Danube Basin
Issues
Sectors
ICPDR
Dear Readers
An enormous collective effort ended on 18 May: the
draft of the Danube River Basin Management Plan has
been finalised and offered to the public for discussion.
Over 250 dedicated experts provided professional and personal efforts to develop this Plan, a key element requested by the EU Water Framework Directive. It is my task to thank all of you for your dedication and for adding to this plan, which will now shape our cooperation and joint activities from Germany to Ukraine and the Czech Republic to Montenegro.
It goes without saying that integrated and multidisciplinary documents like the Danube River Basin Management Plan also have weaknesses – we are aware of this. Some of the open issues such as the sediment problem and the ongoing pressure from infrastructure development have been pointed out in the public participation process. We hope to include some of these issues in the final Plan, which will be ready by the end of the year. Others will take longer and can only be included in the next cycle of the EU Water Framework Directive. But be assured that we will continue our efforts beyond the finalisation of this first Danube River Basin Management Plan.
Having a Plan is one thing – the other is how to implement it. Our challenge now is to secure the needed funding. Despite the economic crisis, it will be crucial to find investments for these activities. Clean water scores high on the agenda of the European citizen as the article on page 13 shows. Therefore taxpayers’ money also needs to be spent in this field. We will work towards this goal.
However, I would also like to underline that the basinwide river basin management plan is an addition to the national plans which have been developed in all Danube countries that are members of the European Union and are under development in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. These national plans are held together by the international plan – together they will shape the management of the Danube and its tributaries for the coming years ... for the people and the nature of the Danube River Basin.
In conclusion, I would like to thank many, many people throughout the basin who contributed to the Danube River Basin Management Plan. I hope that by continuing to cooperatively work together, we can meet the ambitious goals we have set.
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