The German government has a major interest in continuing the successful environmental cooperation between Germany and the Czech Republic. "We are looking forward to further expanding cooperation, for instance in the area of environmental education and in species conservation", outlined Katherina Reiche, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry at the end of the meeting of the German-Czech Environment Commission in Dresden. The Commission's remit is based on a bilateral environmental agreement signed in 1996 between Germany and the Czech Republic. The Dresden meeting was the 10th of its kind. The Commission is jointly chaired by Parliamentary Sate Secretary Katherina Reiche and Veronika Hunt-Safrankova, the Czech Deputy Environment Minister.
The emphasis will remain on transboundary cooperation. This includes topics such as the reduction of odour emissions affecting Saxony and Bavaria, the regulation of transboundary environmental impact assessment and the continuation of successful cooperation geared towards protecting transboundary waterways. It was agreed to also cooperate in lynx protection. Upon request of the Czech government, Germany will also increasingly share its experience with pre-school environmental education.
Current developments in international climate policy constituted another major topic on the Commission's agenda. Both Germany and the Czech Republic support the EU maintaining its forerunner role in international climate protection and the contents of the Copenhagen Accord being further specified.
With regard to familiarizing other countries with the EU's environment standards, both Germany and the Czech Republic intend to jointly pass on information about their experience in particular by using the EU Twinning Programme.