancing Europe’s Natural
Capital, COM/2013/0249
51 Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und 53 The European Green Belt is a cross-border initiative to protect, restore
Wasserwirtschaft, 2014. Biodiversitäts-Strategie Österreich 2020+ and connect high-value natural and cultural landscapes along the line
52 5th National Report to the CBD of the former Iron Curtain in Europe.
Austria 13
Soil is an important resource for life and the economy. It Figure 8 shows the different land cover types in Austria in provides key ecosystem services including the provision 2012. of food, fibre and biomass for renewable energy, carbon
sequestration, water purification and flood regulation, Figure 8: Land Cover types in Austria 2012
59
the provision of raw and building material. Soil is a finite and extremely fragile resource and increasingly degrading in the EU. Land taken by urban development and infrastructure is highly unlikely to be reverted to its natural state; it consumes mostly agricultural land and increases fragmentation of habitats. Soil protection is indirectly addressed in existing EU policies in areas such as agriculture, water, waste, chemicals, and prevention of industrial pollution.
Artificial land cover is used for settlements, production systems and infrastructure. It may itself be split between built-up areas (buildings) and non-built-up areas (such as linear transport networks and associated areas).
Built-up land in Austria is regularly monitored based on cadastre data. In 2015, built-up land amounted to 6.6 % of the national area. The actually high annual land take rate is currently slightly decreasing, namely from 8,150 hectare in the period from 2009 to 2012 to 5,916 hectare
in the period from 2012 to 2015 54 .
The annual land take rate (growth of artificial areas) as provided by CORINE Land Cover was 0.21% in Austria over the period 2006-12, below the EU average (0.41%).
It represented 947.5 hectares per year 55 .
The soil erosion rate in 2009 was 3.8 tonnes per ha per
year, some above EU28 average (2.46 tonnes) 56 . Studies
in 2012 and 2014 show similar results, but are not yet
published 57 . Soil protecting cultivation supported by the
Austrian agri-environment-programme has already led to an increased humus content in Austria’s agricultural soils
as well to a lower soil erosion rate for 3.4 t/ha/year 58 .
There are still not EU-wide datasets enabling the provision of benchmark indicators for soil organic matter decline, contaminated sites, pressures on soil biology and diffuse pollution. An updated inventory and assessment of soil protection policy instruments in Austria and other EU Member States is being performed by the EU Expert Group on Soil Protection.
54 Environment Agency Austria, Flächeninanspruchnahme
55 European Environment Agency Draft results of CORINE Land Cover
(CLC) inventory 2012; mean annual land take 2006-12 as a % of 2006 artificial land.
56 Eurostat, Soil water erosion rate , Figure 2, accessed November 2016
57 wpa, 2009: Abschätzung des Bodenabtrags in Österreich und
Integration der Daten in die INVEKOS-Datenbank. Beschreibung der Berechnungsmethode und Ergebnisse für die Jahre 2007 und 2008. wpa Beratende Ingenieure GmbH, Wien; and: wpa, 2010: Abschätzung des Bodenabtrags in Österreich. Ergänzende Berechnungen für das Jahr 2009. wpa Beratende Ingenieure GmbH, Wien 59 European Environment Agency. Land cover 2012 and changes country
58 AGES, 2011: Bodenschutz durch umweltgerechte Landwirtschaft , p. 9 analysis [publication forthcoming]
Austria 14
-
3.Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life
Air quality emission ceilings 62 . Insufficient reductions in emissions
for nitrogen oxides (-30 %) and a slight increase of
The EU Clean Air Policy and legislation require that air ammonia emissions result in non-compliance with
quality in the Union is significantly improved, moving
closer to the WHO recommended levels. Air pollution current ceilings: these are exceeded by 47% and 2%, respectively. It should be noted that the exceedance of
and its impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity should be the current ceiling for nitrogen oxides is partly due to the
further reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding
critical loads and levels. This requires strengthening non-delivery of the Euro standards for diesel vehicles, while the exceedance of the ceiling for ammonia partly
efforts to reach full compliance with Union air quality results from the reporting of new sources of emissions
legislation and defining strategic targets and actions
beyond 2020. which were not estimated or considered at the time when the emission ceilings were set.
The EU has developed a comprehensive suite of air At the same time, air quality in Austria continues to give
quality legislation 60 , which establishes health-based
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. cause for concern. For the year 2013, the European
As part of this, Member States are also required to Environment Agency estimated that about 6 960
Figure 9: Attainment situation for PM10, NO2 and O3 in 2014
ensure that up-to-date information on ambient premature deaths were attributable to fine particulate
concentrations of different air pollutants is routinely matter 63 concentrations, 330 to ozone 64 concentration made available to the public. In addition, the National and 910 to nitrogen dioxide 65 concentrations. 66 This is
Emission Ceilings Directive provides for emission reductions at national level that should be achieved for
main pollutants. 62 The current national emission ceilings apply since 2010 ( Directive 2001/81/EC ); revised ceilings for 2020 and 2030 have been set by
The emission of several air pollutants has decreased Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of
significantly in Austria 61 . Reductions between 1990 and certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC i and
2014 for sulphur oxides (-78%), as well as volatile organic repealing Directive 2001/81/EC i. 63 Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and
compounds (-61%) ensure air emissions for these liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. pollutants are within the currently applicable national PM10 (PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5)
micrometres or less. PM is emitted from many human sources, including both combustion and non-combustion sources.
