Author: Hamit PALABIYIK*

Introduction

Turkey has had an association agreement with the European Community since 1964 and entered a customs union with the European Union (EU) in 1996. Turkey formally submitted an application for membership in April 1987. Following decisions at the European Council meeting in December 1999 Turkey was approved as a candidate state to join the EU subject to the same assessment criteria as other candidate-new member-states. Joining the EU has become one of Turkey’s highest political priorities, and it is a major force in shaping regulatory reforms in many political, economic, social, and administrative sectors.

Mainly, an establishment of modern and prosperous state for citizens in this contemporary age based on the universally accepted, practiced standards and applications is basic notion of this accession movement. Moreover, there is a growing realization in the country that Turkey has to modernize and reform its institutional and regulatory frameworks to provide favorable conditions for the EU accession process.[1] Actually, those political, legal, economic, social and environmental aspects of the membership process to the EU extend individual and national daily life standards to modern international standards. Indeed, a stable, reliable, prosperous and progressive Turkey as a future member of EU is advantageous for Europe and itself moderately. Turkey's bilateral beneficial relationship with the EU is, also, a vital link for integration into the contemporary world.

Finally, in December 1999 the European Council confirmed that Turkey is a candidate state destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate states. The Helsinki European Council also emphasized that compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is the basis for accession to the EU. One of the preconditions of membership is those candidate countries must align their national laws, rules and procedures, including those relevant to the environmental sector, with those of the EU in order to give effect to the entire body of law contained in the acquis communautaire. Obviously, towards the accomplishment of sustainable development, besides economic and social policies in a suitable political climate, development of an effective and efficient environmental strategy, planning and its implementation via collaboration of all relevant sectors especially public and private sectors, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and citizens are highly needed.

After the approval of the Accession Partnership by the Council and the adoption of the Framework Regulation on February 26, 2001, the Turkish Government announced its first own "National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire" (NPAA) on March 19, 2001. And, second the revised version of NPAA was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 July 2003.

Accession Partnerships, National Program, Regular Reports and the results of accession negotiations altogether identify priority areas for support in each candidate country. In this respect, the main purpose of this study is to highlight environmental aspects of Turkish accession emphasizing subjects mentioned in the Accession Partnership, 2003 Regular Report and the National Program. The main objective of this study is to review existing legal and institutional environmental aspects mainly referred in this NPAA.  However, the overall objective is to give sufficient brief information about those harmonization activities in the field of environment indicating that to support and to strengthen legal, institutional and technical related efforts seeking to improve the environmental conditions in Turkey.

1.    Accession Partnership and 2003 Regular Report on Turkey's Progress Towards Accession

1.a. Accession Partnership[2]

The European Council decided that the Accession Partnership is the key feature of the enhanced preaccession strategy at its meeting in Luxembourg in December 1997. For that reason, the Community directs its assistance towards the specific needs of each candidate state so as to provide support for overcoming particular problems with a view to accession. The purpose of the Accession Partnership is setting out in a single framework the priority areas to help Turkey implement these priorities and the conditions which will apply to that assistance. Thus, the Accession Partnership was formally adopted by the EU Council on 8 March 2001. The European Commission, as in the case of other countries, prepares Accession Partnership documents for Turkey which are agreed by all Member States. The second Accession Partnership document for Turkey was published in March 2003. These documents: Provide an assessment of the priority areas in which the candidate country needs to make progress in order to prepare for accession; Outline the ways in which the financial assistance program will support such accession preparations; Mobilize all forms of EU support within a single framework for each country; Contain brief commitments on the part of the candidate countries relating in particular to democracy, macroeconomic stabilization, industrial restructuring, nuclear safety and the adoption of the acquis.

The priorities in the Accession Partnership are characterized in two groups; short and medium term. The priorities listed under the short term have been selected on the basis that it is realistic to expect that Turkey can fulfil them in 2003-2004. Those listed in medium term are expected to take more than one year to complete although work should be taken forward substantially in 2003-2004. Actually, The Accession Partnership indicates the priority areas for Turkey's membership preparations. The priority areas listed in the Accession Partnership are highly needed for credible and effective implementation and enforcement of the acquis.

The following "environmental priorities" of the Accession Partnership have been identified for Turkey:

In a short term,

q     Adopt a program for transposition of the acquis,

q     Develop a plan for financing investment, based on the estimations of costs of

     alignment and realistic sources for public and private finance,

q     Begin to transpose and implement the acquis related to the framework legislation, international environmental conventions, legislation on nature protection, water quality, integrated pollution prevention control and waste management,

§      Implement and enforce the environmental impact assessment directive,

§      Pursue the development of transboundary water cooperation, in line with the                    water framework directive and international conventions to which the EC is                   a party.

