Water issues rank high on the EU agenda. Austria, now holding the EU Presidency, took on this message with a focus on the linked themes of floods, climate changes and groundwater.

The severe floods in recent years demanded an international response and led to a new EU directive on the assessment and management of floods. Austria will enhance discussion on this proposed directive in working groups and conferences (see events page 5) to ensure the directive complements the river basin management plans requested by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).

"It will be important to include all stakeholders. We have to discuss how losses through floods can be lowered, be it through alert systems, prevention or protection measures such as retention areas," explains Wolfgang Stalzer, the Water Director of the Austrian Ministry of Water Management. "But we should also see the possible link of severe flood events and climate change. This might be of relevance in coastal areas as well as in the alpine region and therefore also in large river basins such as the Danube or the Odra."

Also important is the proposed Groundwater Directive, a daughter directive of the WFD, which introduces quality objectives, obliging Member States to monitor groundwater quality and to identify and reverse trends in pollution (see events).

All these elements will be on the agenda of the EU Water Directors' Meeting in Salzburg this June. "International cooperation in the Danube River Basin - for the implementation of the WFD or the ICPDR Flood Action Programme - is an international model. We will also use this forum to share this experience with other international basins," said Stalzer.

For more information, please visit:
www.eu2006.at and www.lebensministerium.at/eu2006

Jasmine Bachmann
works on public participation in the ICPDR Permanent Secretariat,
and is the Executive Editor of Danube Watch.