The ideal of a "common European garden", embracing the 15 EU member-states and all of the countries of central and eastern Europe, is bound to be the catchall theme of the 4th Pan-European Conference of Environment Ministers in the Danish city of Aarhus this week.
They will be coming from north, south, east and west in an effort to reach a common position on some of the main threats to Europe's environment - notably from trans-boundary air pollution, such as the "acid rain" generated by one country which ends up falling on another.
How a consensus can be reached among such disparate countries is a moot point. Though EU member-states have made great strides in countering environmental problems, the progress made by countries in central and eastern Europe has been patchy, to say the least.
Those in the first wave of EU accession negotiations - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - are ahead of the rest, if only because they realise that member
ship will ultimately mean having to comply with a raft of EU directives, ranging from air pollution to waste.
But others, particularly those countries which were part of the Soviet Union, are still in the ha'penny place by comparison. The reduction in their emissions is largely due to economic collapse and the restructuring of their economies than because of conscious environmental policies.
The main objective of the "Environment for Europe" process, of which the three-day Aarhus conference is the latest instalment, is to create a forum of co-operation to restore the environment in central and eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union, after years of spectacular neglect.
The real meat at the conference will be provided by the European Environmental Agency's latest assessment of the environment. This is known as "Dobris+3" because it comes three years after the first report, ordered by an earlier meeting at Dobris Castle, near Prague, in 1991. Published earlier this month, it gives a mixed report card. On the plus side, it shows that Europe has made progress in reducing pressures on the environment, particularly emissions of sulphur dioxide, lead, phosphorus and ozone-depleting substances, such as CFCs.
But these efforts, largely dictated by international conventions or protocols, have not led to an overall improvement in Europe's environment because they have been offset by problems relating to climate change, summer smog, groundwater pollution and soil erosion.
Intensive farming remains a major source of pollution and environmental pressures caused by transport are growing fast, with an almost exponential rise in road traffic. Emissions from transport and agriculture, being more diffuse, are much harder to control. Dobris+3 also makes clear that western Europe remains the biggest contributor to pollution on the Continent, if only because emissions in central and eastern Europe have been substantially reduced - due to a close-down of heavily-polluting industries.
The big worry now is that the environment of former Soviet countries will become the first casualty of resumed economic growth, especially if foreign investors do not put its protection high on their agenda. There is already evidence that foreign banks have not given it much priority.
But representatives of the European Round Table of Industrialists and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development will be in Aarhus to present a voluntary initiative to ensure high environmental standards when their members invest in the former communist states.
Domestic resources remain scarce in these countries and environmental projects face stiff competition from many other, perhaps more pressing needs. Some of them find it difficult, if not impossible, to prepare environmental projects for loan applications to the World Bank.
Ministers attending the conference are expected to adopt a panEuropean strategy to phase out leaded petrol. They are also expected to sign protocols on persistent organic pollutants, such as DDT, and to discuss progress on a nitrous oxides protocol.
Other issues include a European strategy for the protection of species and landscapes, which are under threat especially in the east, as well as energy conservation, environmental management and the adoption of cleaner industrial technologies.
The profligate waste of energy in the former communist countries has become a major barrier to economic growth and a source of serious pollution. Greater energy efficiency throughout Europe would also help to fulfil climate protection commitments under the Kyoto protocol.