In a medium term,

q     Complete the transposition of the acquis and strengthen the institutional, administrative and monitoring capacity to ensure environmental protection, including data collection,

q     Integrate sustainable development principles into the definition and implementation of all other sectoral policies.

1.b. 2003 Regular Report on Turkey's Progress Towards Accession[3]

The European Council in Cardiff in June 1998 has noted that the Commission would present a report on Turkey's progress towards accession. The Commission has presented its first Regular Report on Turkey in October 1998, together with the Regular Reports for the other candidate countries. As part of the preaccession strategy, the Commission reports regularly to the European Council on progress made by each of the candidate countries in preparing for membership.

Consequently, the Commission has published series of yearly Regular Reports on Turkey, covering the years 1998 to 2003. In those Reports, progress has been measured on the basis of decisions actually taken, legislation actually adopted, international conventions actually ratified with giving an attention to the implementation. Turkey has been invited to provide information on progress made in preparations for membership since the publication of the last Regular Report. The information has been provided within the framework of the Association Agreement, the National Program and various peer reviews that have taken place to assess its administrative capacity in a number of areas.

At the Copenhagen European Council of 12-13 December 2002, the EU has taken significant decisions concerning its enlargement. As regards Turkey, The Copenhagen European Council decided that ‘if the European Council in December 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the Commission, decides that Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria, the EU will open negotiations without delay’. The Commission will assess this year the progress made by Turkey towards meeting the accession criteria as requested by the Copenhagen European Council. The Commission will issue a report and a recommendation before the end of October 2004 on whether Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria. This should allow the European Council to decide, at its meeting in December 2004, on the possible opening of accession negotiations with Turkey.

In 2003 the European Commission prepared its sixth annual Progress Report for candidate countries. This Report takes into consideration progress since the 2002 Regular Report. It covers the period until 30 September 2003. It looks at whether planned reforms referred to in the 2002 Regular Report have been carried out and examines new initiatives. In addition, this Report provides an overall assessment of the situation for each of the aspects under consideration. Also, the Report contains a separate section examining briefly the extent to which Turkey has addressed the Accession Partnership priorities.

2003 Regular Report concludes that Turkey has not yet fully met the political criteria, that there are deficiencies in implementation and that further progress needs to be recorded in all areas.

2003 Regular Report indicates below remarks as a progress in the field of environment:

q     As regards the "integration of environmental protection into other policies", no progress can be reported.

q     In the field of "horizontal legislation", limited progress can be reported. Public consultation mechanisms related to environmental impact assessment appear now to be largely in line with EC requirements, but further efforts are needed concerning transboundary issues. Implementation is still a matter of concern. Since 1 March 2003 full responsibility for screening decisions has been delegated to the Local Environmental Boards.

q     As regards "waste management", a law was adopted on the ratification of the changes made to the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal in June 2003.

q     No progress can be reported with regard to "water quality".

q     In the field of air quality, in January 2003 Turkey adopted legislation relating to emissions from non-road mobile machinery.

q     In the field of nature protection, a Ministerial Decree on the import and export of endangered species, CITES Convention, was adopted in February 2003, and the European Landscape Agreement was ratified in June 2003.

q     No progress can be reported on transposition of the acquis on "industrial pollution and risk management".

q     In the field of "genetically modified organisms", the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety, Biodiversity Convention, was ratified in June 2003.

q     In the field of "chemicals", two laws on substances that deplete the ozone layer, Montreal Protocol, were adopted in June 2003.

q     As regards "noise", legislation relating to noise emissions from outdoor equipment and household appliances was adopted in January and February 2003.

q     As regards "nuclear safety and radiation protection", a regulation on the provision of information to the general public in the event of a radiological emergency has been adopted.

q     Turkey has taken some measures to strengthen its "administrative capacity". A law on the establishment of the "Ministry of the Environment and Forestry" adopted in May 2003 merges the two existing ministries. The new law defines the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry on the basis of the original laws on their establishment and reduces the overlaps in the respective responsibilities and implementation. The law provides for a threefold increase over previous Ministry of the Environment staffing levels, but it still needs to be seen how this staff will be allocated.

q     An addendum to the Regulation on Environmental Inspection entered into force in January 2003, in order to improve the quality of the inspectors by laying down new job profiles.

