International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
Encyclopedia
The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is an international organisation with its permanent secretariat in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. It was established by the Danube River Protection Convention, signed by the Danube countries in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, in 1994.

The commission became active in 1998. Since then, it has grown into one of the largest and most active international bodies of river basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 management expertise in Europe. The commission deals not only with the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 itself, but also with the whole Danube River Basin, which includes more than 300 tributaries and the ground water
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...

 resources.

Legal Basis

The ICPDR’s legal basis is the “Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable use of the Danube River (Danube River Protection Convention)”, generally referred to as the “Danube River Protection Convention” or “DRPC”. It commits the contracting parties to join their efforts in sustainable water management, including conservation of surface and ground water, pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 reduction, and the prevention and control of floods, accidents and ice hazards. The convention was signed in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1994 and came into force in October 1998.

Objectives

The ICPDR was created to implement the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC). It is both a forum to allow its contracting parties to coordinate the implementation of the convention and a platform to review the progress they make. The key objectives of the ICPDR include the following:
  1. Ensure sustainable water management
  2. Ensure conservation, improvement and rational use of surface waters and ground water
  3. Control pollution and reduce inputs of nutrients and hazardous substances
  4. Control floods and ice hazards.


The ICPDR also facilitates cooperation between the Danube countries and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 region in issues requiring coordination, cooperates with other international organisations where appropriate, and addresses new challenges related to water management as they emerge.

When the EU Water Framework Directive
Water framework directive
The Water Framework Directive is a European Union directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies The Water Framework Directive (more formally the Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23...

 (WFD, formally Directive 2000/60/EC) was adopted in October 2000, all countries cooperating under the DRPC (which includes at present 8 EU and 6 non EU member states) decided to make all efforts to implement the Directive throughout the whole basin. The Non EU Member States also committed themselves to implement the WFD within the frame of the DRPC. In addition, the ICPDR serves as a coordination platform for the basin-wide implementation of the EU Floods directive
Floods directive
DIRECTIVE 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks is commonly known as the ‘Floods Directive’....

 (EFD, formally Directive 2007/60/EC).

Structure and Decision Making

The ICPDR is an international organisation. It meets twice a year: The Ordinary Meeting is held in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 in December, another meeting of Heads of Delegations is held in June in the country of the Presidency. The meetings comprise of delegations of contracting parties and observer organisations. Every contracting party has one Head of Delegation representing the country. For all decisions the achievement of consensus is sought. The meetings are chaired by the ICPDR President, as of 2011, Mykola Melenevskyi of Ukraine; ICPDR Presidency is passed on from one country to another in an alphabetical order every year.

In addition, much of the work of the ICPDR is done by Expert Groups (EGs), which are panels of specialists from the ICPDR contracting parties and observers – usually civil servants of the relevant ministries, in some cases employees of NGOs or contracted agencies. There are seven permanent Expert Groups and one ad hoc Expert Group as of 2011:
  1. Pressures and Measures
  2. Monitoring and Assessment
  3. Flood Protection
  4. River Basin Management
  5. Information Management and GIS
  6. Public Participation and Communication
  7. Accident Prevention and Control
  8. Strategic Expert Group (ad hoc)


The expert groups all have Terms of Reference and mandates adopted by the Commission. They usually meet twice to three times a year. Time- and target-limited task groups may also be established for specific tasks which not necessarily all countries are represented in. The expert groups discuss issues related to their Terms of Reference and prepare reports and recommendations for coordinated action.

The ICPDR has a Permanent Secretariat to support its work, supervised by an Executive Secretary, as of 2011, Philip Weller
Philip Weller
Philip Weller is a Canadian environmental scientist and executive secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River since 2003.-Biography:...

. The secretariat has its headquarters in Vienna, from where it administers, manages and supports the work of the ICPDR. The total staff of the secretariat is 8 permanent staff members and additional short-term project staff. If all national experts, delegates from observers and consultants are considered, there are more than 300 people working with and for the ICPDR.

Dispute Settlement

The ICPDR serves as a platform for co-operation and coordination. The signing of the convention however, commits the countries under international law to some specific actions and to uphold certain principles. In some past conflicts, the ICPDR could contribute to accommodating the harmonisation of efforts by providing a place for discussion. The President or the staff at the secretariat can induce talks on specific issues and contribute to building consensus. The convention provides a dispute settlement mechanism, but in practice this has not been needed so far, as the countries concerned have worked to ensure dialogue and developed consensus on issues of conflict.

