Communication from the Commission - Environmental co-operation in the Danube - Black Sea Region
Date: 2001-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Black Sea, action programme, coastal region, environmental cooperation, environmental protection, marine pollution, third country, watercourse

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 30.10.2001
COM(2001) 615 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

Environmental co-operation in the Danube - Black Sea Region

CONTENTS

1.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5

The Environmental Challenges in the Region............................................................ 7

The Danube .............................................................................................................. 7

The Black Sea......................................................................................................... 12

Existing Environmental co-operation in the region.................................................. 15

Key Environmental Objectives ............................................................................... 17

Proposed Actions.................................................................................................... 19

Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 24

Annex 1 List of Acronyms.................................................................................................... 25

Annex 2 Environmental co-operation in the region............................................................... 26

Annex 2.1

International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River............... 26

Annex 2.2

Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution................ 28

Annex 2.3

Other players .............................................................................................. 29

Annex 3 Population in the Danube and Black Sea Region .................................................... 36

2

Executive Summary

The Danube - Black Sea Region contains the single most important non-oceanic body of
water in Europe. Every year, about 350 cubic kilometres of river water pour from the Danube
into the Black Sea from an area of 2 million square kilometre basin, covering about one third
of the area of continental Europe. Over 160 million people live in this basin. The Danube is
the most international river basin in the world, which makes co-ordinated action even more
important and challenging.

The strategic importance of the region is increasing in the context of an enlarged Europe.
Until now the Danube has been an important link in Central Europe as well as the border
between EU and the Balkans and Black Sea Region. With the EU enlargement, a number of
the Danube countries will be a member of the European Union and the Danube will become a
central axis of Europe while the Black Sea will become a coastal area of the Union.

In environmental and health terms, the Danube - Black Sea region suffers from very acute
problems. The Danube is subject to increasing pressure affecting the supply of drinking water,
irrigation, industry, fishing, tourism, power generation and navigation. All too often it is also
the final destination of wastewater disposal. These intensive uses have created severe
problems of water quality and quantity, and reduction of biodiversity in the basin.
Eutrophication is the main environmental problem for the Black Sea; it is due to the excessive
loads of nutrients via the rivers and directly from the coastal countries. Eutrophication has led
to radical changes in the ecosystem since the 1960’es and has had a major transboundary
impact on biological diversity and human use of the sea.

In the last decade national and international environmental initiatives have tried to remedy the
instruments for
environmental degradation of the Danube and the Black Sea. Different
environmental co-operation have been set up in the region, namely the Danube River
Protection Convention (DRPC) and the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against
Pollution (Black Sea Convention). Under the two conventions, environment programmes have
spots for which investment
been drawn up defining strategies and identifying hot
interventions were needed to address transboundary concerns. However, so far there has been
limited investment in the priority projects identified in the two frameworks. Also, since 1990,
the European Community has supported the environment of the region through its different
funding mechanisms, in particular through its PHARE and TACIS programmes. Several EU
Member States are engaged in bilateral environmental assistance. The United Nations and the
Global Environment Facility (GEF) have also provided financial assistance for environmental
projects and major efforts have been undertaken to co-ordinate activities and avoid
duplication of work.

However,
the actions and initiatives undertaken so far have, until now, proved to be
insufficient to reverse the environmental degradation and health problems in the Danube -
Black Sea region and therefore there is a need for strengthened action to restore the
environment of the region to a state that is acceptable for the people to live in.

3

This Communication gives an overview of the present environmental situation of the Danube
- Black Sea region and the ongoing environmental co-operation activities. It highlights the
priority actions that would be required for improving the environmental quality and outlines a
strategy to achieve the environmental protection objectives to be pursued in the region. The
present Communication calls for an increased involvement of the EU and its Member States
in environmental co-operation within the region,
including a co-ordinated action by all
financial instruments operating in the region. This will be a key element for the development
of broad co-operation among the countries and the peace and stability of the Danube - Black
Sea region.

4

1.

INTRODUCTION

The Danube and Black Sea Region contains the single most important non-oceanic water
body of Europe. Every year, about 350 cubic kilometres of river water pour from the Danube
into the Black Sea from a 2million square kilometre basin, covering about one third of the
area of continental Europe. The Danube is the most important river running into the Black
Sea.
the Volga), which flows over
2,857 kilometres from its source in the Black Forest of Germany to the Black Sea. Apart from
the Danube, Europe’s third and fourth largest rivers, the Dnieper and Don, flow to the Black
Sea. The population of the greater Black Sea basin is more than 160 million.

is the second largest European River

(after

It

The Danube

17% of the Danube catchment area lies within the
EU, 57% lies on the territories of the candidate
countries to the EU, while 25% of the catchment
belong to non-applicant countries. The Black Sea is
bordered by three EU Candidate Countries:
Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey and by Ukraine,
Russia and Georgia.

99% of the catchment area is shared by thirteen
countries, i.e. Germany (7%), Austria (10%), the
Czech Republic (3%), the Slovak Republic (6%),
Hungary (11%), Slovenia (2%), Croatia (4%),
Bosnia (7%), Yugoslavia (9%), Bulgaria (6%),
Romania (29%), Moldova (1%) and Ukraine (4%).
The remaining 1% of the catchment area is shared by
as different countries as Poland, Italy, and
Switzerland.

The Black Sea

of

a multitude

The Blue Danube, as it
is frequently
referred to, binds together eighty million
people,
different
traditions, cultural
images, and past
experiences. The Danube and especially
its wetland areas are habitats for a
diversity of plants and animals, and a
home for rare and threatened species.
The Danube supports the supply of
drinking water,
industry,
fishing, tourism and recreation, is used
for power generation, navigation, and
is the final destination of
too often it
disposal of waste waters. These intensive
uses have created problems of water
quality and quantity, affected the health
of the people and reduced biodiversity in
the basin.

agriculture,

The Black Sea is one of the most remarkable regional seas in the world. It is almost cut off
from the rest of the world’s oceans but is up to 2212 metres deep. The eutrophication of the
Black Sea due to the excessive loads of nutrients via the rivers and directly from the coastal
countries has led to radical changes in the ecosystem since the 1960’es. This has had a major
transboundary impact on biological diversity and human use of the sea, including fisheries
and recreation.

Efforts to reverse this situation have
until now been insufficient and there
is a need for action in order to restore
the environment to a level acceptable
for the people of the region and to
protect and rehabilitate the Black Sea
ecosystems

The connection between the Black Sea and the Aegean
and Mediterranean Seas is only through the
Bosphorus Straits, a 35-kilometer natural channel, as
little as 40 metres deep in places. The Bosphorus has
a two layer flow, carrying about seawater to the Black
Sea from the Mediterranean along the bottom layer
and returning a mixture of seawater and freshwater
with twice this volume in the upper layer.

The Black Sea ecosystems have
global ecological and biodiversity significance.

5

Regional co-operation

The countries of the Danube and Black Sea Region are strongly linked by their common
political and cultural heritage and their environmental links are also strong because of the
river basin shared across national borders. Historically there has been a great deal of co-
operation between the Danube and the Black Sea countries. In the future this co-operation
will have to be even stronger if the countries are to be successful in dealing with the
challenges of restoring the water ecosystems.

The common task of managing the rivers and regional seas is potentially a strong asset for the
countries, because it has the potential to induce the development of a fruitful co-operation but,
on the other hand, indirectly, it could also be a source of tension between countries, as it has
been the case when pollution has spread from one country to another via the rivers. The
regional character of the co-operation in the Danube - Black Sea region will be one of the
tools to ensure a peaceful co-existence in a reunified Europe on the long term.

The co-operation between the countries of the Danube and Black Sea Region will be an
important catalyst for the technological and economic development of the region. The co-
operation will allow countries to benefit from the Danube as a navigable waterway, which
offers cheaper, and less environmentally damaging means of transport and will allow the
economic development to spread faster across the region. This effect has already been seen
for the River Rhine, which has been the centre of Europe’s main economic development band,
stretching between London and Milan and now containing over a third of the wealth of
Europe.

Relations with the EU

The European Union and its Member States have multiple reasons to establish and maintain a
close co-operation within the countries of the Danube and Black Sea Region. With the EU
enlargement, a large number of the Danube countries will become members of the
European Union and the Danube will become a central axis of the enlarged Europe
while the Black Sea will become a coastal area of the Union.