In conclusion, since 2002 Regular Report, Turkey made limited progress on transposing the environmental acquis and improving administrative capacity. In some areas such as air quality, waste management, nature protection, genetically modified organisms, chemicals, noise and nuclear safety, some limited progress can be reported. The reorganization of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has constituted an improvement. The overall transposition remains low in most sectors. Further efforts are needed particularly in the areas of horizontal legislation, air quality, waste management, water quality, nature protection, industrial pollution and risk management, and the fulfillment of the membership requirements of the European Environment Agency, including its data collection system.

Particularly, in the environmental field, Turkey has made limited progress in a number of areas, and overall the level of alignment with the acquis remains low in most areas. Greater efforts are needed as regards both legislation and implementation on all aspects of environmental policy.

1.c. European Union Funded Programs and Turkey[4]

Turkey's effective participation in a number of community programs and agencies (Table 1) has started in 2003 on the basis of the Framework Agreement with Turkey signed on 26 February 2002. Participation in Community Agencies and Programs requires the payment of an annual membership fee by Turkey. The following are the Community programs in which Turkish organizations can participate:

Table 1: European Union Funded Programs

Source: European Union EC Representation to Turkey, European..., p. 12.

Programs presently carrying out in the field of environment in Turkey are briefly summarized below:

Table 2: Programs in the Field of Environment in Turkey

Program title	Location	Starting date	Duration	Budget (Euro)
Capacity building in the field of environment for Turkey	Turkey	April 2003	2 years	EC contribution: 15,550,000 Turkey’s contribution: 1,750,000 Partners’ contribution: 2,500,000 Total: 17,300,000
Environmental standards in the textile sector	Izmir	November 2001	3 years	EC contribution: 1,000,000 KOSGEB’s contribution:1,128,000 Total: 2,128,700
Support to Turkey in the field of air quality, chemicals, waste management	Turkey	May 2004	2 years	EC contribution: 5.45 million Turkey’s contribution: 0.35 million Total: 5.8 million

Source: European Union EC Representation to Turkey, European..., pp. 67-91.

Preaccession financial assistance program for Turkey is likely to reach €250 million in 2004, €300 million in 2005 and €500 million in 2006. These funds are in the form of non-reimbursable grants and the aim is to help Turkey prepare to join the EU as quickly as possible.[5] The financial assistance is directed exclusively to supporting the accession strategy. The EU financial assistance is programmed within the framework of priorities set out in the National Program prepared by Turkey on the basis of the Accession Partnership. In 2003 Turkey has started to participate in the European Environment Agency.[6] Preparations for participation in a number of other programs, including full participation in the educational programs in 2004 are under way.[7]

Between 1995 and 2002, €954 million was committed to various programs in Turkey. For the years 2000-2003 financial assistance to Turkey amounts to an annual average of around €177 million. In 2003 the preaccession financial assistance national program totals €144 million.  It focuses on the following priorities:[8] Addressing the Copenhagen political criteria; Approximation to the acquis; Strengthening public administration; and Economic and social cohesion. Estimates of the investment costs of accession have been made for other candidate countries and (partly) for Turkey, and based on these the total cost comes out at between €28 and €49 billion

2.    The Costs and Benefits of the Harmonization with Environmental Directives[9]

The study which made initial estimates of these costs and benefits of the environmental directives undertaken by the EC[10] summarizes the benefits of compliance in three steps:

q     Type of benefits: What type of benefits arise from implementing the acquis and

     some examples of these benefits in the candidate countries-e.g. health impacts,

     impacts on agriculture, buildings also known as "Qualitative benefits".

q     Extent of benefits: What is the extent of the benefits-e.g. how much are emissions reduced and how many cases of respiratory diseases are avoided? Also known as "Quantitative benefits".

q     Value of Benefits: What is the economic value of the avoided costs-e.g. how much would the reduced emissions and damages avoided by implementing EU directives be worth? Also known as "Monetarized benefits" and given in million€.

The types of benefits included in the study are summarized in Table 3. The estimation of the monetary value of the benefits made use of a large body of past and ongoing research on economic valuation. The result of the estimation for Turkey is likely that the costs of the environmental directives for Turkey come out at between €432 and €748 per head of the 2000 population (65.3 million). The range is based on a mid-value calculated from estimates. The total amount is between €28 and €49 billion, low and high values for Turkey are, respectively, 25% lower and 25% higher than the mid values. This represents that the costs can be reduced, depending on the adoption of appropriate policies and more efficient delivery systems for environmental services.

