94
8 Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union
or regions.
37 In line with the UNECE Water Convention’s call for the revision of
frontier water treaties and the new requirements of the Water Framework Directive
the trend, however, is clearly moving towards comprehensive, all-inclusive bilateral
water treaties and replacing fragmented, historic, single issue agreements.
8.2.4.2 Examples of Major Bilateral Water Agreements
The body of contemporary EU bilateral water treaties is thoroughly documented.
As a part of the above-mentioned survey of transboundary water governance in
the European Union and its immediate neighbourhood, the European Commission
compiled a comprehensive catalogue of bilateral water treaties (WRc plc 2012). From
this compilation it appears that most EU members and their riparian neighbours have
bilateral water cooperation agreements in place (there are 20 such agreements just
among the Danube riparian states).
Some of these agreements have gained a reputation beyond their own constituencies for their success in managing co-riparian relations in complicated hydrological
or political circumstances. One notable example is the 1964 Finnish-Soviet frontier
water agreement
38 that created a model for transboundary water cooperation in the
darkest era of the Cold War with lasting positive impacts not only on bilateral relations, but also on the development of UNECE water law (Belinskij 2015). Another
European bilateral arrangement whose development and implementation had been
followed beyond the relevant basin is the Agreement between the Government of the
French Republic and the Spanish Government relating to Lake Lanoux that finally
settled the water allocation dispute between France and Spain concerning the Lake
Lanoux and Carol river.
39
The best-known bilateral water agreement between two EU member states, however, is undoubtedly the 1998 Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and
Sustainable Use of the Waters of Luso-Spanish River Basins
40 (the Albufeira Convention) between Spain and Portugal. While there exist a number of other bilateral
treaties that established effective governance mechanisms for transboundary watercourses, the Albufeira Convention deserves special attention for the novelty of its
approach as well as its propensity to become a European model for water management in semi-arid climatic conditions (Canelas de Castro 2009).
The Albufeira Convention follows the basic building blocks of international and
EU water law, such equitable and reasonable utilisation, the no-harm rule, sustainable
water use or the river-basin approach. The Convention covers all five joint basins and,
37 Arrangement between the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the Prefect
of Haute-Savoie on the Protection and Recharge of the Franco-Swiss Genevois Aquifers, Geneva,
9 June 1978.
38 Agreement between the Republic of Finland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Concerning Frontier Watercourses, Helsinki, 24 April 1964.
39 Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Spanish Government relating
to Lake Lanoux, Madrid, 12 July 1958.
40 See footnote 8
8 Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union
or regions.
37 In line with the UNECE Water Convention’s call for the revision of
frontier water treaties and the new requirements of the Water Framework Directive
the trend, however, is clearly moving towards comprehensive, all-inclusive bilateral
water treaties and replacing fragmented, historic, single issue agreements.
8.2.4.2 Examples of Major Bilateral Water Agreements
The body of contemporary EU bilateral water treaties is thoroughly documented.
As a part of the above-mentioned survey of transboundary water governance in
the European Union and its immediate neighbourhood, the European Commission
compiled a comprehensive catalogue of bilateral water treaties (WRc plc 2012). From
this compilation it appears that most EU members and their riparian neighbours have
bilateral water cooperation agreements in place (there are 20 such agreements just
among the Danube riparian states).
Some of these agreements have gained a reputation beyond their own constituencies for their success in managing co-riparian relations in complicated hydrological
or political circumstances. One notable example is the 1964 Finnish-Soviet frontier
water agreement
38 that created a model for transboundary water cooperation in the
darkest era of the Cold War with lasting positive impacts not only on bilateral relations, but also on the development of UNECE water law (Belinskij 2015). Another
European bilateral arrangement whose development and implementation had been
followed beyond the relevant basin is the Agreement between the Government of the
French Republic and the Spanish Government relating to Lake Lanoux that finally
settled the water allocation dispute between France and Spain concerning the Lake
Lanoux and Carol river.
39
The best-known bilateral water agreement between two EU member states, however, is undoubtedly the 1998 Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and
Sustainable Use of the Waters of Luso-Spanish River Basins
40 (the Albufeira Convention) between Spain and Portugal. While there exist a number of other bilateral
treaties that established effective governance mechanisms for transboundary watercourses, the Albufeira Convention deserves special attention for the novelty of its
approach as well as its propensity to become a European model for water management in semi-arid climatic conditions (Canelas de Castro 2009).
The Albufeira Convention follows the basic building blocks of international and
EU water law, such equitable and reasonable utilisation, the no-harm rule, sustainable
water use or the river-basin approach. The Convention covers all five joint basins and,
37 Arrangement between the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the Prefect
of Haute-Savoie on the Protection and Recharge of the Franco-Swiss Genevois Aquifers, Geneva,
9 June 1978.
38 Agreement between the Republic of Finland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Concerning Frontier Watercourses, Helsinki, 24 April 1964.
39 Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Spanish Government relating
to Lake Lanoux, Madrid, 12 July 1958.
40 See footnote 8