Europe - UNEP

Tejo/Tagus River seen from Portas do Sol park, Santarém, Portugal. Photo credit: Fulviusbsas, via Wikimedia Commons.
Chu and Talias Rivers between Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan (UNECE, 1993; UNECE 2003).
An example of the effectiveness of the
UNECE is that in collaboration with the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), it supports a transboundary
project on the Dniester River basin, which started
in 2004 for an initial 14-month period. The
project aims to enhance regional cooperation
between the Dniester riparian countries, Ukraine
and Moldova, and draw international attention to
the problems of the basin. Part of the project
involves the preparation of a new agreement on
the management and sustainable use of the
waters of the Dniester basin as well as the
development of joint methodologies for the
assessment of water quality within the basin.
3.3 SELECTED CONFLICTS
REGARDING TRANSBOUNDARY
WATER
Despite a long tradition of developing
cooperative arrangements over Europe’s
transboundary waters, numerous transboundary
water conflicts between European countries have
occurred. For example, during the early twentieth
century, Belgium and the Netherlands contested
the enlargement of certain canals and the
construction of certain works on the River Meuse
(in the Rhine basin). This dispute eventually had
to be settled in the Permanent Court of
International Justice. In 1929 this court also
resolved a dispute concerning the River Oder
between Germany, Denmark, France, United
Kingdom, Sweden, former Czechoslovakia, and
Poland. Interestingly, in reaching its opinion the
court followed the “general principles of
international river law” and recognized the
“community of interests” of riparian countries in
navigable rivers. In addition, the early twentieth
century witnessed a dispute between France and
Spain over Lake Lanoux and the Carol River in
the Ebro basin. The dispute involved France’s
proposal to utilize the Carol River in such a way
that caused the Spanish government to fear that it
would adversely affect their rights and interests
(that were protected under the Treaty of Bayonne
concluded by the parties in 1866). Eventually, the
dispute was resolved by an international arbitral
tribunal. France was also involved in a dispute
Chapter 3. The Evolution of Conflict and Cooperation over Europe’s Transboundary Waters — 37