Water protection and quality management in the European Union and Lithuania Summary Key words: water protection, strategic planning, integrated protection, sustainable development, financial instruments, water directives, transference of legislation, legislation on water protection. The major objective of this master thesis is to examine how water protection policy is implemented in the EU and Lithuania, to analyze possibilities of water policy financing, and to discuss the process of harmonizing EU’s and Lithuania’s legislation on water protection issues. The hypothesis raised in this thesis states that successful implementation of water policy is being highly influenced by the integrated water management, which covers policy agenda setting, legislation scope, institutional capabilities and financing efficiency. The thesis consists of six parts. In the first part of this thesis author examines three different stages of water policy implementation in the EU in a chronological order. The development of policy formation is discussed and features of every stage are defined. In the second part of the thesis water directives of different stages of EU water policy are presented and examined. The third part of this thesis is targeted to examine the development of water policy in Lithuania and at the same time to determine the changes of water legislation in Lithuania prior to its membership in the European Union and after its entry. The fourth part of the thesis aims to... [to full text]

Basic concepts: environmental protection, legal regulation, sustainable development, protection of water and air quality, waste management, financing of environmental protection, transposition and implementation of legislation. The aim of the thesis is to determine and look into the influence of the EU environmental policy on the formation of Lithuania’s environmental policy. To this end, the analysis of EU environmental policy documents and directives has been carried out, and their transposition and implementation in Lithuania’s environmental policy have been considered. Focus has also been placed on the financing of the EU environmental policy and absorption of EU assistance in Lithuania. An expert survey has been carried out to attain this objective. The object of the thesis is the process of implementation of the EU environmental policy and its legal norms in Lithuania. The thesis raises a hypothesis that the implementation of the EU environmental policy in Lithuania depends on the competence of Lithuania’s management authorities and EU financial assistance, as the failure to absorb it indicates an inadequate level of development and efficiency of Lithuania’s environmental policy. The research performed in the thesis has supported the hypothesis. The present master’s thesis consists of three sections. The first section of the thesis analyses EU environmental programmes and their impact on the development of the EU environmental policy and presents the legal regulation of... [to full text]