64
Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution
60 European Commission, 2016. Air Quality Standards and it is also a greenhouse gas.
61 See EIONET Central Data Repository and Air pollutant emissions data 65 NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities viewer (NEC Directive) and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising
Austria 15
due also to exceedances above the EU air quality billion/year (income adjusted, 2010), which include not
standards such as shown in Figure 9 67 . only the intrinsic value of living a full health life but also
direct costs to the economy. These direct economic costs relate to almost 2 million workdays lost each year due to sickness related to air pollution, with associated costs for employers of EUR 249 million/year (income adjusted, 2010), for healthcare of above EUR 24 million/year (income adjusted, 2010), and for agriculture (crop losses)
of EUR 82 million/year (2010) 69 .
Suggested action
• Maintain downward emissions trends of air pollutants in order to achieve full compliance with currently applicable national emission ceilings and air quality limit values - and reduce adverse air pollution impacts on health, environment and economy.
• Reduce ammonia (NH3) emissions to comply with currently applicable national emission ceilings, for example by introducing or expanding the use of lowemission agricultural techniques.
• Reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions to comply with currently applicable national emission ceilings70 and/or to reduce nitrogen dioxide (NO2) (and ozone concentrations), inter alia, by reducing transport related emissions - in particular in urban areas.
• Reduce PM10 emission and concentration, inter alia, by reducing emissions related to energy and heat generation using solid fuels, to transport and to agriculture.
Noise
For 2014, exceedances reported include those related to
limit value of annual mean concentration of nitrogen The Environmental Noise Directive provides for a dioxide (NO common approach for the avoidance, prevention and 2 ) in seven air quality zones (Oberösterreich, Vorarlberg, Tirol, Salzburg, Graz, Linz, and Wien), and reduction of harmful effects due to exposure to related to limit value of daily concentrations of environmental noise.
particulate matter (PM 10 ) in one air quality zone (Graz). Excessive noise is one of the main causes of health
Furthermore, the target values for ozone are not met in issues 71 . To alleviate this, the EU acquis sets out several several air quality zones. 68 requirements, including assessing the exposure to
The persistent breaches of air quality requirements (for environmental noise through noise mapping, ensuring
NO that information on environmental noise and its effects is 2 ), which have severe negative effects on health and environment are being followed up by the European made available to the public, and adopting action plans Commission through infringement procedures covering with a view to preventing and reducing environmental all the Member States concerned, including Austria. The noise where necessary and to preserving the acoustic aim is that adequate measures are put in place to bring environment quality where it is good.
all zones into compliance. Austrian authorities have fulfilled all their obligations
It has been estimated that the health-related external
costs from air pollution in Austria are above EUR 5 69 These figures are based on the Impact Assessment for the European
Commission Integrated Clean Air Package (2013).
70
Under the provisions of the revised National Emission Ceilings nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Directive Member States now may apply for emission inventory
66 European Environment Agency, 2016. Air Quality in Europe – 2016 adjustments. Pending evaluation of any adjustment application,
Report . (Table 10.2, please see details in this report as regards the Member States should keep emissions under close control with a underpinning methodology). view to further reductions.
67 Based on European Environment Agency, 2016 Air Quality in Europe – 71 WHO/JRC, 2011, Burden of disease from environmental noise,
2016 Report . (Figures 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1) Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), 68 See The EEA/Eionet Air Quality Portal and the related Central Data World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe , Copenhagen,
Repository Denmark
Austria 16
with regards to the Environmental Noise Directive 72 for and heavily modified and artificial water bodies and 98% the current reporting period. of groundwater 76 bodies achieve at least good chemical
Water quality and management status
77
. 98% 78 of groundwater bodies are in good quantitative status 79 .
The EU water policy and legislation require that the The main pressure on Austrian waters comes from flow impact of pressures on transitional, coastal and fresh regulation and morphological changes – 56% of surface
waters (including surface and ground waters) is
significantly reduced to achieve, maintain or enhance water bodies are affected. The next most important pressure is diffuse pollution 80 mainly from agriculture
good status of water bodies, as defined by the Water (nutrients and pesticides) but also from industry– 16% of
Framework Directive; that citizens throughout the Union
benefit from high standards for safe drinking and bathing water bodies are affected. Point sources such as Urban Waste Water Treatment Plants and industrial
water; and that the nutrient cycle (nitrogen and installations affect 1% of water bodies. Hydropower is phosphorus) is managed in a more sustainable and the main pressure relating to water abstraction. Water resource-efficient way. abstraction for irrigation is only of importance in
SDG 6 encourages countries to ensure availability and South/East Austria. Commercial and industrial sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. abstractions are substantially lower than the significance
The main overall objective of EU water policy and thresholds established and do not pose a risk for legislation is to ensure access to good quality water in achieving good ecological potential.
sufficient quantity for all Europeans. The EU water Austria has capable water management administration acquis 73 seeks to ensure good status of all water bodies and developed River Basin Management Plans for 2009 across Europe by addressing pollution sources (from e.g. that are largely in compliance with the requirements of agriculture, urban areas and industrial activities), physical the Water Framework Directive. However, the plans are and hydrological modifications to water bodies) and the not fully transparent on several aspects including the link management of risks of flooding. between monitoring and status classification, design of
programmes of measures addressing the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) are a
requirement of the Water Framework Directive and a hydromorphological pressures from hydropower and
means of achieving the protection, improvement and diffuse pollution from agriculture, and application and justification of exemptions. The measures planned are
sustainable use of the water environment across Europe.
