Europe - UNEP

Barges and boats on the River Sava at Belgrade, Serbia. Photo credit: Milan Vatovec.
they are still obliged to ensure that the obligations
under the EU WFD are at least coordinated
throughout the entire river basin. To date,
countries sharing the Danube, Rhine, Elbe, Torne,
Oder, Schedlt, and Meuse (both of the latter in the
Rhine basin) have agreed that their international
river commission will develop joint river basin
management plans by 2009 (Nilsson, 2004).
Where river basins extend beyond the
borders of the EU, there is no obligation to adopt
a river basin approach; however, coordination
with non-member countries is encouraged. The
influence of the EU WFD can be illustrated by the
case of the Danube basin, where all the riparian
countries, not just EU member countries, have
agreed to implement the EU WFD as an effective
mechanism for cooperation in cleaning up the
Danube and the Black Sea (Danube, 2001).
Interestingly, under Article 9, the 1992
Helsinki Convention is the only regional
transboundary water agreement that requires
contracting parties to establish joint bodies. The
tasks of such joint bodies include:
• the collection and compilation of
data in order to identify pollution sources
likely to cause transboundary impact
• elaboration of joint monitoring
programmes concerning water quality
and quantity
• drawing up inventories
• exchanging information on pollution
sources
• elaboration of emission limits for
wastewater
• evaluation of the effectiveness of
control programmes
• elaboration of joint water-quality
objectives and criteria
• development of concerned action
programmes for the reduction of
pollution loads from point and diffuse
sources
• establishment of warning and alarm
procedures
• serving as a forum for the exchange
of information on existing and planned
uses of water and related installations
that are likely to cause transboundary
impact
• promotion of cooperation and
exchange of information on the best
available technology
• participation in the implementation
of environmental impacts assessments
relating to the transboundary waters.
Chapter 4. Major Trends in Conflict and Cooperation — 61