Table 3: Types of Benefits of Compliance with Directives

Source: Markandya, 'Turkey..., p. 11.

Estimated benefits in Turkey of compliance with the environmental directives are also summarized in Table 4.

Table 4: Estimated Benefits in Turkey of Compliance with the Environmental Directives (€ MN 2001).

Directives Relating to	Present Value of Costs	Present Value of Benefits
Water Supply	586-976	1500-26,050
Waste Water	10,400-17,300	7,140
Air	6,500-10,900	>21,000
Waste	4,900-8,100	800-18,000

Source: Markandya, 'Turkey..., p. 11.

Based on the related studies and the experiences of countries those have closed the environment chapter complying with the acquis by agreed dates reveal that the highest priority in all cases has been given to legal approximation, ensuring that the national legal framework is consistent with the EU legislation. Next in priority has been the institutional strengthening of supervisory bodies and environmental agencies. All this is expected to be completed before accession. Therefore, as a candidate country, Turkey, has to start its program in three to four years before entry.

3.    National Program  for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire 2003 (NPAA) and the Environment [11]

After the approval of the Accession Partnership by the Council and the adoption of the Framework Regulation on February 26, 2001, Turkey started to fulfill its obligations to adopt and implement the EU acquis (see Table 5) in short and medium term. In this regard the Turkish Government announced NPAA on March 19, 2001. And, the revised version of NPAA was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 July 2003.

Table 5: The European Acquis Communautaire

The Acquis Communautaire comprises the entire body of legislation of the European Communities that has accumulated, and been revised, over the last 40 years, comprising a total of more than 80 000 pages of legal text. It includes: q     The founding Treaty of Rome as revised by the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties. q     The Regulations and Directives passed by the Council of Ministers, most of which concern the single market. q     The judgements of the European Court of Justice. The Acquis has expanded considerably in recent years, and now includes the Common Foreign and Security Policy and justice and home affairs, as well as the objectives and realization of political, economic and monetary union. Countries wishing to join the European Union must adopt and implement the entire Acquis upon accession, though there is some flexibility as to timing. The European Council has ruled out any partial adoption of the Acquis, as it is felt that this would raise more problems than it would solve, and would result in a watering down of the Acquis itself. In addition to transposing the body of EU legislation into their own national law, candidate countries must ensure that it is properly implemented and enforced. This may mean that administrative structures need to be set up or modernized, legal systems need to be reformed, and civil servants and members of the judiciary need to be trained.

Source: OECD, Reviews of Regulatory Reform Government Capacity to Assure High Quality Regulation, (Paris: 2002), p. 22.

NPAA is a comprehensive operational plan formulated by the each candidate country, often with technical assistance from the EU. The National Program has been produced with a careful appreciation of the short and medium term priorities as spelled out in the Accession Partnership. The NPAA deals in detail with the political criteria, economic criteria and the ability to assume the obligations of membership-also called the Copenhagen criteria-is a comprehensive reform package which covers many areas from the economy to the environment.

A revised National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis was adopted on 24 July 2003. In short, National Program sets out how Turkey envisages dealing with the Accession Partnership, the timetable for implementing the Partnership’s priorities, and implications in terms of human and financial resources. Both the Accession Partnership and the National Program are revised on a regular basis to take account of progress made and to allow for new priorities to be set.

In the Environment heading of the NPAA below listed remarks might be summarized as:

q     "The Agreement Between the Republic of Turkey and the European Community on the Accession of the Republic of Turkey to the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observatory Network" was published in the Official Gazette No: 25007 dated 28 January 2003.

q     Adopting a program for transposition of the acquis and developing a plan for financing investment, based on estimation of the cost of alignment and realistic sources of public and private finance, are priorities under the environment heading.

§         "Analysis of Environmental Legislation for Turkey" project (MEDA/TUR/ENLARG/D4-01) financed by MEDA Funds, was completed in 2002.

§         "A gap analysis and needs assessment study" has been completed.