This includes surface freshwaters such as lakes and rivers, expected to result in only slight improvement of water groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters up to one status.
nautical mile. In the context of the Nitrates Directive, Austria has
Austria has not yet provided information to the decided to apply mandatory measures on its whole
Commission from its second generation of RBMPs. territory. The 2008-2011 Nitrates Directive reporting showed an overall stable situation concerning nitrate
In its first generation of RBMPs Austria reported the concentrations; however eutrophication trends of inland
status of 7339 rivers, 62 lakes and 136 groundwater waters showed the need for further improvements 81 .
bodies. Only 44% of natural surface water bodies achieve
a good or high ecological status 74 and 26% of heavily As regards drinking water, Austria reaches very high compliance rates of 99-100 % for microbiological,
modified or artificial water bodies 75 achieve a good or
high ecological potential. Almost all surface water bodies chemical and indicator parameters laid down in the
72 The Noise Directive requires Member States to prepare and publish, every 5 years, noise maps and noise management action plans for 76 For groundwater, a precautionary approach has been taken that
agglomerations with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and for major comprises a prohibition on direct discharges to groundwater, and a roads, railways and airports. requirement to monitor groundwater bodies.
73 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC); the Urban 77 Good chemical status is defined in the Water Framework Directive
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) concerning referring to compliance with all the quality standards established for discharges of municipal and some industrial waste waters; the chemical substances at European level. Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) concerning potable water 78 According to the AT authorities the quality has improved. quality; the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) concerning 79 More information on the implementation status and more specific
water resources management; the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) recommendations can be found at European Commission, Water and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) Framework Directive Implementation Reports
74 Good ecological status is defined in the Water Framework Directive 80 Diffuse pollution comes from widespread activities with no one
referring to the quality of the biological community, the hydrological discrete source, e.g. acid rain, pesticides, urban run-off, etc. characteristics and the chemical characteristics. 81 Commission Staff working Document accompanying the on the
75 Many European river basins and waters have been altered by human implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC i concerning the
activities, such as land drainage, dredging, flood protection, water protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from abstraction and inter-basin water transfer, building of dams to create agricultural sources based on Member State reports for the period reservoirs and the digging of new canals for navigation purposes. 2008-2011, SWD/2013/0405 .
Austria 17
Drinking Water Directive 82 . • Develop and implement an effective Programme of
As shown in Figure 10, in 2015 in Austria, out of 265 Measures clearly focusing on the main pressures bathing waters, 90.2 % were of excellent quality, 9.1% of (hydromorphology and diffuse pollution) and covering good quality and 0.4% of sufficient quality 83 . It is shown fully the implementation gaps in order to improve the that Austria has improved its bathing water quality since overall status in the future.
2012. • Improve the transparency of the use of exemptions including for hydropower permits, especially by using
Figure 10: Bathing water quality 2012 – 2015 84 criteria provided by the European law.
Enhancing the sustainability of cities
The EU Policy on the urban environment encourages cities to implement policies for sustainable urban planning and design, including innovative approaches for urban public transport and mobility, sustainable buildings, energy efficiency and urban biodiversity conservation.
SDG11 aims at making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Europe is a Union of cities and towns; around 75% of the
EU population are living in urban areas. 88 The urban
environment poses particular challenges for the environment and human health, whilst also providing opportunities and efficiency gains in the use of resources.
The Member States, European institutions, cities and stakeholders have prepared a new Urban Agenda for the
Austria demonstrates excellent compliance rates with the EU (incorporating the Smart Cities initiative) to tackle
Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 85 . these issues in a comprehensive way, including their connections with social and economic challenges. At the
Flood risk areas have already been identified and heart of this Urban Agenda will be the development of
mapped in Austria 86 . Austria is hit regularly by flooding twelve partnerships on the identified urban challenges, incidents with serious economic damage costs 87 . including air quality and housing 89 .
Between 2002 and 2013, for the 8 floods recorded the
total direct costs were EUR 5300 million. The average The European Commission will launch a new EU cost per flood was EUR 660 million. benchmark system in 2017
90 .
Within the 2007-2013 EU-funding period Austria The EU stimulates green cities through awards and implemented several projects to improve flood funding, such as the EU Green Capital Award aimed at prevention. For the running funding period (2014-2020) cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the EU the River Modelling Centre in Vienna is foreseen to Green Leaf initiative aimed at cities and towns, with receive financial support for its work regarding floods. between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants.
Suggested action From the European Regional Development Fund Austria has allocated EUR 27.2 million for sustainable urban
development (Vienna and Upper Austria) to help solving 82 Commission's Synthesis Report on the Quality of Drinking Water in use conflicts in cities and urban areas. Measures like CO
2
the Union examining Member States' reports for the 2011-2013 reduction strategies, sustainable mobility strategies,
period, foreseen under Article 13(5) of Directive 98/83/EC i;
COM(2016)666 i integrated sustainable development and efficient use of
83 European Environment Agency, 2016. European bathing water quality resources will be supported.
84 European Environment Agency, State of bathing water , 2016
85 European Commission, Eighth Report on the Implementation Status
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water
Directive (COM (2016)105 final) and Commission Staff Working 88 European Environment Agency, Urban environment Document accompanying the report (SWD(2016)45 final ). 89 http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/
86 Commission Staff Working Document, 2015. Report on the progress 90 The Commission is developing an Urban Benchmarking and in implementation of the Floods Directive , page 27 Monitoring ('UBaM') tool to be launched in 2017. Best practices
87 RPA, 2014. Study on Economic and Social Benefits of Environmental emerge and these will be better disseminated via the app featuring
Protection and Resource Efficiency Related to the European the UBaM tool, and increasingly via e.g. EUROCITIES, ICLEI, CEMR, Semester , study for the European Commission. Committee of the Regions, Covenant of Mayors and others.