Part of the Danube River Basin lies in Germany and Austria, and the need for these Member
States to co-operate with the other countries of the region is obvious. Italy is also closely
connected to the region because it shares a small part of the Danube River Basin and because
of the Adriatic Sea, which is shared with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia and Albania. For Greece, the Black Sea environmental situation is
important, insofar as the waters flowing out of the Black Sea affect the Aegean Sea and the
Greek coasts. The close co-operation between the actors of the region and the EU will be
essential to establish the political support for the joint actions that need to be undertaken.

Presently a large number of events for the Danube and Black Sea Region are being
undertaken or are in the planning phase. These events linked with the fact that the Black Sea
Commission has recently granted observership status to the European Commission calls for
the EU to take a more proactive approach and achieve a stronger involvement
in the
environmental co-operation in the region.

6

2.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES IN THE REGION

One of the main environmental problems related to the water bodies in the Danube - Black
Sea region is due to the high content of nutrients that flows into the Black Sea, both via the
rivers and directly from land-based sources. This leads to eutrophication of the rivers and the
sea, which is recognised as one of
their degradation. The
eutrophication has consequences for biodiversity in the water bodies and in the surrounding
wetlands and forests, and also for human health in the region.

the principal causes of

Eutrophication means an over–enrichment of the water bodies with organic matter,
especially algae (phytoplankton). The algaes grow in all surface waters when there is
enough light and essential nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous.

When the nutrient level is too high it is supporting an abundant plankton production,
and when the plankton degrades, the oxygen consumption increases to undesired
levels and the undesirable changes in water quality can lead to the extinction of
species.
In the Black Sea this has already happened and the food chain is seriously disrupted

2.1.

The Danube

The Danube River is by far the single most important contributor to the nutrient pollution of
the Black Sea.

The Danube river basin can be divided into three sub-regions: the upper, the middle and the
lower basin including the Danube Delta. The Upper Basin extends from the source in
Germany to Bratislava in the Slovak Republic. The Middle Basin is the largest part and
comprises the section from Bratislava to the Iron Gate dams in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia/Romania. The Romanian-Bulgarian lowlands and its upland plateaux and
mountains form the Lower Basin of the river. Finally, the division of the river into three main
branches creates the Danube delta, covering an area of about 6,000 km2.

Tributaries to the Danube

Major tributaries of the Danube are the Inn (Switzerland, Austria, Germany), the Drava
(Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary), the Tisza (Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary
and Yugoslavia), the Sava (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia), the
Morava (Yugoslavia) and the Prut (Ukraine, Moldova, Romania).

7

Prague
(cid:1)

POLAND

(cid:1)

Kyiev

GERMANY

CZECH REPUBLIC

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

München
(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

Brno
(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

Wien

SLOVAKIA

(cid:1)

Bratislava
(cid:1)
(cid:1)
(cid:1)

AUSTRIA

(cid:1)

HUNGARY

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)
SLOVENIA

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

Budapest
(cid:1)

(cid:1)

SWITZERLAND

(cid:1)

ITALY

Ljubljana

(cid:1)

Zagreb

(cid:1)

CROATIA

(cid:1)

UKRAINE

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

Chisinau
(cid:1)
(cid:1)

ROMANIA

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

MOLDOVA
(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)(cid:1)
(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

BOSNIA &
HERZEGOVINA

(cid:1)

Sarajevo

(cid:1)

Belgrade

YUGOSLAVIA

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

Bucharest
(cid:1)

(cid:1)

(cid:1)

BULGARIA

Sofia
(cid:1)

ALBANIA

MACEDONIA

Danube River Basin

State border

Coast line

Danube

Main River network

Border of the basin

(cid:1)

City

Source of the data for the map: City of Vienna

In 1997 an ad-hoc Joint Technical Working Group was established between the International
Commission for the protection of the Black Sea and the International Commission for the
Protection of the Danube River. The description in this Communication of the state of the
environment in the Danube and Black Sea is based on the report of the work done by this
Group. Where data from other sources is used, this is indicated separately.

The data, which was collected by this Working Group, is the latest comprehensive set of data
that exists for the Danube and Black Sea. Since then no official data was published, covering
the entire Danube and Black Sea Region.

8

The main problems affecting the Danube River Ecosystems are:
High Nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) loads
About half of the nutrients discharged to the river are from agriculture, a quarter from
industry and a similar proportion from domestic sources. The main polluters are wastes
from cities and industries, chemical fertilisers and manure from intensive and large-scale
livestock operations as well as petrochemical processing, iron and metal processing, timber,
paper and pulp production and municipal solid waste

Competition for available water
This is a serious problem in the Danube River Basin due to the lack of integrated planning
and water management. Irrigation and industry are responsible for the largest water
consumption

Overexploitation of surface and groundwater

Changes in river flow patterns
Including transport of sediment

Contamination with hazardous substances
Including heavy metals, oil, oxygen depleting substances and microbiological contamination

Accidental pollution

Degradation and loss of wetlands

The analysis has shown a gradual increase of the in-stream nitrogen load from the source of
the Danube up to the middle Danube area, where it increases very rapidly, due to the inflows
of the Drava, Tisza and Sava tributaries. The gradual increase continues up to the outflow.
The country contributions show a gradual or jump-wise build-up, similar to the build-up of
their catchment contributions. Downstream, the country nitrogen-load contributions decrease
gradually because some nitrogen is removed from the water and turned into gaseous nitrogen
by de-nitrification.

The total nitrogen load in the Danube River is estimated to be between 537.000 and
551.000 tonnes per annum, depending on the estimates for removal by de-nitrification. These
data are valid for the period from 1992-1996 and are estimated using a steady state model and
do not fully cover possible flooding and other unforeseen events. They should be taken as an
indication of the size of the nitrogen load only.

9

K.Ton per year

Ukraine
Moldova

Romania

Bulgaria
Bosnia

Yugoslavia

Croatia
Slovenia
Hungary

Slovakia
Czech Re.

Austria

Germany

e
c
r
u
o
S

n
n
I

r
e
d
r
o
b
A
D

-

-

r
e
d
r
o
b
H
K
S
-
A
/
a
v
a
r
o
M

a
v
a
r
D

/

U
Y
R
C
o
t

H

a
s
i
T

a
v
a
S

s
e
t
a
G
n
o
r
I

r
e
d
r
o
b
O
R
-
u
Y

r
e
d
r
o
b
G
B
-
u
Y

r
e
d
r
o
b
O
R
G
B

-

w
o
l
f
t
u
O

A similar picture exists for phosphorus. In this case however, the in-stream removal is not
distributed over the whole river as with nitrogen. Phosphorus is only removed from the river
in the Iron Gates Lake-area, downstream of the inflows of the Drava, Tisza and Sava
tributaries. Therefore, the in-stream load sharply decreases just downstream of the strong
increase at the locations of these tributaries.

The total phosphorus load in the Danube River is 48,900 tonnes per annum. These data are
valid for the period from 1992-1996 and are estimated using a steady state model and do not
fully cover possible flooding and other unforeseen events. They should be taken as an
indication of the size of the phosphorus load only.

K.Ton per year

Ukraine

Moldova

Romania

Bulgaria
Bosnia

Yugoslavia

Croatia
Slovenia
Hungary
Slovakia
Czech Re.

Austria
Germany

e
c
r
u
o
S

n
n
I

r
e
d
r
o
b
A
D

-

-

r
e
d
r
o
b
H
K
S
-
A
/
a
v
a
r
o
M

a
v
a
r
D

/

U
Y
R
C
o
t

H

a
s
i
T

a
v
a
S

s
e
t
a
G
n
o
r
I

r
e
d
r
o
b
O
R
-
u
Y

r
e
d
r
o
b
G
B
-
u
Y

r
e
d
r
o
b
O
R
G
B

-

w
o
l
f
t
u
O

10

Large Nutrient loads

The size of the nitrogen and phosphorus loads in Danube River is large compared with the
loads to the sea from other important rivers in Europe. For example the nitrogen load for the
same period from the River Rhine is approximately 50.000 tonnes per year and the nitrogen
load from the River Seine is 149.000 tonnes compared with the 537-551.000 tonnes coming
from the Danube.

