With their accession in May 2004 the new Member States will have to apply among others the European regulations on waste management. The European challenges were summarised in a study carried out by Ecologic and discussed during seminars with municipalities and national representatives in Lithuania and Latvia. The objective of the two projects is to prepare the regional and local environmental administrations in Lithuania and in Latvia for their EU-accession.

Representatives from municipalities, regional administrations, inspectorates and from related sectors such as urban planning, energy or transport are being informed about the relationship between European and national environmental policy. A basic understanding on the accession's implications for these countries is being given. This contributes to better implementation and enforcement of national environmental law, initiated through European environmental regulations. In order to develop the necessary knowledge and practical experiences to achieve these goals, a series of events have been scheduled, including information fairs, seminars and management training.

One set of seminars was dedicated to municipal waste management. Experts from Ecologic, the environmental administrations of Northrhine-Westfalia and Bavaria shared their practical experiences with selected Latvian and Lithuanian representatives.

Further seminars took place concerning EU water policy.