Austria 18
Protocol 91 . It has neither signed nor ratified the African
Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement.
An EcoBusinessPlan sponsored by the city of Vienna since
1998 supports Viennese companies in implementing environmental / sustainability - relevant measures in the company and contributes to decreasing administrative costs. The EcoBusinessPlan Vienna has achieved a number of successes: 817 participating companies, with more than 11,000 environmental projects from waste prevention to energy saving measures to rearranging complete production processes.
International agreements
The EU Treaties require that the Union policy on the environment promotes measures at the international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems.
Most environmental problems have a transboundary nature and often a global scope and they can only be addressed effectively through international co-operation.
International environmental agreements concluded by the Union are binding upon the institutions of the Union and on its Member States. This requires the EU and the
Member States to sign, ratify and effectively implement all relevant multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs) in a timely manner. This will also be an important contribution towards the achievement of the SDGs, which Member States committed to in 2015 and include many commitments contained already in legally binding agreements.
The fact that some Member States did not sign and/or ratify a number of MEAs compromises environmental implementation, including within the Union, as well as the Union’s credibility in related negotiations and international meetings where supporting the participation of third countries to such agreements is an established EU policy objective. In agreements where voting takes place it has a direct impact on the number of votes to be cast by the EU.
Currently, Austria has signed but not yet ratified the
Gothenburg Protocol to Abate Acidification,
Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone and the Nagoya
91
Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Austria 19
Part II: Enabling Framework: Implementation Tools
-
4.Market based instruments and investment
Green taxation and environmentally harmful could generate an additional EUR 1545 million in 2018,
subsidies rising to EUR 3032 million in 2030 (both in real 2015 terms). This is equivalent to an additional 0.44% and
The Circular Economy Action Plan encourages the use of 0.73% of GDP in 2018 and 2030, respectively 96 .
financial incentives and economic instruments, such as
taxation to ensure that product prices better reflect Figure 10: Environmental tax revenues as a share of total environmental costs. The phasing out of environmentally revenues from taxes and social contributions (excluding harmful subsidies is monitored in the context of the imputed social contributions) in 2014
97
European Semester and in national reform programmes submitted by Member States.
Taxing pollution and resource use can generate increased revenue and bring important social and environmental benefits.
Latest data show that environmental tax revenue amounted to 2.43% of Austria's GDP in 2014 (EU28 average: 2.46%), having been relatively stable since 2004
(2.37%) 92 .
In the same year environmental tax revenues accounted for 5.63% of total revenues from taxes and social-security
contributions 93 (EU28 average: 6.35%) as shown in Figure
11.
The Austrian austerity package of 2011 included the introduction of a flight levy (short distance EUR 8, middle distance EUR 20, long distance EUR 35), an increase in the mineral oil tax on diesel (of EUR 0.05/litre) and petrol
(of EUR 0.04/litre) and an adjustment of the car registration tax: on the one hand, the carbon element of the tax was increased; on the other hand, the permissible limits for toxic emissions were reduced.
In the Stability Act of 2012, mineral oil tax reimbursement for agriculture and public transport was abolished (generating revenues of about EUR 0.07-0.08 billion). The flight levy introduced in 2011 was reduced for competitive reasons (short distance EUR 7, middle distance EUR 15, long distance EUR 35), and commuting allowances were raised (leading to additional budget
losses of about EUR 0.15 billion). The largest potential source of revenue comes from the proposed amendments to taxes on transport fuels. This
A 2016 study shows for Austria there is considerable accounts for EUR 1090 million in 2030 (real 2015 terms), potential for shifting taxes from labour to environmental
taxes 94 . Under a good practise scenario 95 , these taxes Eunomia et al on the potential benefits various environmental taxes
could bring. It is then for the national authorities to assess this study and their concrete impacts in the national context. A first step in this
92 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues , accessed June 2016 respect, already done by a number of Member States, is to set up
93 excluding imputed social contributions expert groups to assess these and make specific proposals.
94 Eunomia Research and Consulting, IEEP, Aarhus University, ENT, 95 The good practice scenario means benchmarking to a successful
2016. Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential taxation practice in another Member State.
for the EU28. N.B. National governments are responsible for setting 96 Eunomia Research and Consulting, IIEP, Aarhus University, ENT, 2016.
tax rates within the EU Single Market rules and this report is not Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential for the suggesting concrete changes as to the level of environmental EU28
taxation. It merely presents the findings of the 2016 study by 97 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues , accessed October 2016
Austria 20
equivalent to 0.26% of GDP. The purchasing power of public procurement in the EU
In Austria appears to have, according to a Commission's equals to approximately 14% of GDP
102 . A substantial
assessment 98 a potential need to reduce a relatively high part of this money is spent on sectors with high tax burden on labour and potential scope to increase the environmental impact such as construction or transport, least distortive taxes like environmental taxes. Potential so GPP can help to significantly lower the impact of scope to increase environmental taxes might exist since public spending and foster sustainable innovative the implicit tax rate on energy is relatively low (183.3 businesses. The Commission has proposed EU GPP EUR per tonnes of oil equivalent, TOE) compared to the criteria
103 .