The division between the countries of the region in their contribution to the total loads of
nitrogen and phosphorus to the Danube (estimated at source) is indicated in the table below:

Country

Nitrogen

Phosphorus

(%)

(%)

% of Danube
population1

Nitrogen
Load/Person
(kg/year)

Phosphorus
Load/Person
(kg/year)

Germany

Austria

12,3-13

13,9-14,4

Czech Republic

2,8

Slovakia

Hungary

Slovenia

Croatia

5,4-5,5

5,6

3,5-3,6

4,1

Yugoslavia

12,8-13,1

Bosnia Herzegovina

6,4-6,5

Bulgaria

Romania

Moldova

Ukraine

4-4,1

21,3-22

1,4-1,5

5-5,1

7,6

7,7

2,2

3,5

7,7

2,7

4,5

14,4

4,6

8,1

26,0

2,9

8,1

10,9

9,2

3,4

6,2

12,2

2,0

3,8

10,8

3,5

4,6

27,1

2,3

3,7

7,3

10,0

5,4

5,8

3,0

11,8

7,2

8,0

12,4

5,9

5,4

4,2

9,0

0,4

0,5

0,4

0,3

0,4

0,8

0,7

0,8

0,8

0,1

0,6

0,7

1,3

The table shows that the largest contributors for nitrogen, with more than 10%, are Germany,
Austria, Romania, and The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For phosphorus the largest
contributors are The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Romania. It can be noted that there
is not always necessarily a correspondence between the share of the population and the share
of the nutrient load. Any effort to solve the nutrient problems of the river should therefore be
carefully targeted, taking into consideration both the relative and absolute contribution of a
country to the pollution of the Danube and Black Sea.

For the other main pollutants of the Danube and Black Sea the data has not been so
adequately quantified.

1

See Annex 3 for data used.

11

In spite of pollution and of
the
construction of dams, there are some
preserved natural areas in the Danube
catchment area; the Romanian part of
the delta was registered under the
Ramsar Convention and designated a
Biosphere Reserve in 1992 within the
framework of the UNESCO’s Man
and Biosphere Heritage. Another
unique
the Karst
wetlands of the lower Danube in
Romania and Bulgaria.

ecosystem is

2.2.

The Black Sea

is an intergovernmental

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran,
in 1971,
treaty which
provides the framework for national action and
international co-operation for the conservation and
wise use of wetlands and their resources.

There are presently 124 Contracting Parties to the
Convention, with 1073 wetland sites, totalling 81.76
million hectares, designated for inclusion in the
Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Six countries border the Black Sea: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine.

Eutrophication has led to radical changes in the Black Sea ecosystem since the 1960’es with
major transboundary impact on biological diversity and human use of the sea, including
fisheries and recreation.

The nitrogen and phosphorus compounds triggering eutrophication come from all over
the Black Sea Basin. The Black Sea Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (1996) indicates
that in 1992 70% of the nutrients came from the six Black Sea countries. Three of the Black
Sea Countries, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine, discharge much of their nutrient load through
the Danube. The remaining 30% come from the non-coastal countries.

The Dnieper River transports some 20.000 tonnes of nitrogen annually to the Black Sea.

12

The contribution of nitrogen and phosphorus (estimated at source) to the Black Sea from the
individual countries is listed in the table below (Black Sea pollution assessment, 1998):

Country

Nitrogen

Phosphorus % of Black Sea

population2

Bulgaria

Romania

Ukraine

14%

27%

12%

Russian Federation

10%

Georgia

Turkey

Non-coastal
countries

<1%

6%

30%

5%

23%

20%

13%

1%

12%

26%

5,0

20,6

42,2

23,4

1,8

7,0

-

The table shows that there is not always a correspondence between the share of the population
in the Black Sea countries and the share of the nutrient pollution. Any effort to solve the
nutrient problems should therefore be carefully targeted, taking into consideration both the
relative and absolute contribution to the pollution.

Recent developments

The current load of nutrients entering the Black Sea from the Danube has fallen in recent
years. This is due to the experienced downturn trend of the economies of lower Danubian and
former Soviet countries, the measures taken to reduce nutrient discharge in the upper Danube
countries, and the implementation of a ban in polyphosphate detergents in some countries.
However, total nitrogen levels are still at least four times as high as those observed during the
1960s (almost no decline in total
inorganic nitrogen over period from 1980 has been
observed), while current phosphate levels appear to be roughly the same as in the 1960s.

Silicates have declined to about 30% of 1960s levels. (Causes and Effects of Eutrophication
in the Black Sea; Summary Report; June 1999. Danube Pollution Reduction Program).

Black Sea waters are also heavily impacted by sewage, a situation exacerbated by the
economies of coastal states, which can hardly afford the heavy investments in building the
wastewater treatment installations needed to avoid the water contamination. Some countries
(e.g. Bulgaria and Romania) are already investing in new wastewater treatment facilities but
in general terms, water treatment is absent or deficient in most places around the Black Sea.
There are also serious problems with solid waste disposal.

Oil pollution in the Black Sea does not appear to be a widespread problem but has an
industrial
importance within the coastal areas around river mouths, sewage outlets,
installations and ports. However, new environmental pressures are emerging as a result of the
rapid increase in the use of the Black Sea as a maritime transport route, particularly for the
shipment of oil en-route from the newly opened Caspian oil fields. This development creates
a high accident risk of tankers, especially in the Turkish Straits.

2

See Annex 3 for data used.

13

There is no evidence to date of significant heavy metal pollution or pollution from pesticides
and other persistent organic pollutants (such as PCBs) in the Black Sea.

Another serious issue is related to loss of biodiversity in the Black Sea. Originally there was
a very rich biodiversity, especially on the North Western shelf of the Black Sea, where a
unique system of red algae existed. This area has now changed to a seasonally anoxic “dead
zone”. The total area affected by these conditions has increased 1000 times during the last 30
years. This has impacted the entire Black Sea and changed the balance between the different
species leading to an unstable ecosystem. Another problem is the overexploitation of the fish
stocks in the sea. Since the 60’es the industry has expanded and high technology fish-finding
techniques have been applied. Problems also occur due to the arrival of an exotic species, the
comb jelly, which had no natural predators in the Black Sea. It has flourished and is claimed
to have reached a total biomass of about one billion tonnes in the Black Sea, more than the
world annual fish harvest at its peak in 1989-90. This has an enormous impact on the Black
Sea's ecosystems and commercial fish stocks.

These problems combined with the pollution of water mainly by nutrients as well as increase
in turbidity has resulted in a decrease in the diversity of commercially exploitable fish from
some 26 species to 6 species, since the late seventies.

14

3.

EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL CO-OPERATION IN THE REGION

The Danube River States have signed the
Convention on Co-operation and Protection
and Sustainable use of the Danube River
(Danube River Protection Convention,
DRPC) on Environmental Co-operation in
the river catchment area. The European
Community is also party to the Convention
and finances parts of the Convention’s
activities. The International Commission
for the Protection of the Danube River
(ICPDR) is implementing the DRPC.

Parties that ratified the Danube River Protection
Convention (DRPC) are:

Austria,
Republic,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech
Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia and the European Community.

Ukraine has signed but not ratified the convention
and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia are observers

The co-operation for the protection of the

The parties to the Black Sea Convention are:
Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia and
Turkey.

The European Commission on behalf of the
European Community has recently been granted
official observer status

Black Sea environment takes place in
the framework of the Convention on
the Black Sea
the Protection of
against
Sea
Pollution
Convention).

(Black

These two Conventions should be the
basis for the regional co-operation
the region.
and efforts to support
Thereby the focus should be on reinforcing these conventions rather than creating new ones,
as has been suggested from time to time.

Community support
Since 1990 the European Community has supported the Danube region via the PHARE3
programme, consisting of both national programmes and multi-country assistance to the
countries of the region. The Danube Environment programme was among the first multi-
country programmes approved and at the same time one of the largest projects undertaken. At
the same time also the UN and GEF have been active in the region and major efforts have
been undertaken in order to co-ordinate the activities of the EU and the UN and to avoid
duplications of programmes.

In July 2000 the Council endorsed a proposal from the EU Commission to pay into an
international fund for clearing up the River Danube (Council Decision 2000/474/European
Commission of 17 July 2000). Since January 2001 the Danube Commission based in
Budapest has started the implementation of the project of clearing parts of the Danube.

