Environment and transition in the Czech republic

Abstract

In the Czech Republic, as elsewhere in east and central Europe, a neglected and abused environment symbolised many of the failures of the Soviet‐style planned system. In the post‐communist era the environmental issue can be used as an indicator of the process of political change. The transition is primarily a process of altering the legacies of over 40 years of communist rule. Dismantling the command economy and establishing free elections and a multi‐party system were merely the first steps in a lengthy process that had also to include the re‐establishment of civil society after years of repression by the state, and the re‐integration of the Czech Republic into Europe as an independent actor. In addition to the creation of new legislation, evidence of a decision‐making process based on an active role for the public, and discussion between policy‐makers and non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), will be the hallmarks of a new political order which has overturned the legacies of the communist past. The pro...