Table 1 The structure of the demand for energy (in %)
|
Solid fuels |
Liquid fuels 1990 2010 |
Natural gas 1990 2010 |
Nuclear 1990 2010 |
Renewables 1990 2010 | ||||||
|
1990 2010 | ||||||||||
|
Poland |
74 |
2 |
13 |
18 |
9 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
|
Hungary |
22 |
6 |
30 |
26 |
31 |
54 |
13 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
|
Czech Republic |
61 |
42 |
19 |
21 |
12 |
29 |
7 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
|
Slovenia |
27 |
13 |
34 |
39 |
13 |
25 |
23 |
17 |
5 |
8 |
|
Baltic countries |
22 |
11 |
42 |
34 |
23 |
32 |
13 |
18 |
4 |
7 |
|
Romania, Bul- |
55 |
38 |
22 |
22 |
15 |
30 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
|
Total |
55 |
38 |
22 |
22 |
15 |
30 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
|
* Source: Cofala et al. (1999) | ||||||||||
The environmental legislation in CEEC developed since the 1970s, has remained
incomplete and non-effective. Legally obligated very stringent standards could not be fulfilled
given the available technologies and the lack on the institutions. Therefore, the CEEC face the
difficult problem how to address their serious environmental problems in the current period of
the liberalization of their economies. The traditional advice from economists is to use
economic incentives more extensively (REC 1993, Toman 1994). Learning from the lessons
taken during the transformation, the following points seem to be crucial for the environmental
policy in CEEC:
• Environmental protection matters.
• The environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe are far reaching, so the setting
of priorities is necessary.
• Economic restructuring is essential. The achievement of significant results in
environmental policy protection requires reconstruction of those spheres of the economy,
which present the main source of threat to the environment. Sweeping economic reform is
a prerequisite of successful environmental protection (Kaderjak and Powell 1997).
• The cost-efficient strategies matter. The attention should be turned to the support of
economic incentives.