§         "The Integrated Environmental Approximation Strategy for the Turkish Republic (No:2002-31739) Project" is completed in 2004. And,

§         Supporting the development of an efficient financial mechanism for financing EU environmental heavy-cost directives will be carried out under the environmental heavy cost investments component of the "Capacity Development in The Field Of Environment Project (TR-362.03)".

q     In respect to integrating sustainable development principles into all other sectoral polices, "a project fiche" has been prepared and will be submitted to the Pre-accession Financial Assistance Programme at the most appropriate time.

q     "The Draft Act on the Amendment of Environment Law" contains provisions on access to environmental information. Within the "institution building and access to environmental information” component of the "Capacity Building in the Field of Environment for Turkey (TR-362.03) project" approved under the 2002 Pre-accession Financial Assistance Program.

q     Studies to create a "national database in environmental information and the training of staff for strengthening administrative capacity" will be realized.

q     "Legislation on reporting in the context of EU environment legislation" will commence only after harmonization and implementation of related legislation and infrastructure studies have been initiated.

q     Secondary Legislation promulgated after the publication of the first National Programme is listed in Annex 1.

q     Turkey’s position and procedures to be followed with respect to multilateral environmental agreements to which EC is party are given in Annex 2.

‘Priority list’ of the environment field in the National Program:

q     Improvement of  water quality

§         Discharge of dangerous substances into aquatic environments 

§         Water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources

§         Water framework directive

§         Treatment plant sludge

§         Urban wastewater treatment

§         Quality of  water for human consumption

§         Quality of surface water and ground water

q     Increase effectiveness of waste management

§         Integrated waste management

§         Hazardous waste management

§         Specific waste management

q     Improving air quality

q     Nature conservation

q     Industrial pollution and risk management

q     Increasing strength and effectiveness of environmental impact assessment process and aligning with strategic environmental assessment directive 

q     Environmental noise management

q     Management of chemicals

§         Chemicals

§         Pesticides

q     Genetically modified organisms

q     Nuclear safety

Conclusion

This paper briefly looks at the environmental dimension of the EU Accession for Turkey. In this regard, environmental aspects of Turkish accession emphasizing subjects mentioned in the Accession Partnership, 2003 Regular Report and the National Program have been indicated.

The accession process is already shaping the future of environmental policies and implications in Turkey same as other candidate countries. In summary, accession countries will be actively involved and implementing the EU sustainable development strategy and sixth environmental action program, both of which have the integration of environmental concerns into sectoral policies.[12]

As a candidate country, Turkey should immediately start prepare its national strategy in which environmental aspects as major components of this strategy to guide those accession activities. Although Turkey lacks an integrated and consistent framework for regulatory and institutional management; having weak incentive and enforcement mechanizms, Turkey, has already started to lunch important initiatives to fulfill international commitments. That must be in mind, the current reform challenges are, also, significant and beneficial reforms for the nation. It may be stated that modernization and reforming our national regulatory and institutional frameworks in the EU accession process would create more favorable environmental conditions for the world itself. In summary, managing and implementation of the majority of these reforms highly depend on strengthening the governance capacities among national and international actors and sectors.

Annex 1: Secondary Legislation Promulgated After the Publication of the first National Program.

Title of the EU Legislation	Corresponding Turkish Legislation
Air Quality
Directive 97/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1997 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery	Type Approval Regulation on measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery  (97/68/EC), was published in Official Gazette No: 24984 dated 5 January 2003, and will enter into force on 5 April 2003 Phase I, 1 January  2005 Phase II
Environmental Impact Assessment
Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment and Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment	Implementing Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment, was published in Official Gazette No: 24777 dated  6 June 2002*
Noise
Council Directive 86/594/EEC of 1 December 1986 on airborne noise emitted by household appliances	Communiqué on Noise Emitted by Household Appliances TRKGM:20003/02 (86/594/EEC), was published in Official Gazette No: 25032 dated 26 February 2003. (Schedule for necessary institutional changes and Financing Requirements for Ministry of  Industry and Trade are given in Free Movements of Goods Chapter).
Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors	Implementing Regulation concerning the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors (2000/14/EC), was published in Official Gazette No: 25001 dated 22 January 2003 and will enter into force  on 3 July 2004 Phase I, 3 January 2006 Phase II (Schedule for necessary institutional changes and Financing Requirements for Ministry of  Industry and Trade are given in Free Movements of Goods Chapter).
Chemicals
Commission Directive 91/155/EEC of 5 March 1991 defining and laying down the detailed arrangements for the system of specific information relating to dangerous preparations in implementation of Article 10 of Directive 88/379/EEC	Communiqué on Safety Data Sheet Preparation Procedures and Principles Principals was published in Official Gazette No:24692 dated 11 March 2002.
Council Directive 89/618/Euratom of 27 November 1989 on informing the general public about health protection measures to be applied and steps to be taken in the event of a radiological emergency	National Implementing Regulation concerning Nuclear and Radiological Emergency was published in Offical Gazette No:23934 dated 15 January 2000 and it was put into force.

