In July 2004, the German Federal Cabinet adopted the draft amendment of the law governing non discriminatory network access (EnWG – Energiewirtschaftsgesetz). It transposes the EU Acceleration Directive for electricity and gas into German national law. Nicole Wilke and Camilla Bausch explain the essential elements of the draft amendment in an article.

The study on "Public participation in water management in the co-ordination area Havel (Berlin-Brandenburg)" authored by Nicole Kranz, Antje Vorwerk and Wenke Hansen was published as the first volume of the new publication series of the KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin (KWB - Berlin Centre of Competence for Water).

The Yearbook Ecology 2005 will be published at the end of September 2004. Ecologic is one of the institutes supporting this yearbook. This year's focus is on Renewable Energy, Resource Conflicts, and Sustainable Economy.

The Linking Directive was the topic of the Climate Talk event which took place on 11 August. Experts from business, science, and government discussed the legal framework and the difficulties of putting JI (Joint Implementation) and CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) into practice within the framework of the European emissions trading scheme. Presentations were given by Dr. Patrick Graichen (Federal Government for the Environment - BMU), Thomas Langrock (German Agency for Emissions Trading - DEHSt) and Dr. Sascha Lafeld (3C).

In his contribution for the symposium "Representation of Interests by NGOs at European Level" at the Bucerius Law School, Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf focused on the influence of European environmental interest groups on European environmental Policy. Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf analysed the institutional structures of European environmental NGOs and illustrated their success and deficits in influencing European environmental Policy. Therein, he focused on the Green G8, an umbrella association of European environmental NGOs and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).

The EC increasingly participates in multilateral environmental agreements alongside its Member States. The appearance of both EC and Member States raises questions of competences for the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of such international instruments. In particular in the field of marine environment, substantial progress is hindered by an opaque division of competences between the EC and its Member States and lack of coordination. Accordingly, the German Federal Environmental Agency commissioned Ecologic and Professor Astrid Epiney with the task of analysing the division of external competences between the EC and its Member States, taking into account the OSPAR-Convention. The results of this project have now been published as a book.

Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf focuses in his contributing article on the influence of European environmental interest groups on European environmental Policy.

High level representatives, among them the Ambassador of Costa Rica to Germany, exchanged views on the role of education and potential of fair trade in rural areas of developing countries. One of the main issues debated at the Dinner Dialogue on 1 July 2004 in Berlin with Dr. José Zaglul, Rector of Earth University in Costa Rica, was the question of the contribution of agricultural education and fair trade to rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Striegel, Gabriel; Barbara Rathmer, Christian Kühne et al. 2004: Vorbereitung eines PRTR für Deutschland. Landesanstalt für Umweltschutz Baden-Württemberg/Ecologic/Fraunhofer Inst. f. Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung (ISI)/ RISA Sicherheitsanalysen.

Wenke Hansen and Nadine Herbke's article, "Quality has its price! But which? - Future of the Water Supply and Wastewater Sector" is published in the documentation of the convention "Füllhorn oder Büchse der Pandora? – GATS, the European Internal Market and the liberalisation of public services in Germany". The article addresses the evolution of prices and charges in the European water and sanitation sector, and the debate over the liberalisation of the German water sector. <br /><br />

Based on a description of the relevant national and European guidelines for the implementation of the WFD and a case study analysis of the prevailing pressures on German water bodies, an exemplary catalogue of applicable measures and instruments were compiled. The included measures and instruments are described in greater detail in data sheets contained in the annex. The study differentiates between concrete technical measures and administrative, economic and informational instruments, which facilitate and support the implementation of the measures.

The first Climate Talk discussion revolved around "Climate Protection and Competition", as the contemporaneous debates between EU member states about the National Allocation Plans had raised many questions about climate protection measures and the distortion of competition. Presentations were given by Dr. Simon Marr (Deutsche Emissionshandelsstelle – DEHSt) and Steffen Hentrich (Rat von Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen – SRU).

In the ZUR – Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht, Peter Beyer analyses the new European Directive on environmental liability. The liability for damages caused to the environment by emissions as well as accidents in the field of industrial productions and transportation of dangerous goods belongs to the issues which have been controversially discussed in politics for years, regularly brought up by spectacular accidents as in Baia Mare or the sinking of the Prestige off the Spanish coast.

Eduard Interwies, Senior Economist at Ecologic, presented an assessment of the impact on the German water sector of recent developments concerning the potential liberalisation of water services at EU level.