Members

The ICPDR has fifteen contracting parties:

Observers

The ICPDR has 21 official observers with rights to attend meetings and participate in decision-making:
  • Black Sea Commission
  • Carpathian Convention
    Carpathian Convention
    The Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians is a framework type convention pursuing a comprehensive policy and cooperating in the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians...

  • Central Dredging Association
  • Danube Environmental Forum
  • Danube Commission
    Danube Commission
    The Danube Commission is concerned with the maintenance and improvement of navigation conditions of the Danube River, from its source in Germany to its outlets in Romania and Ukraine, leading to the Black Sea. It was established in 1948 by seven countries bordering the river, replacing previous...

  • Danube Parks
  • Danube Tourist Commission
  • European Anglers Alliance
  • European Barge Union
  • European Water Association
  • Friends of Nature
    Friends of Nature
    Friends of Nature is an international movement with a background in the Social Democratic movement, which aims to make nature accessible to the wider community by providing appropriate recreational and travel facilities.-Background:It is a non-profit organisation which, in addition to encouraging...

     International
  • Global Water Partnership
    Global Water Partnership
    The Global Water Partnership , is an international network that offers practical advice for sustainably managing water resources. It promotes and supports activities that operate at the national and regional levels of development...

  • International Association for Danube Research
  • International Association of Water Supply Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area
  • International Hydrological Programme
    International Hydrological Programme
    The International Hydrological Programme is a scientific programme of UNESCO that focuses on the use and availability of water.- On-line resources :*...

  • International Sava River Basin Commission
    International Sava River Basin Commission
    International Sava River Basin Commission is an international organisation with its permanent secretariat in Zagreb, Croatia. Sava Commission has been established for purpose of the implementation of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin , namely the provision of cooperation of the...

  • Ramsar Convention
    Ramsar Convention
    The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...

     on Wetlands
  • Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
    Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
    The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe is a non-profit, non-advocacy, independent international environmental organisation...

  • VGB PowerTech
  • via donau
    Via donau
    via donau is a subsidiary of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology . Established in 2005, via donau was tasked with the preservation and development of the Danube waterway.- History :...

  • World Wide Fund for Nature
    World Wide Fund for Nature
    The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...

     — Danube-Carpathian Programme


Funding

The ICPDR budget comes from the contributions of the Contracting Parties. According to the Danube River Protection Convention, the Contracting Parties (except for the EU) shall contribute an equal share, unless unanimously decided otherwise by the ICPDR. Some exceptions are currently applied for a transitional period. The total annual budget of the ICPDR is a little more than one million Euros. Much of the ICPDR’s work is done directly by Member Countries. Such contributions in staff and material are therefore also considerable, even though this does not show in the ICPDR budget. Costs of participation in the Commission’s and Expert bodies’ work are also covered by the parties themselves.

In some cases, the ICPDR engages in projects that have separate sources of funding. These include projects funded by the European Union, the United Nations Development Program, GEF, individual member countries or private businesses through the public-private partnership “Business Friends of the Danube”.

See also

  • Internationalization of the Danube River
    Internationalization of the Danube River
    The Danube River has been a trade waterway for centuries, but with the rise of international borders and the jealousies of national states, commerce and shipping has often been hampered for narrow reasons. In addition, natural features of the river, most notably the sanding of the delta, has often...

    , for events from earliest times to the Treaty of Paris in 1856
  • Commissions of the Danube River
    Commissions of the Danube River
    See Internationalization of the Danube River for events before 1856.The Commissions of the Danube River were authorized by the Treaty of Paris after the close of the Crimean War...

    , for the international body governing the waterway from 1856 to 1940
  • Danube River Conference of 1948
    Danube River Conference of 1948
    The Danube River Conference of 1948 was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to develop a new international regime for the development and control of the Danube in the wake of World War II...

  • Danube Commission
    Danube Commission
    The Danube Commission is concerned with the maintenance and improvement of navigation conditions of the Danube River, from its source in Germany to its outlets in Romania and Ukraine, leading to the Black Sea. It was established in 1948 by seven countries bordering the river, replacing previous...

    , for the international agency charged with transportation oversight of the river

External links

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