Brussels, 31/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - To improve the environment in the Danube and Black Sea regions, the Commission is recommending that EU finance sources be co-ordinated and a task force be set up of the countries in the region, the Commission, interested Member States, international financial bodies and bilateral donors - as a co-operation platform. The Communication unveiled on Wednesday paints a gloomy picture of water quality and quantity and a drastic slump in biodiversity, and also of co-operation in the area (despite the existing international conventions, the investment in priority areas is only limited and not enough initiatives are being launched to reverse the trend for deterioration of the environment and the region's health problems). The Communication sets medium and long-term objectives, priority actions for restoring the ecology of an area that is of growing geopolitical importance in the run-up to enlargement of the European Union.