EU average (222.8 EUR/TOE). The OECD 99 recommends In Austria, a national action plan (NAP) for GPP, named as well financing a reduction of labour tax wedge by Aktionsplan nachhaltige öffentliche Beschaffung 104 , was
broadening the tax base and increases in consumption, adopted by the Council of Ministers in July 2010. It environmental and recurrent property taxes. determines that the Federal Procurement Agency, per
In 2015, Austria enacted a comprehensive reform of the instruction of the Ministry of Finance, must include the country's tax system mainly to reduce tax wedge on national green public procurement requirements for 14 labour. But it did not use the opportunity to overhaul its products (textiles products and leasing, transport IT environmental taxes in order to achieve environmental equipment, cleaning products and services, furniture, objectives. The only environment related measure was food and catering services, indoor lighting, energy-using the increase of the taxable income from the private use appliances, infrastructure, construction, electricity, of company cars from 1.5% to 2% of the total acquisition gardening products and services, office supplies, paper, cost of the car, and the right to deduct tax for CO event management) for which GPP criteria were 2 emission free cars was introduced. established
105 .
No measures were taken to reduce environmental In addition, the provincial governments of Austria have harmful subsidies. The different tax treatment of diesel passed a resolution in 2016 in relation to the GPP criteria and gasoline 100 for road use is from the environmental of national action plan as the basis of minimum point of view unjustified. Diesel is taxed at a lower rate requirements for all municipalities and provinces (both in terms of carbon and energy content), although it (recommendation). In the provinces of Vorarlberg, Tyrol
emits more air pollutants. and Lower Austria local public procurers are provided with a particular procurement service to bundle
In addition, recent data 101 show that Austria confers tax procurements and foster sustainability (Nachhaltiges
advantages on company cars that could stimulate the Beschaffungsservice). excessive use of fossil fuels and undermine the EU
energy, climate and environmental policies. This To exchange experience of procurement officers with preferential tax treatment for company cars leads to GPP on the different governmental levels (federal,
estimated revenue losses of EUR 558 million. regional and local level) a specific platform including a help-desk 106 has been established.
Green Public Procurement A 2011-study states that the share of Austrian authorities
The EU green public procurement policies encourage that included GPP requirements in between 50% and
Member States to take further steps to reach the target 100% of their contracts was estimated between 10 and
of applying green procurement criteria to at least 50% of 20% 107 . public tenders. According to a 2012-survey, Austrian authorities included
Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a process whereby at least one of the EU core green criteria in 73% of the contracts and 38% of the contracts included all the
public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life-cycle when compared to goods, services and
102
works with the same primary function that would European Commission, 2015. Public procurement 103
otherwise be procured. In the Communication “Public procurement for a better environment” (COM /2008/400) the Commission recommended the
creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and
98 European Commission, 2015. Tax Reforms in EU Member States 2015 , ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on
Institutional Paper 008 Sept. 2015, page 68 a life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base.
104 Bundesregierung Österreich, 2010. Aktionsplan zur nachhaltigen 100 Update by European Commission, 2015 based on Harding M., 2014. öffentlichen Beschaffung .
The Diesel Differential: Differences in the Tax Treatment of Gasoline 105 Aktionsplan zur nachhaltigen öffentlichen Beschaffung, Criteria for and Diesel for Road Use . OECD Taxation Working Papers, No. 21 different products
101 Harding M. 2014. Personal Tax Treatment of Company Cars and 106 National help desk green public procurement
Commuting Expenses – Estimating the Fiscal and Environmental 107 Adelphi et al. (2011), “Strategic Use of Public Procurement in Costs. OECD Taxation Working Papers, No. 20, p.28 Europe”
Austria 21
relevant EU core green criteria 108 . 2020, as the relevant operational programmes are still in
Investments: the contribution of EU funds an early stage of their implementation.
Figure 12 depicts the 2014-2020 EU Structural and European Structural and Investment Funds Regulations
provide that Member States promote environment and Investment Funds budget allocation for Austria.
climate objectives in their funding strategies and Figure 12: European Structural and Investment Funds
programmes for economic, social and territorial 2014-2020: Budget Austria by theme, EUR billion 112
cohesion, rural development and maritime policy, and reinforce the capacity of implementing bodies to deliver cost-effective and sustainable investments in these areas.
Making good use of the European Structural and
Investment Funds (ESIF) 109 is essential to achieve the
environmental goals and integrate these into other policy areas. Other instruments such as the Horizon 2020, the
LIFE programme and European Fund for Strategic
Investment 110 (EFSI) may also support implementation
and spread off best practice.
Austria benefits, through three national programmes and a common regional programme, from European
Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) funding of
EUR 4.9 billion over the period 2014-2020 111 .
EUR 536.3 m (10.9%) is coming from the European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF), EUR 3938.0 m (80.0%) from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural
Development (EAFRD), EUR 7.0 m (0.1%) from the
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and
EUR 442.1 m (9.0%) from the European Social Fund (ESF).
