Different legal frameworks for economic instruments for the protection of nature and biodiversity in various Central European countries, with a particular focus on fees are examined in the article by colleagues from the Faculty of Law, Charles University.
The article examines and compares the legal regulation of economic instruments for nature conservation and biodiversity in five Central European countries, namely in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, and Germany. It focuses in particular on fees as instruments of negative economic stimulation.
The analysis focuses on three sub-areas of environmental and biodiversity protection: the protection of agricultural land from use for non-agricultural purposes, protection of forest from non-forest use, and nature protection, specifically in relation to the protection from felling of trees growing outside the forest and in relation to entry into the national parks or other protected areas of nature.
From the comparison of the different approaches and fees in the five countries the more general findings can be formulated:
- All the Central European EU countries surveyed are aware of the magnitude, complexity and severity of the problems of diversity loss and damage to nature. They use a mix of both legal and non-legal (science, technology, education, awareness, training, etc.) tools and means to protect nature and biodiversity. Economic instruments straddle the line between legal and non-legal instruments. In none of the countries studied are economic instruments the dominant tool for protecting biodiversity; rather, they are complementary (albeit important) protection measures.
- There is a rather clear difference in approaches between the old (Germany and Austria) and the newer (Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) EU countries. While the former addressed this issue more consistently through spatial planning, environmental impact assessments or positive economic initiatives, or even through voluntary and private law instruments (e.g. private law agreements with landowners), the latter have introduced and used negative economic incentive instruments to greater extent.
The article is available here.