Water protect ing actions in the Danube Region Strategy (EUSDR) Expectations and facts

1. György István TÓTH, assistantto EUSDR PAC4 National Institute forEnvironment Budapest, Hungary Water protecting actions in the Danube Region Strategy (EUSDR)Expectations and facts Visit of Mr. Nguyen Minh Quang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

2. The DanubeRiverBasinDistrictwithintheDanubeRegion Visit of Mr. Nguyen Minh Quang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

3. Regionstrategiesin EU • The BalticSeaRegion(thefirstregionalstrategy) • The DanubeRegion (the most internationalriverbasin of theworld) • Involvedcountries • 8 MS countries (DE, AT, SLO, CZ, SK, HU, RO, BG) • 1 Candidate/accession country (HR) • 5 Non EU countries (UA, MD, SR, BiH, MO) • Benefitson • Regionallevel • Socio-economicdevelopment • Competitiveness • Environmental management • Growth, efficientonresources • Modernization of transportcorridors • Growingsecurity • EU level • Contributionto EU 2020 Strategy • Connectionto Black SeaRegion, South –Caucasus and CentralAsia Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

4. The EU DanubeRegionStrategy • Background • Requestfrom EU CounciltoCommissiontopreparethisStrategy (19 June 2009) • Basedongoodacceptance and experiences of theBalticSeaStrategy • Expectations • Integratedapproach (asincase of EUBSRS) • Synergies and trade-offs (finalconsensus) • Preparation of basedocuments • CommunicationReport (atthe end of 2010) • Targetssetting • Action Plan (forimplementation of targets) • Pillars (4) • PriorityAreas(11) • Actions/projects(uncountable) Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

5. Challenges & Opportunities(inthe EUSDR) • Challengesinthefield of… • Mobility • The DanubeRiver– a highvaluecorridor of TEN-T (Trans European Network –Transport) (moderateutilisation, 10%-20% of thatontheRhine) • Less multimodality – transportnodes • Lowinterconnectivitywithotherriverbasins • Energy • Lowlevel of resources– highprices • Extremevulnerability (fewexternalsuppliers) Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

6. Challenges & Opportunities(inthe EUSDR) • Challengesinthefield of… (cont.) • Environment • Highwater & environmentpollution (point and diffusesources) • Growingenvironmentalrisks (floods, droughts, accidents) • Degradation of protectedareas (biodiversitylosses) • Socio-economicissues • Definitedisparities (Eastern-Western EU countriesproblem) • Lowlevel of cooperation • Lowlevel of financial and institutionalpromotion • Lowinnovation, research and marketing opportunities • Security, crimes • Smuggling • Corruption Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

7. Challenges & Opportunities(inthe EUSDR) • Opportunities • Gate toEast • Traditionallygood and solideducationlevel • Highqualityregionwidecultures • Uniquenaturaldiversity and heritage • Rich environmentalassets (water, soil, landscapes, flora&fauna) • More opportunityforusing of renewableenergysources Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

8. Pillars & PriorityAreas(withcoordinatingcountries) 3PA for AT, DE, HU, RO 2PA for SLO, SK, SR, BG, HR 1PA for CZ, MD • ConnectingtheDanubeRegion 1 Toimprovemobility and multimodality • Inlandwaterways (AT&RO) • Road, rail and air links (SLO&SR) 2 Toencourage more sustainableenergy (HU&CZ) 3 Topromoteculture and tourism, peopletopeoplecontacts (BG&RO) • ProtectingtheEnvironment 4 Torestore and maintainthequality of waters (HU&SK) 5 Tomanageenvironmentalrisks (HU&RO) 6 Topreservebiodiversity, landscapes and thequality of air and soils (DE&HR) • Building ProsperityintheDanubeRegion 7 Todeveloptheknowledgesocietytroughresearch, education and informationtechnologies (SK&SR) 8 Tosupportthecompetitiveness of enterprises, includingclusterdevelopment (DE&HR) 9 Toinvestinpeopole and skills (AT&MD) • StrengtheningtheDanubeRegion 10 Tosetupinstitutionalcapacity and cooperation (AT&SLO) 11 Toworktogethertopromotesecurity and tackleorganisedandseriouscrime (DE&BG) Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