3

From 1 January 2000 all pre-accession assistance must be geared towards preparing the Candidate
Countries for accession, i.e. to priorities mentioned in the Accession Partnerships.

15

PHARE and TACIS support has also been provided to environment projects in the Black Sea
region since the start of the Black Sea Environment Programme (BSEP), which was
established in 1993 with the support of GEF and the UN. The overall objective has been to
assist Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, the Ukraine and Georgia to strengthen their individual and
shared capacity to tackle the Black Sea’s environmental problems. Furthermore support has
been provided from TACIS to Georgia, Russia and the Ukraine to participate in and
implement the Black Sea Convention and the Black Sea strategic action plan, particularly in
relation to raising education and public awareness on Black Sea problems, assistance to local
groups and transfer of knowledge.

Strategic Action Programmes

Since the Danube and Black Sea Programmes were initiated, they have focused on defining
strategies and identifying hot spot investments for which interventions are needed to address
transboundary concerns. One of the main goals achieved until now for both the Danube and
the Black Sea programmes is the development of Strategic Action Programmes. These form
the basis for the activities to be undertaken in the future.

Limited investments

However, so far there has been limited investment in the priority projects identified in the two
frameworks. The main constraint appears to be that Black Sea and Danube «hot spots» do not
yet figure prominently in the national public investment priorities, nor are they part of
comprehensive and sound strategies at national level.

A set of harmonised water quality objectives has been proposed for the Black Sea in
compliance with the 1996 Black Sea Strategic Action Plan but overall implementation of the
Plan is well behind schedule.

As a part of the structure set up under the Black Sea environmental programme, an activity
centre was set up in each of the Black Sea countries. Each centre has its own area of
responsibility, such as fisheries, biodiversity, monitoring etc. having a co-ordinating role at
the regional level. At the same time in all of the countries, National Focal Points for the
mentioned activities have been identified. The network of these activity centres is at present
in a difficult situation due to lack of funding and support from the national governments.

Annex 2.3 lists selected EU projects carried out in the region in the last ten years. For the
Danube region, these include both studies and investments in water and wastewater projects,
which have had a direct effect on the water quality of the Danube and the Black Sea.

The EU has recently undertaken a successful regional environmental co-
operation effort in the context of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction
Programme (REReP) for the Balkans.

This programme offers a platform for co-ordinating the environmental
activities in the wider context of the international assistance to the Balkans
Region, focusing especially on institution building, but including also some
urgent environmental investments. Another similar model can be found in
the EAP-Task Force
(http://www.oecd.org/env/eap/eaptf/12taskforce/index.htm) .

16

4.

KEY ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES

The joint Danube - Black Sea Working Group defined in 1998 overall environmental
objectives for the Danube and Black Sea Region. The European Community shares these
objectives and works to support their fulfilment.

The long-term goal is to reduce the levels of nutrient and other hazardous
substances in order to allow the ecosystems of the region to recover

Most of the countries of the region have adopted national environmental strategies including
the Danube and Black Sea. But the most needed economic development should be envisaged
in a way that ensure appropriate measures and practices to limit nutrient discharge from point
sources (municipal,
industrial and point agricultural sources) and non point sources
(agriculture).

The current level of nutrients entering the Black Sea represent a unique situation resulting
from economic depression in the majority of the coastal countries in the last decade.
However, it is of utmost importance that nutrient influxes remain low in any economic
scenario and therefore any national development plans include nutrient and toxic substance
emission control.

In view of the above,

The intermediate goal is that all countries of the Danube – Black Sea
basin establish and implement urgent control measures to avoid
discharges of nitrogen and phosphorous to the Black Sea (including via
the Danube) exceeding those levels observed in 1997.

The Joint Danube - Black Sea Technical Working Group has suggested the use of 1997 as a
reference year, since the analysis carried out by the Group showed at least a status quo
situation or even a slight improvement of the conditions of the ecosystems in the Black Sea.

Other important objectives, should in the opinion of the European Commission be in line
with the principles of the EC Water Framework Directive:
• to prevent further deterioration and protect and enhance the status of the aquatic
ecosystems and terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands directly depending on the aquatic
ecosystems;

• to promote sustainable water use based on a long-term protection of available water

resources;

• to enhance protection and improvement of the aquatic environment

through specific
measures for priority substances and the cessation or phasing-out of the priority hazardous
substances;

• to ensure the progressive reduction of pollution of groundwater and prevent its further

pollution,

• to contribute to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts

17

Integrated Coastal Zone Management

In 2000, the European Commission adopted a Communication on Integrated Coastal Zone
Management: A Strategy for Europe (COM/00/547 of 27 September 2000). This
Communication identifies the principles that should be followed to promote sustainable
planning and management in the coastal zone. The document outlines the actions that will be
undertaken at Community level to promote these principles, but also stresses the importance
of action at the national, regional and local levels.

In view of the many and increasing pressures on the Black Sea coastal area, the principles of
ICZM should be implemented in the planning and management of this region.

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) approach emphasises:

The need for co-ordination between the many economic and policy sectors
that are active in the coastal zone;

The links between activities in the hinterland and the state of the coastal
zone;
The importance of coherent planning and management of the landward and
seaward sides of the coastal zone

The need for collaboration between neighbouring countries in planning and
management at the regional seas level.

18

5.

PROPOSED ACTIONS

In order to effectively address the problem of eutrophication of the Danube and Black Sea
ecosystems and meet the objectives outlined in section 4 above, concerted action is required
by all the countries concerned as well as by the international organisations working in the
region.

It is widely recognised that the best model for a single system of water
management is by river basin, which is the natural geographical and
hydrological unit, rather than according to administrative or political
boundaries.
This is the approach now being developed in the EU through the
implementation of the new Water Framework Directive and it is the
approach proposed for an enhanced environmental co-operation in the
Danube - Black Sea region.

Even though the Danubian Countries that are not EU-member states can not implement the
Water Framework Directive in the strict sense of the word, all the member countries of the
Danube River Protection Convention have decided to pursue river management following the
principles of the Water Framework Directive.

This implementation is co-ordinated by an expert group under the ICPDR and is chaired by
the European Commission. The time schedule for implementation follows the one foreseen in
the Directive for the current EU member States.

The obligations of the EU Water Framework Directive relevant for the
Danube Black Sea River basin include:

Expanding the scope of water protection to all waters
Achieving good status for all waters by a certain deadline
Water management based on river basins
Combined approach of emission limit values and quality standards
Getting the prices right
Getting the citizen involved more closely
Streamlining legislation

For each river basin district a "river basin management plan" will need to
be established. This plan will have to include an analysis of the river basin’s
characteristics, a review of the impact of human activity on the status of
waters, and an economic analysis of water use in the district

Furthermore, now that all Danubian countries are committed to this river basin management
approach, some of the coastal areas of the Black Sea will be assigned to the Danube River
Basin District, providing a new impetus for an integrated approach involving the whole
Danube-Black Sea catchment area.

19

For the other river tributaries to the Black Sea, efforts are ongoing to develop action plans -
first steps towards river basin management - that can form the basis of integrated approaches
to the protection of the Black Sea4.

The environmental challenges of the Black Sea, which are not directly linked to the nutrients
and other pollution in the rivers flowing into the Sea, will also have to be addressed in the
work ahead. These include establishment of criteria for sustainable fisheries, the pollution
from oil and hazardous substances, airborne pollution, dumping, vessel pollution and
prevention of accidents.

The actions envisaged fall into three instrumental aims:

1) An operational framework for co-operation in the entire region

2) An improved integration of Danube and Black Sea priorities into EU co-
operation policy framework, including sectoral integration

Operational framework for co-operation in the entire region

3): A more efficient financial assistance.

The Institutional framework for environmental regional co-operation in the Danube Black Sea
region already exists (see section 3 and annex 2), but the implementation as well as co-
ordination of the different ongoing initiatives lag behind, thereby not resulting in desired
synergies.

There is therefore an urgent need for an improved co-ordinated assistance to the
existing regional environmental structures (ICPDR and Black Sea Commissions) and to
to promote the further
the individual countries of the Region. It
development of the regional co-operation between the countries of the basin themselves.

is also essential

The European Community, which is already providing technical and financial support
to the region should take a more pro-active role and become the driving force of this
much-required co-ordinated assistance.

