8.2 International Water Law in the European Union
91
– to co-ordinate integrated flood protection,
– to collect and provide Oder-related information (studies, projects, maps, reports,
literature) for information exchange (Art. 2.).
8.2.3.5 The Sava Framework Agreement
The Sava river is about 950 km long with a basin area of 97,700 km
2 covering
significant parts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro
and a small part of Albania. It is the third longest tributary of the Danube and the
largest by discharge.
29
The Sava River represents a unique case in the recent history of international water
governance. The river became international only in the early 1990s following the disintegration of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Sava—as a
major tributary of the Danube—had already been covered by the cooperation framework of the Danube Protection Convention and the work of the ICPDR. Yet, following
the establishment in 1999 the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe strong international pressure and the recognised mutual interest of the riparian states—Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and (then) the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia—led to the relatively quick elaboration and adoption of the Framework Agreement
on the Sava River Basin
30 in 2002 (Matic 2011). In fact, it was the first international
treaty the successor states adopted in the wake of the demise of Yugoslavia.
The Framework Agreement undoubtedly represents a new generation of water
treaties in Europe in so far as it goes beyond the limited environmental focus of its
counterparts for it aims at integrating all aspects of water resources management
in the basin. This broader approach flows from a number of conditions. First, the
Sava Framework Agreement was born following the internationalisation of the Sava
river. As a result, the new riparian states had to address the totality of transboundary
water issues at the same time, rather than selected issues that were left unattended
after decades of cooperation as it happened elsewhere. Second, the Agreement was
born at a time when the one-sided dominance of chemical pollution issues was
gradually superseded by the new paradigm: integrated water resources management.
Finally, the Agreement was an important peace-and-stability project with very strong
influence by the powers behind the post-Yugoslav peace process. As a consequence,
the Sava Agreement drew more heavily on the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention
than other basin treaties adopted in the preceding decade (Rieu-Clarke 2007).
The objectives of the Agreement are threefold: navigation, sustainable water management, water-related hazard prevention and mitigation (Art. 1.). These objectives
must be achieved in accordance with the three core principles of the UN Watercourses Convention: equitable and reasonable utilisation, the prevention of significant harm and the cooperation on any significant transboundary matter (Art. 3., 4.,
7–9.). Importantly, the Agreement is based on the notion of “water regime”, i.e. the
29 http://www.savacommission.org/basin_about (accessed 12 February 2019).
30 See footnote 10.
91
– to co-ordinate integrated flood protection,
– to collect and provide Oder-related information (studies, projects, maps, reports,
literature) for information exchange (Art. 2.).
8.2.3.5 The Sava Framework Agreement
The Sava river is about 950 km long with a basin area of 97,700 km
2 covering
significant parts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro
and a small part of Albania. It is the third longest tributary of the Danube and the
largest by discharge.
29
The Sava River represents a unique case in the recent history of international water
governance. The river became international only in the early 1990s following the disintegration of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Sava—as a
major tributary of the Danube—had already been covered by the cooperation framework of the Danube Protection Convention and the work of the ICPDR. Yet, following
the establishment in 1999 the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe strong international pressure and the recognised mutual interest of the riparian states—Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and (then) the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia—led to the relatively quick elaboration and adoption of the Framework Agreement
on the Sava River Basin
30 in 2002 (Matic 2011). In fact, it was the first international
treaty the successor states adopted in the wake of the demise of Yugoslavia.
The Framework Agreement undoubtedly represents a new generation of water
treaties in Europe in so far as it goes beyond the limited environmental focus of its
counterparts for it aims at integrating all aspects of water resources management
in the basin. This broader approach flows from a number of conditions. First, the
Sava Framework Agreement was born following the internationalisation of the Sava
river. As a result, the new riparian states had to address the totality of transboundary
water issues at the same time, rather than selected issues that were left unattended
after decades of cooperation as it happened elsewhere. Second, the Agreement was
born at a time when the one-sided dominance of chemical pollution issues was
gradually superseded by the new paradigm: integrated water resources management.
Finally, the Agreement was an important peace-and-stability project with very strong
influence by the powers behind the post-Yugoslav peace process. As a consequence,
the Sava Agreement drew more heavily on the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention
than other basin treaties adopted in the preceding decade (Rieu-Clarke 2007).
The objectives of the Agreement are threefold: navigation, sustainable water management, water-related hazard prevention and mitigation (Art. 1.). These objectives
must be achieved in accordance with the three core principles of the UN Watercourses Convention: equitable and reasonable utilisation, the prevention of significant harm and the cooperation on any significant transboundary matter (Art. 3., 4.,
7–9.). Importantly, the Agreement is based on the notion of “water regime”, i.e. the
29 http://www.savacommission.org/basin_about (accessed 12 February 2019).
30 See footnote 10.