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Credit: Ministry of Environment, Austria  

Editorial

Dear Readers,

Catherine Day

As President of the ICPDR, I took great pleasure in helping to cut the ICPDR’s tenth birthday cake during Danube Day celebrations on June 29 in Vienna. As the pictures and stories in this issue of Danube Watch make clear, Danube Day was celebrated in many different ways throughout the entire Danube River Basin.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those people and organisations that invested enormous time and energy to make this first Danube Day a remarkable success. It is my sincere belief that Danube issues must be brought closer to the people and that the feeling of ‘Danube Solidarity’ is crucial to raise understanding of the technical measures needed to secure the ‘good ecological status’ of Danube water, as called for by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).

The experts of the ICPDR are currently finalising the Roof Report, which is a comprehensive analysis of the status of the Danube River Basin, as required by the WFD. This comprehensive and consistent analysis of the most international river basin in the world is a major achievement for the ICPDR. I am especially grateful for the efforts and interest by the Danube countries that do not have a legal obligation to fulfil this directive. The successful completion of this first step towards implementing the WFD will be essential for guiding our work in the future.

As outlined on page 23, the ICPDR will hold its first Ministerial Meeting for all ministers responsible for the sustainable management of the Danube River Basin. At this event, which also marks ten years of cooperation under the Danube River Protection Convention, ministers will receive and discuss key documents, such as the Roof Report and the Action Programme for Sustainable Flood Prevention of the Danube River Basin.

This Ministerial Meeting will provide an opportunity to further develop strategies for addressing the challenges ahead of us. However, this meeting will also offer the possibility to look back and appreciate the progress that has been made over the past ten years. We can all be very pleased with the accomplishments we have achieved; Danube cooperation can be seen as model to the world!

Catherine Day,
Director General of the
Directorate General for
the Environment of the
European Commission