• As a first step, the Danube Commission (ICPDR) Secretariat needs to be reinforced in
order to take up the task of co-ordinating the implementation of the EC Water Framework
Directive. In parallel the sustainability of the Black Sea Commission Secretariat and the
activity centres in each country must be ensured, so that the countries around the Black Sea
take direct responsibility for its running politically and financially.

4

For the Dnieper River (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) a GEF supported programme is developing a
Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and a Strategic Action Programme for the Dnieper River basin. The
project will assist the Dnieper basin countries in identifying, prioritising and addressing both point and
non-point sources of nutrient and toxic pollution to the Dnieper and the downstream Black Sea.
Action Plans have also been developed for the Prut River with the support of European Community
funds of TACIS, in the lower Don River with World Bank funding, in the Sea of Azov primarily with
Dutch funding and the Dniester River (various donors).

20

Both Commissions have already jointly declared their willingness to co-operate for achieving
common strategic goals. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties
on the reduction of release of nutrients to the Danube and Black Sea is under development.

• The European Commission will strive at turning the Memorandum of Understanding
between the Danube and Black Sea Commissions into a practical common platform for co-
operation with concrete implementing steps. This would imply, first of all, the signature of
the Memorandum by the signatory parties of the Conventions. In order to set this platform,
the Commission will propose the establishment of an informal Task Force (The DABLAS
Task Force), within the existing framework for co-operation among the two Conventions.
The first task of the Task Force will be to conduct the preparatory work leading to the
signature of the MoU and then draw up an environmental plan including a list of projects
for environmental rehabilitation of the region, in order of priority.

The informal Task Force should consist of representatives from the countries of the Region,
the Danube and Black Sea Commissions, the European Commission, interested EU Member
States, the international financing institutions and bilateral donors.

• On a more technical level, the European Commission will support the re-launching of the
existing Joint Danube Black Sea Working Group, which will form the basis for an
improved technical assessment of the environmental problems in the region.

Both the informal Task Force and the Joint Danube-Black Sea Working Group should initiate
their activities in autumn 2001.

• The European Commission will work to facilitate the co-operation between the Danube
and Black Sea Conventions and the European Environment Agency (EEA) in order to
ensure that monitoring and data management is harmonised in the region and consistent
with the practices in the EU. During 2001/2002 the EEA will work on developing actions
relevant for the Danube and Black Sea Region and this will form the basis for future work.

A large number of countries of the region are expected to become members of the European
Environment Agency by 20025. This is likely to lead to an establishment of new work topics
for the EEA related to the Danube and Black Sea with the possibility to carry out special
projects of interest to the member countries of the region.

• The European Commission will assist in the establishment of operational arrangements for
co-operation between the future extended EEA and the non-EEA-member countries of the
region.

• The Regional Environment Centre (REC) of Szentendre6, that will in the near future be
extended to cover Turkey together with the rest of the Candidate Countries, should be
invited to be involved in the development of projects and activities focusing on the Danube
and Black Sea.

5

6

Council Decisions 2001/582/EC – 2001/594/EC of 18 June 2001 on the conclusion of the Agreement
between the European Community and the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania , Bulgaria, Slovak Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta ,Turkey concerning participation
in the European Environment Agency and the European environment information and observation
network.
http://www.rec.org/.

21

• Furthermore, the Caucasus Regional Environment Centre7 has an important role to play in
the environmental scenario of the eastern Black Sea Countries and should therefore be
invited to be associated within the new proposed Regional initiatives

• A clear link between the activities in the Danube and Black Sea Region and those
undertaken in the context of the Environment for Europe process should be established.
Advantage should be taken of the experience of the EAP Task Force in relation to water
issues, in particular. The EAP Task Force will therefore be invited to take part in the
informal task force to be set up.

Finally, the Black Sea Commission has recently granted formal observer status in the Black
Sea Convention to the European Community. In the medium term – linked with the accession
process to the EU for relevant Black Sea countries - the European Community will seek to
become a member of the Black Sea Convention.

Improved integration of Danube - Black Sea priorities into EU co-operation policy
framework

• The European Commission will assist in the implementation of the guiding principles of
the EC Water Framework Directive in the entire Danube Basin and the Black Sea coastal
states, starting with the Candidate Countries. The timeframe for this action will be a ten-
year period with concrete milestones to be met by the Countries.

• On a longer-term basis the Commission will strive to assist

in creating co-operation
agreements, similar to the one agreed for the Danube basin (see section 2.1 above) for the
other river basins tributaries to the Black Sea8. The first milestone will be a review of
current environmental action plans for these rivers and the development of a strategy for
their further development. This work will be initiated during 2001 and a plan will be drawn
up for a closer involvement of all countries of the Black Sea region in solving the problems
of the Black Sea.

• The European Commission will encourage the countries of the region, whenever relevant
and in conformity with the Community instruments concerned9 (LIFE, PHARE, ISPA,
TACIS, CARDS, SAPARD etc.), to include in their national programmes and strategies for
Community financial support, projects beneficial to the Danube - Black Sea environment,
in line with the principles of the EC Water Framework Directive and other EC water
legislation.

• The Commission will encourage the countries of the region and donors financing waste
water projects to ensure that all new wastewater treatment plants include secondary
treatment (biological) that can be upgraded to tertiary treatment (with nutrients removal)
without excessive costs.

7

8

9

http://rec.caucasus.net.
The Black Sea convention being a shoreline may prove to be a barrier to taking a basin wide approach
and this aspect will have to be examined and eventually resolved.
ISPA is the main Community instrument for supporting environmental investment projects. The role of
PHARE will be limited to support, in the ten central and eastern candidate countries, institution building
and investments, which form an incidental but indispensable part of integrated industrial reconstruction
or regional development programmes.

22

• There is a fundamental need for enhanced research in order to provide sound scientific
support to decision makers for the orientation of investments aimed at improving the
environment quality in the Danube river basin and in the receiving Black Sea region, and
for
the Community research
programmes will contribute to that aim.

their prioritisation. The research carried out under

• The Commission will strive to ensure that the next review of the Common Agricultural
Policy addresses its role in the protection and enhancement of the environment of the
region, in particular, in relation to reduction of nutrient emissions and protection of nature
reserves and biodiversity in the Danube and Black Sea areas.

• Romania plays a particularly important role in the discharge of nutrients to the Black Sea.
Its entire territory drains into the Black Sea, mostly through the Danube. Special attention
should be paid to support Romania’s efforts to reduce its pollution load.

• The Commission will encourage the countries of the region to sign and ratify the relevant
UN/ECE conventions, especially the Convention on the protection and use of
transboundary watercourses and international
lakes and the Convention on the
transboundary effects of industrial accidents. The Commission will stress the need for the
Countries of the Danube and Black Sea Region to incorporate the environment and health
dimension into their sectoral policies such as transport, energy, agriculture, fisheries, trade
etc., in line with the European Union’s strategy on integration (Cardiff process).

More efficient financial assistance to the region

The present financial support for the region from the Community includes an allocation of
3
million, under
the Tacis Regional Co-operation Programme (2000 budget), providing
technical assistance support to the Regional Activity Centres in Odessa, Krasnodar and
Batumi in order to reinforce their capacity on effective environmental management advice
and assistance.

€

Furthermore the Environment and Sustainable Development programme under the Research
Framework Programme is supporting several research projects in the Danube-Black Sea area.
The most relevant are: the DANUBS project, a large research project on the Danube river
basin with the aim to generate scientific sound scenarios and giving decision makers a basis
for the prioritisation of the interventions needed to reduce the eutrophication of the Black Sea.
The second is the TISZA RIVER PROJECT, which should provide an integrated modelling
approach, supported and validated by field studies, which will give decision makers a set of
instruments for planning and management of this crucial part of the Danube river.

• The European Commission will ensure that, in the future, all relevant EC funded projects
in the Danube and Black Sea Region should take into account the priorities in the Danube
and Black Sea Strategic Environmental Action Plans. This has not always been the case so
far, since the countries themselves have not reflected these priorities in their requests for
financial support.

23

• The Commission will examine ways to improve coherence and co-ordination of
Community financial assistance to regional environmental projects including infrastructure
projects. This examination will
look at ways to improve co-ordination between the
different funding instruments for the Danube - Black Sea Region, including ISPA, PHARE
Romania and Bulgaria as well as TACIS Programme and the Turkey financial instrument.
Other possibilities may include projects under INTERREG IIIB, in which Candidate
Countries may also be involved.