*Except for transboundary environmental impact, it is in harmony with the Directive.

Source: National Program..., p. 648-649.

Annex 2: Turkey’s Position and Procedures to be Followed with Respect to Multilateral Environmental Agreements to which EC is Party

Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution (Barcelona, 16.02.1976) Amended, 10.06.1995	12.06.1981-17368 22.08.2002-24854
Protocol for the prevention of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by dumping from ships and aircraft (Barcelona, 16.02.1996) Amended, 10.06.1996	12.06.1981-17368   22.08.2002-24854
Protocol concerning cooperation in combating pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by oil and other harmful substances in cases of emergency (Barcelona, 16.02.1976)	12.06.1981-17368
Protocol concerning cooperation in preventing pollution from ships and, in cases of emergency, combating pollution of the Mediterranean Sea (New Emergency Protocol), Malta, 25.01.2002	20.05.2003-25113
Protocol for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution from land-based sources (Athens, 17.05.1980) Amended, 8.03.1996	18.03.1987-19404 22.08.2002-24854
Protocol to the Barcelona Convention concerning specially protected areas of the Mediterranean Sea (Geneva, 3.4.1982)	12.10.1988-19968
Protocol to the Barcelona Convention concerning specially protected areas and Biological Diversity of the Mediterranean Sea (Barcelona, 10.6.1995)	22.08.2002-24854
Convention on Long-range transboundary air pollution (Geneva, 13.11.1979)	23.03.1983-17796
Convention to combat desertification in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, Paris 17.6.1994	16.05.1998-23344
Protocol to the Convention on long-range transboundary air pollution concerning long-term financing of the cooperative programme for monitoring and evaluation of  long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe (Geneva, 28.9.1984)	23.7.1985-18820
Protocol to the Convention for the protection of the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol), Montreal 1987 Amended, London, 29.06.1990 Amended Copenhagen, 25.11.1992 Amended Montreal, 17.9.1997 Amended Beijing, 3.12.1999	28.12.1994-22155 28.12.1994-22155 29.09.1995-22419 07.06.2003-25131 17.06.2003-25141
Convention for the protection of ozone layer Vienna, 22.3.1985	28.12.1994-22155
Convention on biological diversity Rio, 5.6.1992	27.12.1996-22860
Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats Bern, 1979	20.02.1984-18318
Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (Basel Sözleşmesi), Basel, 1989	15.5.1994-21935
Protocol on biosafety to the biodiversity convention (The Cartagena Protocol), Montreal, 29.1.2000	24.06.2003-25148
Framework Convention on climate change, New York, 9.5.1992		Being discussed in the relevant Commissions of  the TNGA.
Protocol to the United Nations framework convention on climate change, Kyoto, 11.12.1997		The procedure to become a party to the Convention is being continued. Afterwards, the Protocol can be considered depending on the present conditions in Turkey.
Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, Rotterdam, 10.9.1991		Convention was signed in 1998. Before starting ratification procedure the Implementing Regulation on Hazardous Wastes should be harmonized with Directives 67/548/EEC and 99/45/EEC
Convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes, Strasbourg, 18.3.1986		The Convention was signed on  5 September 1986
Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals, Bonn, 23.6.1979		Being a party to the Convention is considered under the coordination of Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, Espoo, 25.2.1991		To be considered at a later stage prior to accession.
Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes, Helsinki, 17.03.1992		To be considered at a later stage prior to accession.
Convention on transboundary effects of industrial accidents, Helsinki, 17.3.1992		The Convention is being assessed by Ministry of Environment and Forestry. To meet the provisions of the Convention, heavy cost infrastructure investments and financing  are required.
International tropical timber agreement, Geneva, 26.1.1994		The Convention is not taken as a priority in this National Programme.
Agreement on the conservation African-Eurasian migratory waterbirds, The Hague, 15.6.1995)		The Convention is not taken as a priority in this National Programme.
Convention on access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making, and access to justice, Aarhus, 25.6.1998		To be considered at a later stage prior to accession.

NOTE: Turkey is party to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against pollution, and the Protocols to the Conventions listed below (Official Gazette No:21869 and dated 06.03.1994)

- Protocol on the protection of the Black Sea coast against pollution from land-based sources

- Protocol concerning cooperation in combating the pollution of the Black Sea coast by oil and other harmful substances in cases of emergency

- Protocol concerning the protection of the Black Sea coast from discharges.

Source: National Program..., p.649-653.