Based on an initiative of the Grüne Liga e.V. a seminar with the title: On the way towards the "Good status"- Critical aspects of the WFD was held on 24 March 2006. Rainer Müssner from Ecologic gave a presentation about the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and the Water Framework Directive. The main focus of Müssner's presentation was the linkages between these policy areas and options to create synergies.

The US energy and climate policy – particularly political dynamics at the sub-national level – was the topic of the Transatlantic Climate Dinner in honour of Jim Marzilli.  Since 1990, Marzilli has been campaigning for environmental- and energy-sector reforms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Against the backdrop of increasingly dynamic climate and energy policy debates, the participants discussed the potential for reforms as well as possible hurdles at the city and state levels.  The Transatlantic Climate Dinner took place on March 16, 2006 in Berlin.

The German development co-operation is putting five million Euro towards the establishment of a trans-border protected areas fund for the Southern Caucasus. The Federal Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul made the announcement at the opening of the conference "Nature Protection in the Caucasus", which Ecologic organised, on 9 March 2006 in Berlin.

The US energy and climate policy was the topic of the Transatlantic Climate Dinner in honour of Dr. Susan F. Tierney, Managing Principal at Analysis Group, Boston. Against the backdrop of the new US Energy Policy Act, participants at the event discussed, trends and developments in the field of energy policy in the US and in Europe with a focus on climate and security related questions. This Transatlantic Climate Dinner took place on 20 February 2006 in Berlin.

The 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident was the occasion for the Böll Foundation to host an event on Ukrainian and European energy policy in the premises of the Deutsche Umwelthilfe in Berlin. The event offered an opportunity for energy experts to discuss recent and possible future developments in energy policy, especially nuclear energy. Dr. Camilla Bausch, Senior Fellow at Ecologic, gave a presentation on the European energy policy with special focus on the Energy Charter Treaty.

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.

<img alt="lee lane" hspace="2" src="downloads/dinner_dialogue/2005/lee_lane_II_80_80.jpg" align="right" vspace="2" border="0" />US energy and climate policy was the topic of the Transatlantic Climate Dinner in honor of Lee Lane, Executive Director of the Climate Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The event participants discussed the possibility of and need for an effective US climate policy, in light of the developments at the sub-national, federal and international levels. This Transatlantic Climate Dinner took place on 14 December 2005 in Berlin.

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.

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.

The protection and management of water resources at the river basin scale is gaining in importance world-wide. Only through careful and sustainable management can the current water problems be addressed, particularly in developing countries. The Nile River with its ten riparian states is like no other basin faced with specific challenges in terms of reaching integrated water resource management. On invitation of the German Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (gtz) and the German Ministry for Development and Co-operation, experts and decision-makers from the Nile riparian states visited several German and European water management institutions on 23 November 2005 and came together with Ecologic staff to exchange thoughts and ideas on experiences with the water management challenge in Europe and Africa.

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?