9. Coordinationworkflow • Politicallevel • EU Council • EU Commission • DGs of Commission • HighLevel Group of allMemberStates (non-EU representativestoo) • National ContactPoints (GovernmentCommisionerin HU) • Implementationlevel • Targets, actions(revised) • Actions, projectsflagshipprojectslabelling • Seekingforfunding • Assessment and reporting PRIORITY AREA COORDINATORS Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

10. ExpectationstoPACs • Three NO • No new EU funds • No newinstitutions • No new EU legistlations BUT • Three YES • Be committed • Be proactive • Be effective Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

11. The 4th PriorityArea • Torestore and maintainthequality of waters • Main features • Operationalarea is practicallytheDanubeRiverBasinDistrict • Operationalmethod is practicallybasedon EU WFD implementation • Operationaltargetsarepracticallysuitableenvironmentalobjectives of theDanubeRiverBasin Management Plan • Targets (suggestedbytheCommission, modified and acceptedby SG) 1 Achievetheenvironmentalobjectivesset out inthe DRBM Plan 2 ReducethenutrientlevelsintheDanubeRivertoallowtherecovery of the Black Seaecosystemstoconditionsimilarto1960’s 3 Complete and adopttheDanube Delta Management Planby 2013 Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

12. Actionsfor PA4 • Action - “To implement fully the Danube River Basin Management Plan” • Action - “To greatly strengthen cooperation at sub-basin level” • Action - “To continue to invest in and support the information collection systems alreadydevelopedby ICPDR” • Action - “To continue boosting major investments in building and upgrading urban wastewater treatment facilities across the Danube Basin, including measures to buildcapacity at the regional and local level for the design of such infrastructure” • Action - “To establish buffer strips along the rivers to retain nutrients and to promotealternative collection and treatment of waste in small rural settlements” • Action - “To foster and develop an active process of dialogue and cooperation between authorities responsible for agriculture and environment to ensure that measures are taken toaddressagriculturalpollution” • Action - “To legislate at the appropriate level to limit the presence of phosphates in detergents” • Action - “To treat hazardous substances and contaminated sludge with the newest and bestavailable technology and to develop and promote remediation measurefor hazardousproducing or abandoned industrial sites and waste deposits”- Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

13. Actionsfor PA4 (cont.) • Action - “To assure the proper control and progressive substitution of substances that areconsideredproblematicforDanubeRegion” • Action - “To reduce existing water continuity interruption for fish migration in the Danuberiverbasin” • Action - “To promote measures to limit water abstraction” • Action - “To strengthen general awareness and facilitate exchange of good practice in integrated water management issues in the Danube Basin among decision-makers at all levels and among the population of the Region” • Action - “To promote measures aimed at reducing knowledge deficits, developing and transferring tools, methods and guidelines concerning the safeguarding of drinking watersupply” • Action - “To further strengthen Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and MaritimeSpatial Planning (MSP) practices on the Western shores of the Black Sea” Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

14. State of play on… • HU level • atpoliticalside • CommissionerbureausetupinMinistry of ForeignAffairs • PoliticalresponsibilityforrelevantPAs • Nomination of PACsforimplementation • EU level • Commissioner HAHN (DG Regio) announcedPACsinFebruary 2011 in Budapest • EU General AffairsCouncil Meeting adoptedthe EUSDR on13 April 2011 • Joint Meeting of National CP and PAC onthe EUSDR in 8-10 May, Gödöllő, Hungary Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

15. State of play on… (cont.) • HU-SK coordinationlevel (cont.) • Sharedwork of coordination • Both coordianationstaffarereadytowork • Cooperationwithoutproblems • Kick-off and two SG meetings • Operationalrules (RoP, labellingrules, etc.) • Breakdown of actionsintooperatioalsteps (roadmaps) • Projectscollectionconcerning PA4 actions • Labellingforongoing and plannedprojects,13 new EUSDR projectsbynow • Thirdcountrieslevel • Networkingwithnationalcounterparts • SteeringMeetingswithinterestedcountries Visit of Mr. Nguyen MinhQuang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

16. Thankyouforyourattention Visit of Mr. Nguyen Minh Quang, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam