Comparative analysis of forest law development in selected European countries

Forest legislation of European countries is generally based on one basic law (code or act) regulating forest relations at the national level. The process of law making is a permanent one. Even countries with a high level of economic development amend forest legislation according to changing development trends and international agreements. It should be recognized that until present there is no single approach to the formation of the forest law. Its content, structure and scope are determined by historical developments and traditions of law making in each particular country. In 2003 an attempt of a brief comparative analysis of the forest codes of 7 countries was made: Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. Since this study 6 years have passed. The analyzed post soviet countries passed an adaptation period to EU legislation and have received the official formal status of EU Member States. It is worth mentioning that the strategy of the European Union and the forest action plan, adopted in 2006 and valid till 2011, have sufficient influence on the countrys main normative documents. The EU forest action plan sets four main objectives: Improving long-term competitiveness; Improving and protecting the environment; Contributing to the quality of life; Fostering coordination and communication. The forest action plan underlines once again the necessity of ensuring implementation of all component of sustainable forestry development - economic, ecologic and social - and the need of taking measures directed to encouragement of use of wood as a renewable resource. Important influences have as well the decisions of the Ministerial Conferences on protection of forests in Europe and other international processes. What changes were made in the main forest laws of countries under analysis? In Slovakia a new forest law was adopted in 2005 and some amendments made in 2007. A lot of changes since 2003 occurred in Estonian forest act. Fewer changes are to be noted in the forest laws of Poland and Latvia. Few changes are to be found in the forest law of the Czech Republic. In the forest code of Lithuania there have been no amendments. The forest legislation of Hungary could not be considered in the analysis due to lack of reference material. The structure of forest codes analyses does not show changes with a division in four main parts which are declarative, regulatory, normative and procedural.