International Roundtable on Protection and Sustainable Use of Trans-boundary Waters in South East Europe, 15-16 December 2011, Zagreb, Croatia

1. Speaking points for Marco Keiner for the International Roundtable on Protection and Sustainable Use
of Transboundary Waters in Southeastern Europe” Zagreb, Croatia (15-16 December 2011)
Institutions and Legal Frameworks, 16 December 9:05
1. The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes,
UNECE Water Convention, will celebrate next year the 20th anniversary from its signature. Looking
back, the Water Convention has played an important role in improving cooperation on shared waters in SEE.
Most of the existing bilateral and multilateral agreements between SEE countries are based on the principles
and provisions of the Convention, including the Danube River Protection Convention and the Framework
Agreement on the Sava River Basin. Also thee Drin Dialogue is inspired by the Water Convention and the
signing of the related MoU represents an important step in responding to the obligation of the Convention
that riparian states should develop agreements on shared water resources, preferably on specific basins.
2. The Convention provides an important legal framework for regional cooperation on shared water
resources. It is based on three complementary and mutually sustaining obligations, THREE PILLARS:
− The obligation to take all appropriate measure to prevent control and reduce transboundary
impacts
− The obligation to ensure that transboundary waters are used in a reasonable and equitable
way, so all riparian should benefit from the water in an equitable manner
− The obligation for riparian to cooperate through the establishment of agreements that
foresee joint bodies responsible for joint management
3. Most of the SEE countries have ratified the Convention, except for the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Turkey and Montenegro. I call on remaining countries in the region to also ratify the
Convention. The active participation of non-ECE countries in the Second Assessment , both Parties and non
Parties, demonstrates their interest in the Convention and the cooperation platforms it offers
4. The Convention was amended in 2003 to open it up for non-UNECE countries to become Parties and
thereby make this platform available also beyond the UNECE region. .It is important that the amendment
enters into force as soon as possible, ideally in 2012. I encourage the Parties that have not yet ratified the
amendments to do so at the earliest.
5. I would like to highlight two specificities of the Water Convention which makes it unique and
represent its main added value.
6. First of all, its legally binding nature. In this region where most of the countries are involved in the
Stabilisation and Association Process or Accession Process and therefore approximating their legal
frameworks to the aquis communautaire, the Convention offers a useful framework supporting a step-by-
step approximation. The Convention and the EU aquis communautaire, in particular the EU Water
Framework Directive and its daughter directives, promote the same approach to water management.
Moreover, by focusing on transboundary aspects, the Convention complements the EU Water Framework
Directive with provisions that are crucial for the sustainability of cooperation.
7. Secondly, the Convention does not only exist on paper. One of its main strength is related to the work
which is carried out within its framework and which is designed to support implementation by Parties and
non-Parties, to identify joint priorities and to address emerging challenges. Among the many recent and on-
going activities under the Water Convention, there are several which are extremely relevant for the region.
First of all, the projects in the field (in the Sava and Drin) which are aiming at strengthening cooperation.

2. Secondly the direct assistance to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to ratify the Water
Convention.
8. A general lesson that can be drawn is that a prerequisite for success of transboundary cooperation is
the existence of joint bodies – which the UNECE Water Convention requires the Riparian Parties to
establish. Joint bodies provide THE venue for the regularization of transboundary cooperation and for its
progressive enhancement and extension. The competences of joint bodies vary greatly, but in general, with
time and trust, competences tend to expand to include new areas, an increasing environmental mandate, and
also an increasing mandate to coordinate with other sectors.
9. The Second Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters illustrates that an area of
obvious difficulty is the cooperation on transboundary groundwaters which is far less advanced than
cooperation on surface waters. On a positive note, the efforts to inventory transboundary groundwaters are
more advanced in SEE than in most other parts of the UNECE region. The difficulty has many reasons, first
of all the fact that groundwaters are not “visible”. At the same time, this resource will become more and
more strategic with on one hand the growing water scarcity and on the other the growing need for water of
high quality. It is therefore important that the legal and institutional framework for transboundary
groundwater cooperation is strengthened. The current work under the Water Convention in this area, with the
Legal Board looking in detail into the application of the Convention to groundwaters is very timely and
needed.
10. Transboundary cooperation is supported under the Water Convention also through a number
projects which may involve, for example, advice in setting up joint monitoring, negotiating agreements or
establishing joint bodies. One example of such a practical activity is implementation of UNECE’s Guidance
on water and adaptation to climate change in a number of pilot basins — among them the Sava River. I am
very glad of working with the Sava River Basin Commission and with other interested actors on this. The
capacity to cooperate on adaptation will be a critical issue for transboundary waters in the region,
considering the predicted increase in water scarcity, and for reconciling their multiple uses, and this project
will generate useful knowledge to share.
11. To conclude I would like to underline that there are many important actors in the SEE region
supporting cooperation and the Convention being just one of them, it is crucial that we coordinate our action
and join forces to maximize the impact. For UNECE and the Water Convention this has always been
extremely important and we see the Petersberg Process /Athens Declaration as a very fruitful framework
were different actors can join forces and multiply their impacts by building on their specific strengths and
maximising synergies. I would like to thank all the partners for the fruitful cooperation. UNECE look
forward to continue working with SEE countries and with other national and international actors to promote
cooperation and sustainability in the region.