How to apply the DNSH principle and comply with environmental laws within transport projects? CEUTP hosts the TAIEX expert mission

The CEUTP hosted in a three-days expert mission on the approach to environmental issues with a focus on the DNSH principle within the transport projects, organized in cooperation with the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument of the European Commission (TAIEX). The purpose of the event was this time to share good practices in evaluating projects applying for EU funding under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the Cohesion Fund. The mission focused on the two environmental criteria: compliance with the “Do No Significant Harm” (DNSH) principle and compliance with environmental laws.

The event was attended by the number of employees from CEUTP and the Ministry of Infrastructure. The experts invited to share their knowledge and experience were Yasen Markov from Bulgaria, Tomislav Hodak from Croatian Ministry of See, Transport and Infrastructure, and Inese Levana from Latvian Ministry of Finance.

The topics covered during the event included the practical issues of conducting of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for transport projects, the verification of environmental issues within transport projects applying for EU financial assistance, the assessment of project applications for EU financial assistance for transport projects, the DNSH principle compliance for transport projects and the practical implementation of the principle together with the monitoring of compliance with the DNSH principle. The participants had the opportunity to ask questions and exchange views with the experts and among themselves.

It should be pointed clearly that the all issues discussed during the event from the perspective of other EU countries constitute a valuable source of information and guidance for CEUTP and other beneficiaries of EU funds in Poland. The undoubted added value was a clear overview of the environmental aspects of the procedure for granting and monitoring EU funds under the KPO and the Cohesion Fund. In addition, establishing contacts and cooperation between entities involved in the implementation and management of transport projects from various EU countries is also an extremely important aspect, which was undoubtedly facilitated by this event.