June 11, 2013, Brussels — MAMA-86 Head of the Board Anna Golubovska-Onisimova and Executive Director Zoriana Mishchuk took part in the panel discussion "Environmental challenges of the European Integration: How Ukraine and other EaP countries are adopting EU environmental standards?" The event was organized by the Resource and Analytical Center "Society and Environment," the Ukrainian National Environmental NGO "MAMA-86," and the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (CSF) Secretariat with support from the International Renaissance Foundation.

Speakers at the meeting, moderated by Viorel Ursu, Senior Policy Analyst with the Open Society European Policy Institute, also included Nataliya Andrusevych, RAC "Society and Environment" Head of the Board, and Andrzej Januszewski, Policy Officer for Ukraine, EC Directorate-General for the Environment, European Commission. The audience included representatives from European NGOs and think-tanks, as well as individual experts engaging in environmental policy or EU relationships with Ukraine and other the EaP countries.

Ms. Golubovska-Onisimova presented the findings of a comparative analysis of EaP countries' progress in European integration's environmental reforms, focusing on major challenges the counties face on this way. Ms. Andrusevych and Ms. Mishchuk presented a recent civil society assessment of Ukraine’s implementation of environmental integration priorities as well as recommendations for stakeholders, including EU institutions, on how to spur the environmental policy reforms in Ukraine and EaP, thus improving the state of environment in the region. The discussants paid a special attention to the top priority of implementing European principles in environmental governance, which most often turned out to be the weak link in the reform process.

The event was held within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF). Ms. Golubovska-Onisimova is a coordinator of Working Group 3 "Environment, Climate Change and Energy Security" of the EaP CSF, and Ms. Mishchuk is the coordinator of the same-named group of the EaP CSF's Ukrainian National Platform.