Europe - UNEP

Moldovan dried fruit and vegetable producers observe a Uniferax-Grup washing machine during a study tour. Photo credit: Rodion Gudim,
CNFA, courtesy of USAID.
implementation of the convention. The centre
provides expertise on water-related monitoring,
assessment, information technology and public
participation, and seeks to build a network of
Douro Valley near Régua, Portugal. Photo credit: Npolvo, via
Wikimedia Commons.
leading European water institutions. Therefore,
not only does the convention provide the legal
framework by which to develop bilateral and
multilateral agreements, it also contains an
organizational framework that assists countries in
the negotiation, implementation, and
development of agreements for cooperation over
their transboundary waters.
The 1992 Helsinki Convention, currently
binding 34 countries and the European
community, has been highly influential in
promoting cooperation over transboundary
waters in Europe; particularly in assisting Eastern
European countries, the Caucasus and Central
Asia since the break-up of the former Soviet
Union. Many agreements relating to
transboundary waters reflect the rules and
principles contained in the 1992 Helsinki
Convention, including the 1994 Danube
Convention, the 1994 Agreements on the Meuse
and Scheldt (both components of the Rhine River
basin), the 1997 Estonia-Russia Agreement on
Transboundary Waters, the 1998 Rhine
Convention, the 1998 Spain-Portugal Basin
Convention, the 2001 Belarus-Ukraine
Agreement on Transboundary Waters and the
2002 Sava Framework Agreement (sub-basin of
the Danube), and the 2002 Agreement on the
36 — Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: Europe