Brussels, 16/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - Ministers and high-level representatives responsible for the water management in the Danube River Basin took part in a ministerial meeting of the states party to the Convention on the Protection of the Danube, in Vienna on Tuesday 16 February. The meeting was organised by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), which is chaired by Mitja Bricelj. The Danube River Basin Management Plan, to be implemented by 2015, outlines concrete measures to improve the environmental condition of the Danube and its tributaries. The ministers, from all the states bordering on the Danube, also approved the Danube Declaration which expresses the commitment to further reinforce transboundary cooperation on sustainable water resource management within the Danube River Basin.
The measures include: reducing organic and nutrient pollution; offsetting environmentally detrimental effects of man-made structural changes to the river; improvements to urban wastewater systems; the introduction of phosphate-free detergents in all markets; and effective management of risk of accidental pollution. Further, measures to restore river continuity for fish migration as well as the reconnection of wetlands were discussed. The plan takes a source-to-sea approach and addresses key requirements of the European Union Water Framework Directive. Flood action plans for the 17 sub-basins in the Danube catchment area are also planned.
The 14 countries taking part were Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The European Commission was also represented. The aim of the meeting was to evaluate the progress towards the protection and sustainable use of water and other ecological resources and reaffirm and strengthen their commitment to transboundary cooperation in the Danube River Basin. For further information, go to: http://www.icpdr.org (G.B./transl.rt)