In total, EUR 1297.7 m are dedicated to the Thematic objective (TO) 6 Environment Protection and Resource efficiency, EUR 1290.7 m through the EAFRD programme,
EUR 7.0 m through the ERDF programmes. In addition, With regard to the integration of environmental concerns
EUR 206.5 m is foreseen for TO4 Low Carbon Economy into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the two key
(EAFRD and ERDF) and EUR 1289.8 m for TO5 Climate areas for Austria (as for all Member States) are, first,
Change Adoption and Risk Prevention (EAFRD only). using Rural Development funds to pay for environmental
This funding includes support for sustainable urban land management and other environmental measures, development (Vienna and Upper Austria) and aims at while avoiding financing measures which could damage solving use conflicts in cities and urban areas. Measures the environment; and secondly, ensuring an effective like CO2 reduction strategies, sustainable mobility implementation of the first pillar of the CAP with regard strategies, integrated sustainable development and to cross compliance and 1st pillar 'greening'. efficient use of resources will be supported. In Vienna the The approved National Rural Development Programme Responsible River Modelling Centre (research in the area (NRP) amounts overall to EUR 3938.0 m. The planned of energy, flood protection and ecology) will be funded. spending on the ecosystem priority, priority 4 is Theses allocations amount to EUR 27.2 million EUR 2490.9 m, which represents 63.3% of the total EU It is too early to draw meaningful conclusions as regards budget. EUR 1065.1 m, 27 % is dedicated to agrithe use and results of ESIF funds for the period 2014- environment-climate measures. In addition, EUR 400.7
m, that is 10.2 %, is dedicated to organic farming measures alone, which is also is part of the Austrian agri
108 CEPS (2012), “Monitoring the Uptake of GPP in the EU” environmental-programme. Furthermore, EUR 874.4 m,
109 ESIF comprises five funds – the European Regional Development
Funds (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund from the total NRP budget, is dedicated to payments to
(ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development areas facing natural or other specific constraints. Thus,
(EAFRD), and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The the NRP allocates a very large part of the total budget to
ERDF, the CF and the ESF together form the Cohesion Policy funds.
110 EIB: European Fund for Strategic Investments
111 European Commission: European Structural and Investment Funds 112 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds
Country Data for Austria . Data By Country
Austria 22
the enhancement of natural resources and the environment. Although it is welcomed that the programme foresees that up to about 80% of the agricultural area of the country will benefit from agroenvironment measures, Austria has elaborated and implemented further actions to improve the design and effectiveness of the environmental measures in practice
(including more attention to training, advice and cooperation). Austria should continue this approach aimed at creating the best environmental value for money in the implementation stage of the NRP.
The Direct Payment envelope of Austria for the period
2015-2020 is EUR 3.46 bn, 30 % of which (1.04 bn) being allocated to greening practices beneficial for the environment. An environmentally ambitious implementation of 1st pillar greening would clearly help to improve the environmental situation in areas not covered by rural development, including intensive area, and if appropriate Austria could review its implementation of this.
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) will help financially to construct and operate three wind
farms 113 in Austria.
113 European Commission, June 2016.The Investment Plan for Europe,
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5.Effective governance and knowledge
SDG 16 aims at providing access to justice and building and training to carry out their own tasks and co-operate effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all and co-ordinate effectively with each other, within a levels. SDG 17 aims at better implementation, improving system of multi-level governance. policy coordination and policy coherence, stimulating
science, technology and innovation, establishing The 2013 European Quality of Government Index puts partnerships and developing measurements of progress. Austria in 6
th place out of the 28 Member States 115 .
Effective governance of EU environmental legislation and Compliance performance in the field of environment is policies requires having an appropriate institutional good (with relatively low number of cases and framework, policy coherence and coordination, applying complaints) and corresponds to the overall very good legal and non-legal instruments, engaging with nonstate of environment (see above). Challenges remain in governmental stakeholders, and having adequate levels the field of nature, water and governance.
of knowledge and skills 114 . Successful implementation
depends, to a large extent, on central, regional and local government fulfilling key legislative and administrative tasks, notably adoption of sound implementing legislation, co-ordinated action to meet environmental objectives and correct decision-making on matters such as industrial permits. Beyond fulfilment of these tasks, government must intervene to ensure day-to-day compliance by economic operators, utilities and individuals ("compliance assurance"). Civil society also has a role to play, including through legal action. To underpin the roles of all actors, it is crucial to collect and share knowledge and evidence on the state of the
environment and on environmental pressures, drivers As to nature there are still some deficiencies concerning and impacts. establishing the Natura 2000 network and designation of
Equally, effective governance of EU environmental SPAs and bird hunting practices in some Länder raise concerns in terms of compatibility with the Habitats
legislation and policies benefits from a dialogue within Directive. Infrastructure projects put pressure on both
Member States and between Member States and the
Commission on whether the current EU environmental nature protection and water: there are a number of cases and complaints regarding hydropower development
legislation is fit for purpose. Legislation can only be rising non-compliance with either the Habitats or Water
properly implemented when it takes into account
experiences at Member State level with putting EU Framework Directive. Apart from EIA and IPPC procedures access to justice provisions are still deficient
commitments into effect. The Make it Work initiative, a in Austria, which has recently been confirmed by the
Member State driven project, established in 2014,
organizes a discussion on how the clarity, coherence and Court of Justice in relation to screening of EIA which was remedied by an amendment to the EIA Act in early 2016.
structure of EU environmental legislation can be Two more infringement cases are ongoing in this area. improved without lowering existing protection standards. The situation on air pollution has generally improved and Effective governance within central, regional the case on PM10 pollution has been closed. Yet NO2
and local government pollution represents a challenge in cities due to emissions of diesel cars and an infringement procedure is likely to
Those involved in implementing environment legislation follow soon. at Union, national, regional and local levels need to be
equipped with the knowledge, tools and capacity to In some of the environmental cases where individuals or improve the delivery of benefits from that legislation, NGOs have gained access before the national courts over
and the governance of the enforcement process. the past years, the Austrian judges referred several requests for preliminary rulings to the Court of Justice of
the EU. This represented a valuable contribution to the
Capacity to implement rules development of EU environment law, since preliminary
It is crucial that federal, regional and local rulings enable the Court of Justice to give a coherent administrations have the necessary capacities and skills interpretation of the EU law.
