88
8 Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union
the Protection and Sustainable Use of the River Danube (Danube Convention)
20 was
signed in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1994 and came into force in 1998. Parties to this convention include all major riparian states, i.e. Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the European Union. The elaboration of the
Convention was heavily influenced by the UNECE Water Convention, even though
the latter was not yet in force at the time (Moynihan 2015).
Given that water pollution was the dominant problem in the basin at the time of
its drafting, the Convention itself has a predominantly ecological focus (Schmeier
2013). The main objectives of the Convention are thus sustainable and equitable water
management, including the conservation, improvement and rational use of surface
and groundwater in the Danube river basin as well as the reduction of the pollution of
the Black Sea. Water quantity issues come under the remit of the Convention “only
incidentally” as was interpreted by the European Court of Justice.
21 To achieve the
above objectives, parties pledged to cooperate so as to maintain and/or improve the
environmental and water quality conditions of the basin. For all such measures the
precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle constitute a common starting
point (Art. 2.).
The implementation of the Convention is supported and coordinated by the International Commission for the Protection of the River Danube (ICPDR). The ICPDR
operates the decision-making system of the Convention, carries out projects specifying measures to be taken in order to achieve the objectives of the convention, etc.
Importantly, the ICPDR has been tasked by the relevant basin states to coordinate
the implementation of the EU’s Water Framework Directive which non-EU riparian
states also undertook to implement on a voluntary basis. The ICPDR is considered as
one the highly effective model RBOs in wider international comparison (Schmeier
2013).
8.2.3.2 The Rhine Convention
The River Rhine flows from its source in Switzerland through Germany, France and
the Netherlands to the North Sea. The Rhine basin also includes Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy and Belgium. It is the third largest river of Europe, with a total length of
1320 km and a catchment area of 185, 000 km
2 .
22
The Rhine was the first international river to be made subject to a formal governance arrangement: the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine was created in 1815 (Boisson de Chazournes 2013). The current institutional setting for cooperation—the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)—was
established in 1963. Today’s regulatory framework, the Convention on the Protection
20 See footnote 4.
21 C-36/98, Spain v. Council, ECR 2001, I-00779, para 63.
22 https://www.iksr.org/en/rhine/ (accessed 12 February 2019).
8 Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union
the Protection and Sustainable Use of the River Danube (Danube Convention)
20 was
signed in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1994 and came into force in 1998. Parties to this convention include all major riparian states, i.e. Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the European Union. The elaboration of the
Convention was heavily influenced by the UNECE Water Convention, even though
the latter was not yet in force at the time (Moynihan 2015).
Given that water pollution was the dominant problem in the basin at the time of
its drafting, the Convention itself has a predominantly ecological focus (Schmeier
2013). The main objectives of the Convention are thus sustainable and equitable water
management, including the conservation, improvement and rational use of surface
and groundwater in the Danube river basin as well as the reduction of the pollution of
the Black Sea. Water quantity issues come under the remit of the Convention “only
incidentally” as was interpreted by the European Court of Justice.
21 To achieve the
above objectives, parties pledged to cooperate so as to maintain and/or improve the
environmental and water quality conditions of the basin. For all such measures the
precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle constitute a common starting
point (Art. 2.).
The implementation of the Convention is supported and coordinated by the International Commission for the Protection of the River Danube (ICPDR). The ICPDR
operates the decision-making system of the Convention, carries out projects specifying measures to be taken in order to achieve the objectives of the convention, etc.
Importantly, the ICPDR has been tasked by the relevant basin states to coordinate
the implementation of the EU’s Water Framework Directive which non-EU riparian
states also undertook to implement on a voluntary basis. The ICPDR is considered as
one the highly effective model RBOs in wider international comparison (Schmeier
2013).
8.2.3.2 The Rhine Convention
The River Rhine flows from its source in Switzerland through Germany, France and
the Netherlands to the North Sea. The Rhine basin also includes Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy and Belgium. It is the third largest river of Europe, with a total length of
1320 km and a catchment area of 185, 000 km
2 .
22
The Rhine was the first international river to be made subject to a formal governance arrangement: the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine was created in 1815 (Boisson de Chazournes 2013). The current institutional setting for cooperation—the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)—was
established in 1963. Today’s regulatory framework, the Convention on the Protection
20 See footnote 4.
21 C-36/98, Spain v. Council, ECR 2001, I-00779, para 63.
22 https://www.iksr.org/en/rhine/ (accessed 12 February 2019).