EU aid for polluter-pays measures

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) has obtained €200,000 from the EU in order to help it put in practice the polluter-pays principle.

The money comes from the EU Transitional Facility programme for a project entitled Building Capacity To Introduce The Polluter Pays Principle Through Economic Instruments To Implement The EU Environmental Acquis.

The project aims to build the capacity to devise and implement a comprehensive package of environmental economic instruments applying the polluter-pays principle in practice.

The principle is one of the cornerstones of the EU's environmental policy, which has now been transposed into Maltese legislation and is based on the assumption that costs of environmental damage created by polluters should be borne by the polluters themselves.

The project will result in an assessment of instruments currently in place and a three-year plan for the introduction of a package of instruments, possibly including a review of existing measures.

The project will also include training workshops and evaluation of the instruments' performance. The project will be jointly implemented by Mepa and the Ministry of Finance, with the involvement of experts from other government agencies and stakeholders.

The contract for the provision of consultancy services was awarded to Ernst & Young Limited, which set up a team of high profile experts, Mepa said.