Information Exchange

Bilateral & Multilateral Agreements

Article 8 of the Convention (Bilateral and Multilateral Co-operation) states "The Parties may continue existing or enter into new bilateral or multilateral agreements or other arrangements in order to implement their obligations under this Convention. Such agreements or other arrangements may be based on the elements listed in Appendix VI" (Elements for Bilateral and Multilateral Co-operation).

The Parties adopted (June 2004) Guidance on the Practical Application of the Espoo Convention, available as a printable document (English, French & Russian: ). Regarding bilateral and multilateral agreements, the Guidance notes that there are many issues that can be agreed upon in advance by Parties that expect to have transboundary assessments on a regular basis. The Convention provides a legal basis for agreements (Article 2, para. 2, and Article 8). Appendix VI to the Convention contains elements for such agreements. These agreements are not a precondition for the application or ratification of the Convention but should be seen as a way of achieving effective application.

See also :

• Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation on EIA in a Transboundary Context (1995 report, CEP/WG.3/R.4), UNECE
• Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiator's Handbook , UNEP et al

Examples of agreements are available here:

• Draft Multilateral agreement among the countries of South-East Europe for implmentation of the Convention (ECE/MP.EIA/WG.1/2007/10) , in English, French and Russian ()
• Austria-Slovakia bilateral agreement, in German and Slovak ()
• Agreement between Estonia and Latvia on transboundary EIA (1997)
• Agreement between Estonia and Finland on transboundary EIA (2002)
• Description of an outline agreement between Italy and Croatia
• Common Declaration on transboundary EIA between the Netherlands and Germany plus contacts (Dutch & German)
• Germany-Poland bilateral agreement in German and Polish ( in force from 6 July 2007)
• Agreement between Poland & Lithuania on transboundary EIA (text in Lithuanian )

Your suggestions for help on these pages would be most welcome: email to eia.conv@unece.org.