Background On 9 December 1996, the Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major accident hazards – the so-called Seveso II Directive - was adopted. The aim of the Seveso II Directive is two-fold. Firstly, the Directive aims to prevent major accident hazards involving dangerous substances. Secondly, the Directive aims to limit the consequences of such accidents not only for humans (safety and health aspects) but also for the environment. The MEDA report entitled “Environmental Legislation for Turkey” (2002) identified substantial differences between EU and Turkish legislation. The Turkish Local Emergency State Plan for Major Industrial Accidents does not cover all the requirements of the Seveso Directive, and moreover it is not legally binding. It was strongly recommended that a new Turkish regulation be prepared which transposes all the requirements of the Seveso Directive. Objectives The overall objective of the project was to complete the transposition of the Seveso Directive into Turkish legislation. The following activities were planned: · data collection and review of current practices; · strategy development; · implementation Plan preparation; · preparation of draft Regulation transposing the provisions of the Seveso II Directive; · preparation of the main guidelines; and · establishment of an information system. Results The project has been successful in terms of transposing the "Seveso II Directive" on the control of major industrial accidents involving dangerous substances into Turkish legislation. It can be considered a success story; outputs and deliverables are of a very high quality, and both the beneficiary and the partner were very committed to ensure the future sustainability of their work. The objectives have been fully achieved and the main project outputs can be summarized as follows; - Final version of Draft Regulation on the Control of Major Industrial Accident Hazards and four Communiqués (safety report and emergency planning, inspection, public information and notification). - Draft articles prepared for the revision of Turkish Environment Law. - Draft Memorandum of Understanding between MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forestry)and MoLSS (Ministry of Labour and Social Security). Consent and co-operation by MoLSS were crucial, as the regulation will have to be issued and implemented jointly by MoEF and MoLSS. - Directive Specific Implementation Plan. - Electronic notification System and Procedure for industry to submit information to MoEF. - Layman Report which informs decision-makers and non technical parties about the objectives of the project and the results achieved. The legal and institutional capacity in this environmental area has been built up through the project. The outputs of the draft Directive Specific Implementation Plan (DSIP) have been integrated into environmental strategies. The prototype (software structure) application, which was prepared for the MoEF, is an adequate tool for the implementation of the future SEVESO regulation. At the time of writing, the draft regulation was presented for revision on the web site of the MoEF. The electronic notification system is operational and is already being used by more than 550 industrial establishments, although it is expected that the full scope of its capacities will only be used once the notification becomes legally obligatory. After the enforcement of the regulation, it is expected that short and long-term measures to minimize major accidents hazards will produce a positive effect on decreasing pollution concentrations and will increase public security. However, the environmental benefits of the project can only be assessed in an ex post evaluation. They largely depend on the coming into force of all draft legislation and the adoption of the DSIP in the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA). The DSIP foresees 15 key actions to be undertaken in the 12 years to come. The environmental benefits of the projects could be assessed according to what extent these actions are implemented. The transposition of the Seveso Directive was a priority issue in Turkish environmental policy: the project provided an important contribution to the implementation of the environmental acquis .