• The Commission will explore and pursue the possibility of extending LIFE third Countries

to include all Countries of the region.

• The Commission will work actively to increase investments by the International Financial
Institutions (IFIs) and bilateral donors in the region and will explore all possibilities for
increased Community co-financing of IFI investments and improved co-ordination with
Member States’ bilateral programmes. In this context, it is envisaged to co-finance an
investment in the Black Sea area concerning water management and supply in south
Ukraine (2001 budget).

Especially important in the short term will be the release of 70 million $ for investment in
the Region from the GEF-World Bank Partnership Investment Facility. The Global
Environment Facility, GEF, plans in the coming years, to fund a joint technical assistance
project for the Danube and the Black Sea. The total capacity building component of the
project will be 24 million $. The first part of this money was released in May 2001.

• Through its participation in the work of the ICPDR and Black Sea Commission, the

European Commission will support the implementation of this initiative.

• The Commission will call on the EU Member States to include the Danube and Black Sea
Region in their priorities for bilateral support in the fields of environment and sustainable
development.

6.

CONCLUSION

The Danube - Black Sea region constitutes an axis of increasing geo-political importance in
the context of the enlarging European Union.

The environmental degradation of the Danube and Black Sea region requires urgent
attention and can only be tackled through a joint effort of environmental rehabilitation,
conducted at regional level. This much-required effort will become a prime tool to
promote and then secure the sustainable development of the region.

The EU’s Strategy for Sustainable Development underlines the key role the EU has in
bringing about sustainable development within Europe and also in the wider global stage. It
stresses that the EU policies –internal and external- must actively support efforts of other
Countries to achieve development that is more sustainable.

• Along these lines, the Commission invites the Council and the Parliament to consider a
concerted EU initiative in the Danube - Black Sea Region. The Commission will report
back, in 2003, on the results of the renewed efforts and initiatives that it intends to
undertake.

24

Annexes

ANNEX 1

LIST OF ACRONYMS

PHARE

Pre-accession assistance for Central and Eastern European Countries

ISPA

Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession

TACIS

Assistance programme for NIS countries

SAPARD

Structural pre-accession assistance for Central and Eastern European Countries

CARDS

Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Democratisation and Stabilisation

MEDA

Assistance programme for Mediterranean Countries

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

ICPDR

International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

DRPC

Danube River Protection Convention

BSC

Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (Black Sea
Commission)

ICPBR

International Commission for the Protection of the Black Sea

REReP

Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme

REC

GEF

EEA

BSEP

PCB

Regional Environmental Centre

Global Environment Facility

European Environment Agency

Black Sea Environment Programme

Poly chlorinated bi-phenyls

25

ANNEX 2

ENVIRONMENTAL CO-OPERATION IN THE REGION

Annex 2.1

International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

The Convention on Co-operation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River
(Danube River Protection Convention, or DRPC) was signed on 29 June 1994 in Sofia by
eleven of the Danube Riparian States and the European Community. The Convention came
into force on 22 October 1998 after the ratification of nine states.

The Convention is based on the Bucharest Declaration for the Protection of the Danube River
and on the UN/ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Water Courses
and International Lakes (Helsinki, 1992)10.

The Convention applies to the surface waters and the ground waters in the catchment area of
the Danube River as far as the Contracting Parties share it.

The Danube River Protection Convention is aimed at achieving the sustainable and equitable
water management in the Danube basin, including the conservation, improvement and the
rationale use of surface waters and ground water in the Danube catchment area. Contracting
Parties shall also make efforts to control the hazards originating from accidents involving
substances hazardous to water, floods and ice-hazards of the Danube River. The Contracting
Parties shall endeavour to contribute to reducing the pollution loads of the Black Sea from
sources in the catchment area.

Furthermore, the Contracting Parties shall co-operate to at least maintain and improve the
current environmental and water quality conditions of the Danube River and of the waters in
its catchment area.

The Contracting Parties shall set measures aiming at
sustainable development and
environmental protection of the Danube River. This objective in particular is directed to
ensure the sustainable use of water resources for municipal,
industrial and agricultural
purposes as well as the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and to cover also other
requirements occurring as to public health.

The following activities and measures fall under the scope of the Convention, as far as they
cause or are likely to cause transboundary impacts:

• the discharge of waste waters, the inputs of nutrients and hazardous substances both from

point and non-point sources as well as heat discharge,

• planned activities and measures in the field of water construction works, in particular
regulation as well as run-off and storage level control of water courses, flood control and
ice hazard abatement

• other planned activities and measures for the purposes of water use, such as water power

utilisation, water transfer and withdrawal,

10

The Convention was approved by the European Community in a Council Decision (97/825/EC) on
24. November 1997 as published in OJ L 342/18.

26

• the operation of the existing hydrotechnical constructions,

• the handling of substances hazardous to water and the precautionary prevention of

accidents.

The Convention is applicable to issues of fishery and inland navigation as far as problems of
water protection against pollution caused by these activities are concerned.

In order to achieve the goals set in the Convention, bilateral and/or multilateral co-operation
has to be developed and implemented in particular with regard to

• the recording of conditions of natural water resources within the catchment area applying

agreed quality and quantity parameters,

• the adoption of legal provisions concerning waste water discharges,

• the adoption of legal provisions for handling the substances hazardous to water,

• the adoption of legal provisions for reducing inputs of nutrients or hazardous substances

from non-point sources,

• harmonisation of regulations at a high level of protection, and

• the adoption of measures to avoid the transboundary impacts of wastes and hazardous

substances in particular originating from transport.

Appropriate measures shall be taken to prevent and reduce transboundary impacts of pollution
and ensure sustainable and equitable use of water resources and conservation of ecological
resources.

To further the aims of the Convention, the Contracting Parties shall establish complementary
or joint programmes of scientific or technical research programmes and shall provide for co-
ordinated or joint communication, warning and alarm systems in the basin-wide context.

Five Annexes form an integral part to the Convention. Annex I defines the concept of Best
Available Techniques and Best Environmental Practices. Annex II lists the industrial sectors
and hazardous substances, which fall under the scope of the Convention. Annex III provides a
general guidance on water quality objectives and criteria and Annex IV describes the structure
and procedures of the International Commission and Annex V sets the procedure of the
arbitration.

27

Annex 2.2

Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution

This co-operation of the Black Sea Countries was first formalised in the 1992 Convention on
the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (Bucharest Convention) for the protection
of the Black Sea against Pollution and the three related Protocols. The Protocols are an
integral part of the Convention and cover: Protection of the Black sea Marine Environment
against Pollution from Land Based Sources; co-operation in Combating Pollution of the Black
Sea Marine Environment by Oil and other harmful substances in emergency situations and
Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment against pollution by dumping.

The Black Sea Convention applies to the Black Sea proper and is as such a shore convention
for the countries bordering the Black Sea. How ever the convention opens the possibility for
Non-Black Sea states to become associated with the convention if they share the interest in
achieving the aims of the convention.

The Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution obliges its contracting
parties to individually or jointly to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control
pollution of the Black Sea. Furthermore the Convention enables the contracting parties to
elaborate additional protocols in the areas they find necessary.

The following activities and measures fall under the scope of the Convention:

• Prevention of pollution of the marine environment by the substances and matters specified
in the Annex of the convention. These include among others substances containing heavy
metals, persistent substances and radioactive substances

• Prevent, reduce and control pollution from land-based sources

• Prevent, reduce and control pollution from vessels

• Co-operation to combat pollution in emergency situations

• Prevent, reduce and control pollution by dumping

• Prevent, reduce and control pollution from activities on the continental shelf such as

exploitation of natural resources

• Take individual or agreed measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution from

atmospheric sources

• Protection of the marine living resources

• Prevent pollution due to the transport of hazardous waste

• Co-operation in scientific research

• Undertake complementary or joint monitoring programmes

Under the Bucharest Convention the Istanbul Commission ensures the co-ordination of the
work on the convention. In September 2000 the Black Sea countries established the
Secretariat of the Black Sea Commission. The implementation of the Bucharest Convention
will now proceed co-ordinated by the Secretariat.

