Tag Archives: EU Strategy

One step further for the EU Danube Strategy

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Danube Watch

After an intense consultation period involving all 14 Danube countries as well as stakeholder groups, the EU Strategy for the Danube Region is entering the final stages of completion and is expected to be adopted by the College of EU Commissioners on 14 December in the form of a Communication on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region.

The Danube Strategy itself will comprise two main documents: a Communication from the European Commission to the other institutions, which will set the scene and provide the overall framework for the future Strategy, and an Action Plan, which will be the main ‘roadmap’ for the years to come listing concrete actions to turn words into action. The Strategy is expected to be endorsed by Member States under the Hungarian EU Presidency in the first half of 2011.

“The ICPDR is clearly identified as an active partner and forum for issues and goals of the Danube Strategy related to water,” explains Philip Weller, Executive Secre tary of the ICPDR Secretariat. “Being the platform for implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive the ICPDR is ready to take on responsibilities for the water agenda of the Danube Strategy together with EU member states who will act as priority area coordinators for the two elements of the strategy dealing with water.”

For more information, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/danube/index_en.htm

Jasmine Bachmann is the Editor of Danube Watch

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Danube river to be severely impacted by plans to increase navigation

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WWF

Brussels, Belgium – Tomorrow the European Commission will publish plans to increase navigation on the Danube River, as part of their EU Strategy for the Danube Region. However this decision could result in significant negative impacts on the river’s unique environment without bringing the expected economic benefit to the region, WWF warns.

While acknowledging the inclusion of a number of environmental targets, including the protection of Danube sturgeon and improved water quality, WWF criticises the decision to increase navigation on the Danube by removing the so-called bottlenecks, obstacles to navigation during low water level. This usually involves deepening and widening the fairway with the help of old-fashioned and expensive infrastructures.

“Heavy investments in diking and dredging the Danube have been justified by various officials with reference to the Rhine river. But the Rhineland has very different conditions from the Danube area, with an industrial base that has developed over centuries and not just thanks to the river. Expecting an economic miracle from investments in Danube navigation is a myth, and potentially a very costly mistake.” said Andreas Beckmann, Director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.

The current focus of the proposed strategy on expensive and out-dated approaches to increase navigation risks not only waste money but destroy valuable biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, from flood protection to water purification.

“Solutions for improving inland navigation without changing drastically the nature of the river are available and are less costly in financial as well as ecological terms. We need to invest in innovative ship design that fit the existing depth of the river, better information systems, and nature friendly infrastructure.” added Beckmann.

WWF is calling on Danube countries and on Hungary as next leader of the EU Council to seize the opportunity of the Strategy to bring short and long term benefits to its population by using its enormous natural and cultural assets in a sustainable way.

For further information:
Stefania Campogianni, Media and Communication Officer, WWF European Policy Office, tel: +32 2 743 88 15, mob. +32 (0)499 539736, email: [email protected]

Andreas Beckmann, Director, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, mob: +43 676 84 27 28 216, email:[email protected]

Irene Lucius, Head of Policy, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, mob: +43 676 84 27 28215, email:[email protected]

Sergey Moroz, Freshwater Policy Officer, WWF European Policy Office, mob: +32 499 539734, email:[email protected]

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EU Danube strategy key to overcoming disparities: Barroso

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AFP

The European Union’s strategy for the Danube is key to overcoming disparities in the region, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday during a summit in Bucharest.

“There has been major progress since the beginning of the 1990s, but there are still considerable disparities in the region,” Barroso told the delegates of the 14 countries bordering the second-longest river in Europe.

“The challenge that lies ahead of us is to speed up the process of overcoming these disparities, and in this context the EU strategy for the Danube is an innovation in terms of policy-making,” he added.

Covering 20 percent of the EU’s territory and counting more than 115 million inhabitants, the Danube’s basin shelters some of Europe’s poorest regions, mainly in Bulgaria and Romania, but also some of the richest — in Germany and Austria.

In order to bridge the gaps, the strategy aims at modernising road, rail and river infrastructure, attracting more tourists, creating a regional energy market and reinforcing security, all while protecting the environment.

Improving shipping on this river is the top priority, as currently merely 3.0 to 6.0 percent of its potential is being used, experts stress.

According to the latest comprehensive figures available, 50 million tonnes of goods were transported on the Danube in 2007, the specialised organisation Via Donau told AFP in June. By way of comparison, more than 300 million tonnes of goods are shipped on the Rhine every year.

Romania hopes to capitalise on this programme in order to build two new bridges across the Danube and a canal linking Bucharest to the river, which would make it the fifth capital city to be a port on the Danube, president Traian Basescu said.

The strategy, which is to be officially adopted by the EU next year, does not come with a budget. But Barroso said it should draw on the 95 billion euros (133 billion dollars) made available by Brussels to the countries in the region until 2013.

In a declaration adopted at the end of the meeting, the signatories pledged to implement the programmes initiated and endorsed by the participating countries and to make better use of the structural and cohesion European funds.

They also “invited the international financial institutions to contribute to the implementation of the projects by their specific financial instruments and technical assistance.”

“The Strategy for the Danube can become one of the EU’s best long-term projects, it can be a success story,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a press conference.

The fourteen countries bordering the Danube are Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, and Ukraine.

The Danube, 2,860 kilometres (1,787 miles) in length originates in Germany and empties in the Black Sea, via a delta shared by Romania and Ukraine.

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