114 The Commission has work ongoing to improve the country-specific knowledge about quality and functioning of the administrative 115 http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/work/2012_0
Austria 24
Two working groups at expert level have been can be done both on the initiative of authorities established in order to discuss legal possibilities for themselves and in response to citizen complaints. It can improvement. involve using various kinds of checks, including
inspections for permitted activities, surveillance for
Coordination and integration possible illegal activities, investigations for crimes and
In 2002, the Austrian Strategy Sustainable audits for systemic weaknesses. Similarly, there is a range
Development 116 was adopted as a government level of means to promote compliance, including awarenessconcept that sets the points for a policy of sustainability raising campaigns and use of guidance documents and at national level based on a long-term orientation and online information tools. Follow-up to breaches and defined binding framework conditions. This national liabilities can include administrative action (e.g. strategy was, in 2010, complemented by common withdrawal of a permit), use of criminal law
120 and action
approach by the Federal and Länder government, the under liability law (e.g. required remediation after
Österreichische Strategie Nachhaltige Entwicklung" damage from an accident using liability rules) and
(ÖSTRAT 117 ). It provides a common framework for the contractual law (e.g. measures to require compliance different political levels and names the main topics for with nature conservation contracts). Taken together, all actions (e.g. preserving the natural environment, high of these interventions represent "compliance assurance" level of social security, shaping globalisation as shown in Figure 13.
environmentally and socially sustainable). Different Figure 13: Environmental compliance assurance committees and working groups are in charge of coordinating the different initiatives, informing the public, and the further development of the strategy.
Impact assessments are important tools to ensure
environmental integration in all government policies 118 .
The Commission encourages the streamlining of the environmental assessments to avoid overlaps in environmental assessments and accelerate decisionmaking, without compromising the quality of the environmental assessment procedure. The Commission
has issued a guidance document in 2016 119 regarding the
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA
Directive, Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive, Best practice has moved towards a risk-based approach and the Industrial Emissions Directive. at strategic and operational levels in which the best mix
Compliance assurance of compliance monitoring, promotion and enforcement is directed at the most serious problems. Best practice also
EU law generally and specific provisions on inspections, recognises the need for coordination and cooperation other checks, penalties and environmental liability help between different authorities to ensure consistency, lay the basis for the systems Member States need to avoid duplication of work and reduce administrative have in place to secure compliance with EU burden. Active participation in established pan-European environmental rules. networks of inspectors, police, prosecutors and judges,
Public authorities help ensure accountability of dutysuch as IMPEL
121 , EUFJE 122 , ENPE 123 and EnviCrimeNet 124 ,
holders by monitoring and promoting compliance and by is a valuable tool for sharing experience and good taking credible follow-up action (i.e. enforcement) when practices.
breaches occur or liabilities arise. Compliance monitoring Currently, there exist a number of sectoral obligations on
inspections and the EU directive on environmental
116 https://www.nachhaltigkeit.at/assets/customer/Downloads/Strategi liability (ELD)
125 provides a means of ensuring that the
e/strategie020709_en.pdf "polluter-pays principle" is applied when there are
117 Information on the ÖSTRAT accidents and incidents that harm the environment.
118 Article 11 of the TFEU provides that "Environmental protection
requirements must be integrated into the definition and
implementation of the Union's policies and activities, in particular 120 European Union, Environmental Crime Directive 2008/99/EC with a view to promoting sustainable development." 121 European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement
119 European Commission, 2016. Commission notice — Commission of Environmental Law guidance document on streamlining environmental assessments 122 European Union Forum of judges for the environment conducted under Article 2(3) of the Environmental Impact 123 The European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment Assessment Directive (D irective 2011/92/EU of the European 124 EnviCrimeNet
Parliament and of the Council, as amended by Directive 2014/52 i/EU). 125 European Union, Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/CE , p.56
Austria 25
There is also publically available information giving Austria participates in IMPEL activities but is not very insights into existing strengths and weaknesses in each active within the other European networks of Member State. environmental professionals.
For each Member State, the following were therefore For the period 2007-2013, Austria did not report any case reviewed: use of risk-based compliance assurance; of environmental damage remediation pursuant to the coordination and co-operation between authorities and Environmental Liability Directive, although a few cases participation in pan-European networks; and key aspects where the application has been considered but was of implementation of the ELD based on the Commission's finally dismissed in court proceedings or otherwise have recently published implementation report and REFIT been drawn to the Commission's attention. There is no
evaluation. 126 mandatory financial security (to pay for remediation where an operator cannot). The insurance sector
Austria has made efforts to improve its system of provides coverage for environmental impairment liability inspections of industrial facilities. The Austrian Federal (EIL), supplementing the general third party liability Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and insurance (GTPL), a standard product used by all bigger Water Management has developed a national inspection enterprises. However, it is not evident that EIL is taken plan which includes some priority setting elements and in up. its annex a comprehensive set of criteria for riskassessment
based on the IMPEL IRAM inspections Suggested action
planning tool 127 . It is the basis for inspection programs • Improve transparency on the organisation and developed at the Länder level 128 . functioning of compliance assurance and on how
Up-to-date information is lacking and would be valuable significant risks are addressed, as outlined above. in relation to the following: • Encourage greater participation of competent
authorities in environmental compliance networks.
