Europe - UNEP

Mute swans in canal fed by Soestwetering stream, Salland, Overijssel, the Netherlands. Photo credit: Rhh, via Wikimedia Commons.
The 1994 Danube Convention uses the term
“catchment area” to describe the geographical
scope of the agreement, which covers “the
hydrological river basin as far as it is shared by
the contracting Parties.” Finally, the 1998 Rhine
Convention is worth considering given its very
precise definition of the geographic scope of the
agreement in Articles 1 and 2. The scope of this
convention is stipulated to cover the Rhine, the
groundwater interacting with the Rhine, the
aquatic and terrestrial environments interacting
with the Rhine, and for the purposes of flood
management and pollution control, the entire
Rhine catchment area. The Rhine is defined in
Article 1 as “the outlet of Lake Untersee and in
the Netherlands the branches Bovenrijn, Bijlands
Kanaal, Pannerdensch Kanaal, Ijssel, Nederrijn,
Lek, Waal, Boven-Merwede, Beneden-Merwede,
Noord, Oude Maas, Nieuwe Maas and Scheur
and the Nieuwe Waterweg as far as the base line
as defined in Article 5 in connection with Article
11 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,
the Ketelmeer and the Ijsselmeer.”
In sum, a survey of European agreements
relating to transboundary waters shows that a
common trend towards adopting a drainage
basin-wide approach to the joint management of
transboundary waters exists in Europe. Furthermore,
the 1992 Helsinki Convention and the EU
WFD have been instrumental in influencing the
development of such an approach.
4.2 SUBSTANTIVE WATER
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
Generally speaking, substantive rules define the
rights and duties incumbent on the subjects of
international law. In the context of transboundary
waters such rules refer to the rights and
obligations that exist to reconcile competing
interests between the users and uses of
transboundary waters; the most pertinent
competing interests being water for domestic,
industrial and agricultural purposes, human
health issues, hydropower production, flood
management, regulation, fisheries, navigation,
and the protection of ecosystems.
4.2.1 Equitable and Reasonable
Utilisation of Transboundary
Water
The substantive rule of equitable and reasonable
use is widely considered to be a rule of customary
international law and thus binding for all
countries (ICJ, 1997). Therefore, it can be
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