Tag Archives: The Danube Strategy

Priority area coordinators for EU Danube Region Strategy announced

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ENPI

The European Commission has revealed which countries and regions will lead priority areas of cooperation under the EU’s Strategy for the Danube Region. A Commission press release said the announcement pinpointing the ‘priority area coordinators’, including Moldova and Ukraine, was made on 3 February in Budapest by Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.

In order to “drive implementation” of the Strategy within its eleven priority areas, these countries and regions are expected to agree a work programme and identify sources of finance with other countries involved as well as partners such as non-governmental organizations, the press release said.

“The Strategy brings a new and ambitious dimension to cooperation in the region By focusing on the most important issues, such as mobility, energy, pollution, innovation, jobs and security, I am convinced that the Strategy will make a real contribution to building a better future for this part of Europe,” Commissioner Hahn said prior to the announcement.

The Danube Strategy focuses on the following four pillars:

Connecting the region (improving mobility, boosting sustainable energy and promoting culture and tourism);

Protecting the environment (restoring water quality, managing environmental risks and preserving biodiversity);

Building prosperity (developing research capacity, education and information technologies, supporting the competitiveness of enterprises and investing in people’s skills);

Strengthening the region (stepping up institutional capacity and improving cooperation to tackle organised crime).

According to the press release, Moldova (together with Austria) will lead the priority area that will focus on investing in people and skills, while Ukraine has expressed interest in working on transport mobility, in particular on improving rail, road and air transport in the region.

The Strategy also involves Germany (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

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EU Strategy for The Danube

Croatian plan to turn rivers into channels results in protests to EU

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WWF

Zagreb, Croatia: Newly unveiled plans which would turn the Danube and Croatia’s other rivers into little more than regulated canals have been protested to the European Union by WWF, Croatian NGOs and EuroNatur.

The plans, released by the Croatian Water Management Authority run counter to European water and environmental regulations – and potentially throwing up obstacles to Croatia joining the EU.

The proposed river regulation projects along the Danube, Drava, Mura, Sava and Neretva Rivers would transform many natural meandering river stretches into a unified canal, fixed by stones, groins and embankments.

In defiance of the EU Water Framework Directive, the Danube Strategy and the Danube River Basin Management Plan, about 440 km of natural river stretches of the Danube and Sava rivers could be regulated and destroyed, damaging Europe’s largest floodplain forests and wetland areas. Also under threat would be endangered species such as the Little tern, White-Tailed eagle, Otter and Sturgeon.

“We are very much concerned that new planned river regulation projects along all major rivers in Croatia are threatening unique natural areas and counteracting efforts of the EU to bring water management in line with EU policy and law”, said Arno Mohl, Freshwater Expert at WWF Austria. “Specifically, we are concerned about the planned large-scale river regulation schemes, sediment extraction and irrigation projects along the Danube, Drava, Mura, Sava and Neretva Rivers”.

A delegation of Croatian NGOs , WWF and EuroNatur handed over a protest letter to Ambassador Paul Vandoren, Head of the EU Delegation in Zagreb, addressed to EU Environment Commissioner, Janez Potocnik and EU Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Füle, expressing their deep concern about the new regulation projects planned by the Croatian Water Management Authority.

“These are river management plans of last century,” Arno Mohl said. “European river authorities are suggesting ecologically more acceptable methods of river management that leave more space for the rivers. They are doing this because we now realize that a naturally functioning river not only has more life than a canal, but it also provides natural mechanisms to better deal with droughts and floods.”

The regulation plans

“The regulation plans are the biggest attack on Croatian and European natural heritage since the country became independent. The ongoing resistance of the Croatian Water Management Authority to follow common European values and standards is unacceptable. We urge the EU Commission to help stop this old fashioned way of river management and urge the Croatian government to impose a moratorium on these plans”, say the NGOs.

Given the ongoing resistance of the water management sector of Croatia to find an appropriate strategy for the development of the rivers, the NGOs have asked the European Commission to immediately urge Croatia, respectively the Water Management Authority to:

Refrain from taking any further decisions or steps in the implementation of these projects and to impose a moratorium on these river regulation, sediment extraction and irrigation projects.

