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Catherine Day, ICPDR President and
Director General of the Directorate General for the Environment of the
European Commission, discusses with key officials of Serbia and Montenegro |
Speaking before journalists and senior government officials,
Dragan Doko, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations for Bosnia and
Herzegovina, announced on June 18 that "Bosnia and Herzegovina will ratify
the Danube River Protection Convention and we hope to finalise the process within
2004.” This statement was supported by Mladen Ivanic, Minister of Foreign
Affairs for Bosnia and Herzegovina and other government representatives.
The announcement came at the end of a two-day visit by Catherine Day, ICPDR
President, and Philip Weller, ICPDR Executive Secretary, to Sarajevo and Belgrade
where discussions were held to strengthen the involvement of national experts
in the work of the ICPDR. A workshop involving ministers of the environment
and agriculture from the Bosnian Federation and Republic of Srpska was held
in connection with the visit and identified a number of practical steps to strengthen
the capacity for water management.
Implementing the EU Water Framework Directive
During her visit to Belgrade, Day met Ivana Dulic Markovic, Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Water Management, and Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Finance, as well
as Miroljub Labus, Deputy Prime Minister, and expressed her gratitude for "the
excellent work that had been done within Serbia and Montenegro to implement
the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and to fully cooperate under the Danube
River Protection Convention”.
Nikola Miranjovic, Head of the Delegation of Serbia and Montenegro to the ICPDR
and representative of the Ministry of Science and Environmental Protection,
reported on the Water Law and the Environmental Protection Act, both of which
are expected to be presented to Parliament within the next three months. "The
new water law will create the proper framework for managing our water resources,”
stressed Miranjovic. The implementation of the new laws will go hand in hand
with capacity building activities.
Working with the Sava Commission
In Belgrade, Day also met the Heads of Delegation of the Interim Sava Commission,
Mitja Bricelj, Zeljo Ostojic and Nikola Marjanovic, and reinforced her wish
"to ensure that the work under the ICPDR and the Interim Sava Commission
is complimentary”. Steps to secure the full involvement of all Sava countries
in the Danube Accident Early Warning System were especially emphasised, as was
the plan to develop the Sava as a model of sub-basin management planning under
the WFD.
As Director General of DG Environment of the European Commission, Day’s
visit was supported by the Delegations of the European Commission to the respective
countries. This support was not only vital for the success of the visit, but
also, as Day noted, "it demonstrated the opportunities for synergy between
the work of the ICPDR and the European Commission.”