Letter from The World Bank
In response to your April 9, 1998, letter, I
would like to thank you for soliciting the World Bank's input
regarding the Sub-Committee C of the House of Lords Select Committee
on the European Communities inquiry into environmental aspects
of the European Union's TACIS program.
The management of the World Bank particularly
in the European and Central Asia region of the Bank, has been
co-ordinating closely with the European Commission in recent years.
This co-ordination has been especially fruitful in the areas of
helping our clients evaluate their needs with regard to the European
Union accession process (see the attached Memorandum of Understanding
between the European Commission, the World Bank, and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and helping our clients
in the Newly Independent States to identify priorities as they
develop national environmental action plans (NEAPs). Regarding
this last point, our Task Team Leaders have co-ordinated with
TACIS-funded NEAP Co-ordinators, on a country-level basis. Furthermore,
we have been closely co-ordinating with TACIS in the many regional
environmental programs, particularly those addressing the enormous
problems of the Aral, Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas.
We are currently exploring with the European
Commission additional avenues for collaboration with the TACIS
program. These discussions are in an early stage of development
so it would be premature to specify what we hope to accomplish
in exact terms, but I am optimistic that they will provide us
with the constructive means to assist our clients in managing
inherited and future environmental problems as they grapple with
the formidable task of economic transition.
I wish you all the best for your inquiry, and
I hope that its outcome will help all those concerned to increase
the effectiveness of development assistance to our clients.
Michele de Nevers
Sector Leader—Environment
Rural Development and Environment— Europe and
Central Asia Region
29 April 1998
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