At the Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe," which took place on 28−30 April 1993 in Lucerne,
Switzerland, Ministers "endorsed the broad strategy, with its principles and general priorities, contained in the
Environmental Action Programme for Central and Eastern Europe (EAP) as a basis for action by national and
local governments, the Commission of the European Communities and by international organisations and
financial institutions and private investors active in the region" (Paragraph 6 of the Ministerial Declaration, 30
April 1993).
This endorsement was the culmination of a two−year process of discussion and consensus building among
representatives from about 30 Eastern and Western countries and numerous international institutions in the
framework of the Swiss−led Expert Group established after the Dobris Conference in June, 1991. From a different
perspective, the endorsement was the beginning of a substantive dialogue which is based on a much better
understanding of how to achieve tangible results in a situation where serious environmental problems must
compete with many other grave social and economic demands