Transboundary issues and cooperation in the domain of environmental protection in the legislations of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The article discusses the normative framework of cooperation in the domain of environmental protection among four countries in the region of Southeastern Europe. One of the countries is an EU member (Croatia), two others have the status of a candidate country (Serbia, Montenegro), and the fourth one is in the process of receiving the status of a candidate country (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The introduction highlights the importance of transboundary issues in the domain of environmental protection and lays out the methodological remarks. The first part of the article is dedicated to the most significant international agreements of global, (sub)regional, and bilateral character on the basis of which these four countries have an obligation (and the right) to cooperate. In the second part of the article, we provide an overview of the most significant norms of domestic law in the domain of environmental protection (basic laws), which are related to transboundary issues and the obligation of cooperation among countries. The goal of the article is to establish the existence of the obligations of countries to cooperate in the domain of environmental protection. We consider the thesis that the obligation of cooperation among countries in solving transboundary issues is clearly recognized in the relevant international agreements and the character of that obligation should be interpreted in the context of specific rights and obligations of signatory states for each international agreement in its own right. The obligations (and rights) of cooperation are also prescribed in the domestic legislatures of all four countries and the differences could be interpreted on the basis of specific circumstances within each of them.