Initiate a round table between all relevant stakeholders to discuss and review current projects and practices and find sustainable alternatives in line with Croatian and EU law.

According to official information from the Croatian government and statements from different European officials, Croatia has reached the final stage of negotiations on accession to the European Union. As part of this process, Chapter 27 (Environment) has been provisionally closed during the last pre-accession conference in December 2010.

“We believe that fulfilling EU environmental obligations is a condition for Croatia’s further integration into the EU – and ultimately for EU accession”, Arno Mohl said.

More about current river management practice in Croatia

Dates back to the socialist times of former Yugoslavia and is in clear contradiction with the principles of sustainable development and environmental protection of the EU.

Contravenes EU environmental legislation (including the Water Framework Directive, the Habitats and Bird Directives) and Croatian environmental law (Nature Protection Act).

Threatens European endangered habitats and species within proposed Natura 2000 sites and leads to the deterioration of the “ecological status” of river ecosystems.

Endangers well preserved river ecosystems, wetland areas and alluvial forests, including protected areas and wetland areas of international importance (Ramsar sites) in Croatia.

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Hungary Lays Out Strategy As it Takes Over EU Presidency

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VOA

The Danube river flows not just through Budapest, but also three other national capitals – more than any other in the world.

Now Hungary, which takes over the European Union’s presidency on New Year’s Day, wants money to flow through the 14 nations bordering the river.

The Danube Strategy aims to improve the lives of over 115 million people living near one of Europe’s main waterways, which houses some of Europe’s poorest areas, mainly in Bulgaria and Romania, but also some of the richest – in Germany and Austria.

The strategy, expected to be adopted by the EU, involves modernizing road, rail and river infrastructure, attracting more tourists, creating a regional energy market and reinforcing security while protecting the environment.

Besides the Danube Strategy, Hungary’s EU presidency will also be dominated by efforts to approve new fiscal discipline to prevent a repetition of the current economic crisis in the Union and the region of countries that adopted the single European currency, the “eurozone”.

But Hungary’s conservative-leaning government is concerned that these ambitious plans can not be realized if Europe does not reverse its trend of an aging population.

Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi says Europe needs more children and explains that Hungary wants to use its stint as EU president to introduce a discussion on ‘family values,’ and to propose that 2014 be declared a ‘European Year of the Family.’

“We know very well that it’s very difficult to make Europe the most competitive region of the world with a shrinking and aging population, without confronting the demographic challenge,” said Martonyi. “That is why we want to speak about family, social inclusion, fight against poverty. We very much hope that a frame work strategy will be adopted about a whole European question which is the integration of the Roma’s.”

Apart from the EU’s social and economic challenges, Hungary also wants to use its presidency to complete membership talks with neighboring Croatia and move forward negotiations with the other EU hopefuls, including western Balkans states, as well as Iceland and Turkey.

The President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy has welcomed the initiative, despite opposition from some member states who are concerned about the costs of further enlargement. He expects EU entry talks with Turkey to gain momentum during Hungary’s presidency.

“In 2005 the accession negotiations were opened. These are difficult and complex. But there is a chance we can make more progress next year,” he said. “Turkish reforms efforts, partly achieved to adhere to EU standards, have delivered impressive results. And, at the same time Turkey plays an ever more active role in its neighborhood mediating between Syria and Israel [and] in its improving contacts with Armenia, one of the six Eastern Partnership countries.”

Van Rompuy also praised Hungary for organizing the Eastern Partnership summit with former Soviet Union states, aimed at improving energy security for Europe.

“Next May the Hungarian presidency will host a second summit of the Eastern Partnership in Budapest. They are Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. This Partnership has significant growth capacity. For instance it is critically important for Europe’s energy supplies,” Van Rompuy said.

“Simply put: Energy security for Europe both in terms of the reliable functioning of the transit network and the potential diversification of sources can not be imagined without the involvement of our Eastern partners,” Rompuy added.

Additionally, Hungary wants to make it easier for potentially millions of ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries to receive Hungarian passports.

Bujdos sees Hungary’s EU presidency as the most important political event since the country’s communist regime collapsed in 1989 – the same year that she was born.

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