28

Annex 2.3

Other players

European Commission

PHARE and TACIS Projects in the Environmental Programme for the Danube River Basin

Full Title

Short Description

Beneficiary Countries

1994

Implementation of the Danube
AEWS

all Danube Basin

of

an

establishment

effective Danube
The
Accident Emergency Warning System (AEWS).
Setting up of a Principle International Alert Centre
(PIAC) in each of the Danube riparian countries.
Such a PIAC will be the sole responsible
operational unit, in charge of all (international)
communications. PIAC operations are triggered by
the reception of a message about a potentially
serious,
accident
sudden pollution event or
received.

1994 Quality

sediments

and

biomonitoring

The project collected detailed information on the
selected reach of the Danube on sediments and
biomonitoring (Applied Research Project (ARP))

HU, SK

1995 Projects started in 1995

1995 Setting
centres
agriculture
Basin

up

for
in

demonstration
sustainable
the Danube

Setting-up of 3 demonstration farms (Bulgaria,
Romania and Hungary) for sustainable agriculture
and making projections for
future of Organic
Agriculture (ARP project)

HU, BG, RO

1995

radionuclides

in
Impact of
surface water and sediments in
the Danube Basin

The project investigated if there was evidential
downstream accumulation of radionuclides (ARP
project)

HU, RO

1995 Nutrient

application

in
agriculture in CEE/protection
of water
against
nutrient diffuse pollution

resources

investigated the

The project
agrochemicals
environment (ARP project)

and

their

application

impact

on

RO, HU

of
the

1995 Removal of phosphates from
detergents in the Danube Basin

The project investigated the amount of phosphates
loaded into the Danube and also the detergent
originated ones (ARP project)

HU, RO, SK, CZ,UE, BG

1995 Biodiversity

study

of

the

Danube River

The project intended to map the biodiversity of the
Danube river (ARP project)

SK, BG, RO

1995 Danube Eros 2000 project –

Romanian part

ARP Project: Research project to assess trends of
the state of Danube & Delta, and the impact on
ecological functioning of the Romanian coastal
zone

RO

1995 Danube Eros 2000 project –

Bulgarian part

Research project to assess trends of the state of
Danube and Delta, and the impact on ecological
functioning of the Bulgarian coastal zone (ARP
Project)

BG, RO

29

1995 Present and possible future role
from
in
surface water by wetlands,
floodplains and reservoirs

removal

nutrient

The project
investigated the possible role of
wetlands and floodplains in removal of nutrients
from surface (river) water (ARP project)

SK, SLO, RO, CZ

1995 Ecological risk assessment of
pollution by heavy metals and
organic micropollutants in the
Danube Catchment area

of policy oriented

tools
Development
scientific infrastructure for environmental
assessment of
chemical pollutants (ARP project)

and
risk
accumulation and release of

1995 Water Quality

and
objectives for surface waters in
the Danube Basin

targets

The project was to develop water quality targets
and proposals
load reduction
strategies for nutrients concerning surface waters
(ARP project)

emission

for

SK, BG, HU, CZ

HU, SLK, RO, BG

1995 Danube

regional

pesticide

study

The project evaluated the risk of pesticide
application to humans and the aquatic life and
prepared recommendations for legal, policy and
management framework (ARP project)

BG, SK, HU, CZ

1995 Development of

a Danube
Basin Alarm model in support
the Accident Emergency
of
Warning System

The project developed and put into operation a
model for the transport and decay of substances
released during accidental spills (ARP project)

HU, SK, RO, BG

1995 Nutrient balances for Danube
for
ground water

options

and

and

countries
surface
protection

1996 Projects started in 1996

1996 Preliminary

Phase

of
the
project,
Morphological
Changes and abatement of their
negative effects on a selected
part of the Danube River

The project gave recommendations for monitoring
water quality and nutrient loads and methodology,
technology transfer and capacity building (ARP
project)

HU, BG, CZ, UE, RO,
MO, SLO, SK

The project investigated the negative impacts of
morphological changes in the lower reach of the
Danube (ARP project)

SK, HU, RO, BG, UE

1996 Applied research programme

management

Management of the Applied Research Programme
and the organisation of a final Applied Research
Conference in Sinaia, Romania including the
production of a conference report.

All Danube Basin

1997 Projects started in 1997

1997 Restoration

small-scale
of
wetlands in the Danube River
Basin

1997 Needs assessments for MLIM
in

& AEWS Capabilities
Bosnia-Herzegovina

Support
and strengthen local
organisations in furthering wetland restoration

expertise

and

All Danube Basin

Assessment of the capability of Bosnia-Herz. To
participate in MLIM & AEWS

B&H

1997 Clean

technology

and

industrial waste management

Evaluation of
technologies and selection of
methods for reducing pollution from industry (3
factories)

BG, SK, RO

1997 Project M1: Transboundary
assessment of pollution loads

Agreement on common, compatible, cost effective
procedures for load calculations

All Danube Basin

30

and trends

1997 Treatment

and Disposal of

Manure

of

pollution

Reduction
and
groundwater, and the input of nutrients to Danube
and Black Sea, from wastes derived from animal
farms

surface

of

SLO, RO, HU, CZ

1997 EPDRB

workshop

environmental
Investment

for
Small

Organisation of workshop "Small environmental
Investments"

All Danube Basin

1997 Project

AE1:

Information

Enhancement

Strengthen the expertise and knowledge of PIACs
staff

All Danube Basin

1997 AE2 methods for calibration

experiments

Recommend a cost-effective and methodological
approach for calibration experiments for Danube
Basin Alarm Model; accidental spills calibration.

All Danube Basin

1997 Floodplain meadow and forest

restoration

Restoration
floodplain
Dyje/Morava river systems

and sustainable management
and meadows
forests

in

of
lower

CZ, SK

1997 Danube M2: Data processing ,
and

Interpretation

Data
Information Dissemination

Improve interpretation of water quality data and
broad dissemination of approved info/data

All Danube Basin

1997 Development of
river basin

the Yantra

Develop and Implement pilot River Basin Council
for the Yantra river in Bulgaria

BG, RO

1997 M4: provision of a stable,

control programme

Implement a cost-effective and stable analytical
quality control program in Danube River Basin

All Danube Basin

1998 Projects started in 1998

1998 Water quality enhancement in
the Danube River Basin

Several
actions
enhancement in Danube Basin

related

to water

quality

All Danube Basin

1998 Restoration of fish habitat

Re-naturalisation of flows and restoration of fish
habitats in Lower Dyje/Morava rivers

CZ, SK

1998

International co-operation in
Danube
basin
river
management

1998 M5 : Support of Monitoring,
Laboratory and
Information
Management Sub- Group and
Working Group

1998 CBC-1996:

Accident
Emergency Warning System
and Monitoring Laboratory and
for
Information Management
the Ukraine and Moldovan part
of the Danube Basin

1998 Transfer of skills in Accident
Emergency Warning System
sub group

3 components for
river management (Tisza and Drava)

international Cooperation in

RO, SK, HU, SLO

Support MLIM Sub- and Working groups

All Danube Basin

TACIS project: The overall objectives are to
enable Ukraine and Moldova to meet
their
international obligations under the DRPC in the
establishment of the Danube AEWS and TNMN
systems

UE, ML

Support to AEWS Sub-Group

All Danube Basin

31

1998 Final Phase of Morphological
changes and abatement

Integrated
development conc. Rivers morphology

planning

remedial

of

actions

All Danube Basin

1998 Exchange

training
and
programme
Principle
for
International Alert Centres,
This action is connected to
1997 Project AE1. Reporting is
included
projects'
report.

that

in

Exchange and training programme for Principle
International Alert Centres staff;
is
Information
complementary to project AE1
Enhancement, PHARE contract number 97-5244,
on more information please refer to the AE1
project.

this project

All Danube Basin

1999 Projects started in 1999

1999 Transboundary co-operation in
and

wetland
conservation
River Basin Management

1999 Strengthening sustainability of
water quality management

4 different actions for wetland and floodplain
protection/restoration

SLO, HU, SK, RO

7 different actions for water quality management All Danube Basin

1999 Ship-Borne oily waters and

wastes

Preparatory study on system of collection of ship-
borne polluting substances

All Danube Basin

1999

Improvement and maintenance
of the EPDRB Homepage

Improvement
Homepage

and maintenance

of EPDRB

All Danube Basin

1999 Sustainable Management
farms

animal

Manure
Danube

of
in

Sustainable management of manure from animal
farms

All Danube Basin

1999 Dissemination Information on
sustainable Agriculture

Capacity building at organic farming institutions
in order to improve dissemination of information
on sustainable agriculture

BG,HU, RO

1999 Selected Actions in Moldova
the
and
Ukraine
Environmental Programme for
the Danube River Basin

from

4 different actions (industrial clean production,
waste management, river basin management and
wetland protection) for the implementation of the
Strategic Action Plan Implementation Programme
(SIP) in Moldova and Ukraine.