− data-collection arrangements to track the use and • Step up efforts in the implementation of the effectiveness of different compliance assurance Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) with proactive
interventions 129 ; initiatives, in particular by setting up a national register
− the extent to which risk-based methods are used to of ELD incidents and drafting national guidance.
direct compliance assurance at the strategic level and in relation to critical activities outside of
industrial installations, especially specific problem Public participation and access to justice
areas highlighted elsewhere in this Country Report,
i.e. the threats to protected habitat types and The Aarhus Convention, related EU legislation on public participation and environmental impact assessment, and
species, poor air quality and the pressures on water
quality from diffuse sources of pollution; the case-law of the Court of Justice require that citizens and their associations should be able to participate in
− how competent authorities in Austria ensure decision-making on projects and plans and should enjoy coordination and coordination of compliance effective environmental access to justice.
assurance at the different administrative levels 130 ;
− how competent authorities in Austria ensure a Citizens can more effectively protect the environment if targeted and proportionate response to different they can rely on the three "pillars" of the Convention on types of non-compliant behaviour, in particular in Access to Information, Public Participation in Decisionrelation to serious breaches detected. making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
("the Aarhus Convention"). Public participation in the administrative decision making process is an important
126 element to ensure that the authority takes its decision on COM(2016)204 final and COM(2016)121 final of 14.4.2016. This
highlighted the need for better evidence on how the directive is used the best possible basis.
in practice; for tools to support its implementation, such as guidance,
training and ELD registers; and for financial security to be available in Access to justice in environmental matters is a set of
case events or incidents generate remediation costs. guarantees that allows citizens and their associations to
127 The plan is published on the website of the ministry: challenge acts or omissions of the public administration
128 These inspection programs are also published online:
129 before a court. It is a tool for decentralised OECD has observed that information on inspections, compliance
levels, fines, effectiveness and costs of enforcement is incomplete implementation of EU environmental law.
and fragmented, see OECD Environmental Performance Review For each Member State, two crucial elements for
Austria 2013, p. 59. See also Comparative study of pressures and
measures in the major River Basin Management Plans, section effective access to justice have been systematically
Governance, 2012, p. 130, 133 and 159. reviewed: the legal standing for the public, including 130 OECD provides examples of some cooperation agreements in Austria NGOs and the extent to which prohibitive costs represent
but indicates also the need for more extensive use of such a barrier.
instruments, see OECD Environmental Performance Review Austria 2013, p. 58.
Austria 26
In general, the existing rules and provisions in the other benefits it facilitates the public authorities'
Austrian law concerning access to administrative appeal reporting obligations. and to judicial review are predictable and transparent.
However, environmental NGOs still do not have legal For each Member State, the accessibility of standing in many of the environmental sectors. The costs environmental data (based on what the INSPIRE Directive of administrative court procedure, however, are not envisages) as well as data-sharing policies ('open data') considered as being prohibitively high 131 . have been systematically reviewed
136 .
Suggested action Austria's performance on the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive as enabling framework to actively
• Take the necessary measures to ensure standing of disseminate environmental information to the public is environmental NGOs to challenge acts or omissions of good. Austria has indicated in the 3-yearly INSPIRE
a public authority in all sectoral EU environmental laws, implementation report 137 that the necessary data-sharing
in full compliance with EU law as well as the policies allowing access and use of spatial data by Convention on Access to Information, Public national administrations, other Member States' Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice administrations and EU institutions without procedural in environmental matters (Aarhus Convention). obstacles are available and implemented. Austria has no
common data-sharing policies for all administrative levels
Access to information, knowledge and in the federated state, resulting in a differentiated landscape of terms for access and use ranging from open
evidence data policies to policies aiming at recovering data
The Aarhus Convention and related EU legislation on acquisition and management costs.
access to information and the sharing of spatial data Following the assessments of monitoring reports 138 require that the public has access to clear information on issued by Austria and the spatial information that Austria
the environment, including on how Union environmental has published on the INSPIRE geoportal 139 not all spatial
law is being implemented. information needed for the evaluation and
It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public implementation of EU environmental law has been made and business that environmental information is shared in available or is accessible. However, at least the majority an efficient and effective way. This covers reporting by of the data required to be made available under the businesses and public authorities and active existing reporting and monitoring regulations of EU dissemination to the public, increasingly through environmental law has been published on the INSPIRE electronic means. geoportal.
The Aarhus Convention 132 , the Access to Environmental Suggested action
Information Directive 133 and the INSPIRE Directive 134 • Critically review the effectiveness of its data policies
together create a legal foundation for the sharing of and amend them, taking 'best practices' into environmental information between public authorities consideration. and with the public. They also represent the green part of • Identify and document all spatial data sets required for
the ongoing EU e-Government Action Plan 135 . The first the implementation of environmental law, and make two instruments create obligations to provide the data and documentation at least accessible 'as is' information to the public, both on request and actively. to other public authorities and the public through the The INSPIRE Directive is a pioneering instrument for digital services foreseen in the INSPIRE Directive.
electronic data-sharing between public authorities who can vary in their data-sharing policies, e.g. on whether access to data is for free. The INSPIRE Directive sets up a geoportal which indicates the level of shared spatial data in each Member State – i.e. data related to specific locations, such as air quality monitoring data. Amongst
131 See study on access to justice in environmental matters in Austria
132 UNECE, 1998. Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
133 European Union, Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to 136 Upon request by the Commission, most Member States provided an
environmental information INSPIRE Action Plan addressing implementation issues. These plans
134 European Union, INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC are currently being assessed by the Commission.
135 European Union, EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 - 137 European Commission, INSPIRE reports
Accelerating the digital transformation of government COM(2016) 138 Inspire indicator trends 179 final 139 Inspire Resources Summary Report