On the occasion of a conference on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in North-Rhine Westphalia, Nicole Kranz presented experiences and strategies for public participation in water management in the context of the RhineNet project. Water management experts from different authorities and academia met on 17 and 18 January 2006 in Gelsenkirchen to discuss their approach towards the further implementation process of the WFD and to thus continue the exchange of experience commenced at previous events. The conference thus provided an important contribution to more transparency and an active involvement of the informed public in implementing the WFD in North-Rhine Westphalia.

In their article for the Zeitschrift für kommunale Wirtschaft (Magazine for Local Economy), Nadine Herbke, Ecologic Institute, and Dr. Nicole Weiß, Verband kommunaler Unternehmen (Association of Local Businesses) (VKU), present the results of the "Entwicklung lokaler Wasserpartnerschaften" ("Development of Local Water Partnerships") workshop, which took place on 23 November 2005 in Bonn.

The United Nations (UN) are in a crisis, not least because of their lack of democratic legitimacy: too many of the member countries are non-democratic, and internal procedures in the UN are unnecessarily closed to public debate and scrutiny. A panel of eminent experts led by Fernando Enrique Cardoso made proposals for reform. In a contribution to a book on the rule of international law in a globalised world, R. Andreas Kraemer assesses the panel's proposals.

On 13 July 2005, the new German energy law entered into force. In their article, Dr. Camilla Bausch and Julia Rufin LL.M. explain the implementation of the European Directives in accelerating the liberalisation of the internal electricity and gas market. Following a description of the previous process of liberalisation at the European and National levels, the introduction of the new regulation of the energy market is discussed and the new rules concerning the de-monopolisation of the energy sector are explained. Furthermore, specific national rules outlining the European requirements are illustrated.

The newly introduced law on project-based mechanisms (ProMechG), which entered into force 30 September 2005, was the topic of the Climate Talk on 12 December 2005. At the event the new cooperation partner for the Climate Talk, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), was introduced. At DIW's offices in Berlin-Dahlem, the participants vividly discussed the ProMechG and its implications for businesses.

On 8 December 2005 the German Associaton for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) organised an expert meeting entitled "25 years of practical experience with Waste Water Charges". Presentations and discussions centered on whether to abolish, keep or modify the Waste Water Charge. Ecologic Policy Advisor Peter Kessler spoke on "Waste water charges and the Water Framework Directive – What does the Directive require?". He argued that an abolishment without substition of the Waste Water Charge would violate the principle of cost recovery (environmental costs) of Art. 9 of the Directive.

The Yearbook Ecology 2006 was published at the end of September 2005. Ecologic is one of the institutes supporting this yearbook. This year's focus is on the assessment of German environmental policy under the SPD and Greens, current conceptualisations of nature, genetically modified organisms, as well as environment and development issues.

All companies which dispose of IPPC installations must meet the requirements of the Directive by the 30 October 2007.  The central purpose of the event is to provide the entrepreneurs concerned with the basic knowledge which is necessary for the fulfilment of the requirements of the Directive.

Debates and discussions are still taking place on the aims of the European Commission as regards the strengthening of competition in the water sector. The question is: What would the consequences be for the German water and wastewater sector, if water provision was to be increasingly subjected to competition, public procurement and internal market rules?

The treatment and disposal of solid municipal waste can be technically achieved by methods other than above-ground landfilling ("Goal 2020" of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment). These methods will not trigger socially unacceptable costs. There is a big variety of ways to achieve the goal 2020. This publication is a contribution to the conference "Abfallkolloquium 2005" organised by SIDAF in Freiberg on 6-7 October 2005. The publication summarises the results of an Ecologic project entitled "Future strategy of municipal waste management – Goal 2020".

The event will be directed towards stakeholders in new and old Member States and will focus on the implementation of Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC). It will provide a forum for an exchange of experiences and views on the implementation of the Directive, the use of the reference documents on best available techniques (BREFs) and the future development of the Directive.

Bausch, Camilla; Benjamin Görlach; Christine Lucha et. al. 2005: Ausstieg aus der Kernenergienutzung und Modernisierung der Stromversorgung am Beispiel Schweden. Berlin.

The new National Climate Protection Program, as agreed upon by the federal government on 13 July, was the subject of the "Climate Talk" on 13 August 2005. Experts from business, science and politics discussed the economic and political meaning of the program, particularly against the backdrop of emissions trading, Germany's (formerly) leading role in climate protection and Germany's 2012-emissions-reduction-goals. Presentations were given by Astrid Harnisch (Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Protection, BMU), Regine Günther (WWF) and Sven Reinhardt (CDU/CSU-faction).

On behalf of the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), Ecologic Institute examined the impacts of renewable resources on soil quality and options for sustainable cultivation. The study is available for download.

The implementation of the Water Framework Directive is one of the main items in the field of environmental protection. As a main novelty, the Directive foresees the integration of economic aspects into water-related decision making. However, current practice in Germany does not always match the definitions and approaches for economic evaluation developed at EU level, as Benjamin Görlach and Eduard Interwies note in this article "What is the Value of Water? Assessing Environmental and Resource Costs in the Water Framework Directive."