PrefaceReliable knowledge of the sources and magnitudes of emissions of air pollutants is an absolute requirement for any assessment of air pollution for research and policy purposes .A few years ago, accessible information on pollution in many eastern European countries was sparse. Nevertheless, using IIASA's position as an East-West institute, IIASA's Transboundary Air Pollution Project developed the RAINS model for the integrated assessment of international strategies to reduce trans boundary air pollution in Europe. With the help of many collaborators in IIASA 's member countries, the databases have been filled with the best information available at that time .Now the situation has changed and environmental information is abundant. However, serious questions remain as to the quality and the international consistency of national data. Again, IIASA has used its scientific network to establish the first harmonized inventory of air pollutants' emissions in the region of the Central European Initiative. The task was facilitated by the fact that most countries participating in this new initiative are also members of IIASA.Providing detailed information on emissions in the heart of Europe this inventory will serve as a valuable basis for the design of effective strategies to reduce air pollution in Europe. Abstract-This paper presents the first consistent inventory of emission of sulphur dioxide (S0 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NO,), particulate matter (PM), and carbon dioxide (C0 2 ), for the countries co-operating in the Central European Initiative: Austria, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. The inventory is based on national and regional statistics as well as on information received from collaborating institutions. National data has been verified and converted into a common format, consistent with the database used by the European Environmental Agency and the European Community (the "CORINAIR" system). The inventory describes emissions in the year 1988, before the restructuring process began in former socialist economies. Data has been collected on the national level, for administrational units and for large point sources. The database on point sources contains specific information on 400 large plants in the region (e.g. capacity, commissioning year, fuel use, production, etc.). Total emissions ofS0 2 in the CE! region in 1988 were 10.3 million tons, which accounts for 25 % of total European S0 2 emissions. The highest emission densities (more than 100 t km -2 ) are found in Northern Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Upper Silesia (Poland). The overwhelming majority ofS0 2 emissions (70%) originates from combustion of domestic (brown and hard) coal. Across the region, 60% of S0 2 is emitted from the large point sources identified in the study and over 50% ofS0 2 emissions from public power plants in the CEI region is produced in plants older than 20 years.
