The economic analysis according to Article 5 of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) must be completed by the end of 2004. In Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is the lead authority in the WFD implementation process. In this context, SEPA commissioned this project to scope the economic analysis in the WFD with regard to its implementation in Scotland.

This article focuses on the elements of the Water Framework Directive referring to transboundary water courses and analyses the current need for their improvement throughout Europe in order to mitigate the effects of flooding.

The reform of the energy law - initiated on the grounds of new EU directives - has led to a fundamental paradigm shift in Germany. Ecologic is supporting the German Federal Ministry for the Environment by assessing the revised energy law (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz - EnWG) and its regulations drafted by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, paying particular attention to the environmental aspects.

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OekoTrend Stocks Europe is a mutual fund or investment trust investing exclusively in European blue-chip shares in the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 Index®. Companies with a high degree of ecological and social corporate responsibility are given priority and weighted higher. Futures contracts and stock options are used as insurance at time of falling stock markets.

This book is the result of a European project on heavily modified water bodies, carried out in the context of the Common Implementation Strategy of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). It presents and synthesises the results of thirty-four European case studies on the identification and designation of heavily modified water bodies.

For several years now, the European energy laws have been in a phase of transformation. Behind the much quoted catchwords liberalisation, privatisation, deregulation and re-regulation lie many more profound, often times even contradictory political, legislative and economic concepts. This is the context in which a functional Single European Market for electricity is to be established.

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.

The National Allocation Plan (NAP) stipulates the rules for the allocation of allowances to the installations participating in emissions trading. The allowances are allocated on the basis of the actual CO2 emissions of the individual installations. To determine the quantity of emissions, data was gathered on a voluntary basis through a comprehensive data enquiry by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. This article reports on the results of the data enquiry.

Current developments at EU level indicate that water supply could soon no longer be subject to municipal self-administration, but instead to European competition rules and to a mandatory tendering procedure. In Germany, steps on reforming the water sector are currently considered in the framework of the national modernisation strategy. Against this background, the Green Party (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) in the German Parliament commissioned Ecologic to prepare an expert opinion on sustainable water management in Germany.

Policy learning among nations and the exchange of experience play an important role in improving environmental management and policy. To facilitate the exchange between water experts from Central America, the Inter-American Development Bank organised a workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management, which was held in Costa Rica from 24 to 28 May 2004. In this context, R. Andreas Kraemer presented the economic dimension of integrated water resources management.

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.