82
8 Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union
the 1986 Sandoz accident in Switzerland on the Rhine whose devastating ecological impacts led to a paradigm shift towards ecosystem-oriented, holistic governance
approaches all over Europe (Reichert 2016).
The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989–1990 injected fresh impetus into the institutionalisation of transboundary cooperation. The first example of the ensuing treatymaking was the adoption of Elbe Convention
3 by Germany, the Czech Republic and
the European Economic Community as early as in 1990. The year 1992 marked the
adoption of the UNECE Water Convention (see Sect. 8.2.2) that not only created a
stand-alone solid and durable legal framework for transboundary water cooperation
for the European continent and beyond, but also required the conclusion of specific
basin agreements by parties. This resulted in a new wave of regional treaty-making
since the mid1990s. The most notable examples include the Danube Convention
(1994),
4 the Scheldt Agreement,
5 the Meuse Agreement
6 and the Oder Convention
7
(1996), the Spanish-Portuguese Basins Convention
8 (Albufeira Convention 1998),
the new Rhine Convention
9 (1999), the Sava Framework Agreement
10 (2002) or the
Lake Ohrid Agreement
11 (2004). Most recently, treaty-making (or revision) at basin
level has been influenced by the EU’s Water Framework Directive whose planning
and monitoring requirements have been incorporated into the text or work programme
of the relevant international agreements and basin organisations (Reichert 2016). This
evolutionary curve, largely determined by the persistent pollution problems of the
1970s and 1980s, has left a lasting impact on water law within the European Union,
manifested in a strong ecological/qualitative focus with water quantity-related or
economic issues playing only a marginal role.
Naturally, below basin or sub-basin level riparian states had engaged in formal
transboundary water cooperation well before the emergence of the above major basin
treaties or the UNECE Water Convention. Bilateral instruments comprise of (comprehensive or partial) water frontier treaties, joint water infrastructure and development
treaties, agreements on special water uses, etc. (see Sect. 8.2.4). Remarkably, such
treaties were concluded in large numbers by parties on opposite sides of the Iron
Curtain.
3 Convention on the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe, Magdeburg, 8 October
1990.
4 Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube, Sofia, 29 June
1994.
5 Agreement on the Protection of the River Scheldt, Charleville Mezieres, 26 April 1994.
6 Agreement on the Protection of the River Meuse, Charleville Mezieres, 26 April 1994.
7 Convention on the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder, Wroclaw, 11 April
1996.
8 Convention on the Co-operation for the Protection and the Sustainable Use of the Waters of the
Luso-Spanish River Basins, Albufeira, 30 November 1998.
9 Convention on the Protection of the Rhine, Bern, 12 April 1999.
10 Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, Kranjska Gora, 3 December 2002.
11 Agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Government of
the Republic of Macedonia for the protection and sustainable development of Lake Ohrid and its
watershed, Skopje, 17 June 2004.
8 Transboundary Water Governance in the European Union
the 1986 Sandoz accident in Switzerland on the Rhine whose devastating ecological impacts led to a paradigm shift towards ecosystem-oriented, holistic governance
approaches all over Europe (Reichert 2016).
The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989–1990 injected fresh impetus into the institutionalisation of transboundary cooperation. The first example of the ensuing treatymaking was the adoption of Elbe Convention
3 by Germany, the Czech Republic and
the European Economic Community as early as in 1990. The year 1992 marked the
adoption of the UNECE Water Convention (see Sect. 8.2.2) that not only created a
stand-alone solid and durable legal framework for transboundary water cooperation
for the European continent and beyond, but also required the conclusion of specific
basin agreements by parties. This resulted in a new wave of regional treaty-making
since the mid1990s. The most notable examples include the Danube Convention
(1994),
4 the Scheldt Agreement,
5 the Meuse Agreement
6 and the Oder Convention
7
(1996), the Spanish-Portuguese Basins Convention
8 (Albufeira Convention 1998),
the new Rhine Convention
9 (1999), the Sava Framework Agreement
10 (2002) or the
Lake Ohrid Agreement
11 (2004). Most recently, treaty-making (or revision) at basin
level has been influenced by the EU’s Water Framework Directive whose planning
and monitoring requirements have been incorporated into the text or work programme
of the relevant international agreements and basin organisations (Reichert 2016). This
evolutionary curve, largely determined by the persistent pollution problems of the
1970s and 1980s, has left a lasting impact on water law within the European Union,
manifested in a strong ecological/qualitative focus with water quantity-related or
economic issues playing only a marginal role.
Naturally, below basin or sub-basin level riparian states had engaged in formal
transboundary water cooperation well before the emergence of the above major basin
treaties or the UNECE Water Convention. Bilateral instruments comprise of (comprehensive or partial) water frontier treaties, joint water infrastructure and development
treaties, agreements on special water uses, etc. (see Sect. 8.2.4). Remarkably, such
treaties were concluded in large numbers by parties on opposite sides of the Iron
Curtain.
3 Convention on the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe, Magdeburg, 8 October
1990.
4 Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube, Sofia, 29 June
1994.
5 Agreement on the Protection of the River Scheldt, Charleville Mezieres, 26 April 1994.
6 Agreement on the Protection of the River Meuse, Charleville Mezieres, 26 April 1994.
7 Convention on the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder, Wroclaw, 11 April
1996.
8 Convention on the Co-operation for the Protection and the Sustainable Use of the Waters of the
Luso-Spanish River Basins, Albufeira, 30 November 1998.
9 Convention on the Protection of the Rhine, Bern, 12 April 1999.
10 Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, Kranjska Gora, 3 December 2002.
11 Agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Government of
the Republic of Macedonia for the protection and sustainable development of Lake Ohrid and its
watershed, Skopje, 17 June 2004.