UE, ML

During its first year of operation, ISPA 2000 has focused its financial support on environment
in projects related with the implementation of water EU legislation in candidate countries of
Central and Eastern Europe. This will be again a priority for ISPA operations in the years to
come and will have direct beneficial impacts on the quality and good management of water
resources in the Danube and Black Sea regions

The most important research projects, which have been addressed or are actually addressing
the Danube River and the Black Sea, are:

EROS-2000/EROS-21 ("The interactions between the River Danube and the Northwestern
Black Sea"). EROS-2000 was the pilot phase of EROS-21.

ERMAS ("European River Margins: Role of biodiversity in the functioning of riparian
systems"). This project addressed inter alia the investigation of the wetlands of the Danube
delta by the University of Bucharest

32

DANUBS project, started in February 2001 (and which shall terminate end of January 2005).
This project addresses the entire Danube River Basin regarding nutrients and selected other
pollutants, including their fate in the Western Black Sea.

TISZA RIVER PROJECT, which has just been negotiated for funding and for which a
contract will be launched before the end of this year.

Projects in the Black Sea Area

In the Black Sea EU has provided support through the Black Sea Environment Programme
(BSEP) with the overall objective to assist Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, the Ukraine and
Georgia to strengthen their individual and shared capacity to tackle the Black Sea’s
environmental problems. The total contract amount was 1,5 million
PHARE/TACIS 1995 budget.

from the

€

The five components of the project were:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Environmental Education and Public Awareness

Sustainable Economic development

Pollution assessment and control

Coastal zone management

Restructuring the Black Sea Biodiversity Centre

Apart from that TACIS has supported the Black Sea Secretariat.

The International Task Force for the Danube (ITF)

An International Task Force (ITF) was set up on 25 February 2000 at the initiative of the
European Commission in response to the pollution incident by cyanide at Baia Mare. The
International Task Force for Assessing the Baia Mare Accident (the Baia Mare Task force)
worked in close co-operation with the International Commission for the Protection of the
Danube but however completely independent from that Commission.

The ITF’s main assignments were: to assess damage, investigate what caused the accident,
outline measures to be taken, ensure that such a disaster could never happen again and finally
to identify essential measures to be taken to restore the confidence of the local populations.

The task force assessed the causes of the accident and made a set of recommendations on
strengthening the regulatory framework and improved operational practices.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF)

The Global Environment Facility was established to forge international co-operation and
finance actions to address four critical threats to the global environment: loss of biodiversity,
climate change, degradation of international waters, and ozone depletion. Launched in 1991
as an experimental facility, GEF was restructured after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The facility that emerged after restructuring was more strategic, effective, transparent, and
participatory. In 1994, 34 nations pledged $2 billion in support of GEF's mission; in 1998,

33

36 nations pledged $2.75 billion to protect the global environment and promote sustainable
development.

The GEF can succeed in its global environmental mission only as part of a world-wide
movement toward sustainable development. GEF brings together 166 member governments,
leading development institutions, the scientific community, and a wide spectrum of private
sector and non-governmental organisations on behalf of a common global environmental
agenda.

With regard to international waters, GEF has since 1993 supported countries of the Danube
Basin and those around the Black Sea to understand priority water-related problems they face
and to build their capacity under the Danube Convention and the Black Sea Convention to
address the priorities jointly.

GEF has supported a series of projects to accomplish this through joint processes of
producing a transboundary analysis for setting country-driven priorities and then formulating
a Strategic Action Plan (SAP) of needed regional and country-specific actions to address the
root causes of the transboundary problems.

Within the framework of the GEF’s Small Grants Programme administered by the UNDP,
GEF has funded the Danube Grant Programme for NGOs. This programme was implemented
in 1998-99 by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). The
main objectives were to increase public awareness and public participation and to reinforce
NGO participation on community-based pollution reduction measures and awareness-raising
projects.

Approximately during the same period, GEF has funded the Danube Pollution Reduction
programme (PRP). The Danube PRP aims at improving the quality of surface and ground
water bodies and presents a group of projects and measures that respond to identified
pollution and transboundary effects in the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea. It supports
the strategies and policies as defined in the SAP as well as the implementation of the DRPC.

Various activities have been carried out within the framework of the PRP:

• the transboundary analysis including a list of the main sources of pollution and hot spots,

• the development of a model to evaluate the flow of pollution through the Danube to the

Black Sea (Danube Water Quality Model),

• the establishment of thematic maps for the river basin management, the drafting of several
studies regarding financing mechanisms, wetland rehabilitation and the creation of a
databank with ongoing and planned projects (421 projects covering 246 hot spots).

The results of the PRP will support the activities of the ICPDR through the development of a
programme of Action for the Implementation of the Danube River protection Convention.

Black Sea Economic Co-operation

The Black Sea Economic Co-operation consists of an organisational structure, containing
intergovernmental, inter-parliamentary, inter-business and financial components. It aims at
co-ordinating and synchronising the views and positions of the Participating States with
regard to the Black Sea Economic Co-operation.

34

The intergovernmental component consists of the decision-making body the Meeting of the
the Senior Officials
Ministers of Foreign Affairs (MMFA) of the Participating States,
Meeting, the Working Groups of Experts which are the subsidiary bodies established by the
MMFA and which deal with concrete spheres of the BSEC activities.

According to the MMFA decision, the Permanent International Secretariat of the BSEC was
established and headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. The Secretariat, working under the
authority of the BSEC Sessional Chairman, assumed its duties in 1994.

The inter-parliamentary component was created in 1993 when the representatives of Albania,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine decided to
establish the Parliamentary Assembly of the BSEC (PABSEC). Its aim is to create proper
conditions in the Participating States, including juridical support for the realisation of the
goals and principles of the BSEC Summit Declaration. Within the spectrum of its objectives,
the PABSEC has been created also to strengthen the pluralistic democratic structure and
political stability in the Black Sea area.

There are three committees of the PABSEC of which environmental matters are undertaken in
“the Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, which has its headquarters in Thessaloniki,
represent
the financial component of the BSEC structure. The Bank is the principal
mechanism of the BSEC in working out, financing and implementing joint regional projects
and providing the necessary financial resources for the Participating States.

Danube Environment Forum (DEF)

The Danube Environment Forum is a network of non-governmental 13 organisations
representing all the countries of the river basin except Hungary and Moldova. The legal
registration of DEF as an international organisation under Slovak law was accomplished in
October 1999. The DEF has been granted an observer status to the ICPDR in November 1999.
In 6 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Romania,
Ukraine), DEF disposes of National Focal Points.

The Danube Commission

In July 2000, the Council endorsed a proposal from the European Commission to pay into an
international fund (“The International Fund for Clearing the Danube Riverbed Channel”) for
clearing up the River Danube from war damage debris, to restore the navigability in the area
of Novi Sad. managed by the Danube Commission based in Budapest.

Since January 2001 the Danube Commission has started the implementation of the project and
operations of clearing parts of the Danube is starting in the course of the summer 2001.

35

ANNEX 3

POPULATION IN THE DANUBE AND BLACK SEA REGION

Population in Danube River Basin
(million)

% of Danube population

Country

Germany

Austria

9,1

7,7

Czech Republic

2,8

Slovakia

Hungary

Slovenia

Croatia

Yugoslavia

Bosnia
Herzegovina

and

Bulgaria

Romania

Moldova

Ukraine

5,2

10,2

1,7

3,2

9,0

2,9

3,9

22,6

1,9

3,1

Total Danube

83,3

Country

Bulgaria

Romania

Ukraine

Turkey

Russia

Georgia

5,5

23

47,1

7,8

26,1

2

Total Black Sea

111,5

10,9

9,2

3,4

6,2

12,2

2,0

3,8

10,8

3,5

4,6

27,1

2,3

3,7

100

5,0

20,6

42,2

7,0

23,4

1,8

36

Population in Black Sea Basin
(million)

% of Black Sea population