News

For many countries in the Danube region, achieving universal access to water services while safeguarding water resources remains a significant challenge, particularly in rural areas.

The European Commission proposes to cut the use of chemical pesticides in half by 2030, one of the flagship legislative proposals to follow the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies. The new rules on chemical pesticides will reduce the environmental footprint of the EU's food system, protect the health and well-being of citizens and agricultural workers, and help mitigate the pesticide use-related economic losses.

The ICPDR has published a Guidance Document on Sustainable Agriculture, along with a Policy Paper.

The first “International Workshop on Water and Agriculture in the Danube River Basin“ will take place on 6-7 November 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. The workshop is co-organised by the ICPDR together with the Hungarian Ministry of Interior, the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and the Danube Strategy Priority Area 4 and hosted by the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture.

Discussions have begun on what the EC’s post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will look like, specifically wishing to detail a framework for “future-proof” policy. With that in mind, ambitions regarding environmental and climate protection are due to be heightened responding to international commitments, EU environmental challenges, and above all, changing societal expectations. In response to the post-2020 CAP proposals, the ICPDR has published a Position Paper, outlining our positive response to the proposals, and suggesting a way forward for the Danube River Basin.

On 2-3 June 2017 the sixth Youth Parliament of the Sava River Basin competition was held in Belgrade (Serbia). The motto for this year’s competition was “The Impact of Climate Change on the Lives of the Sava River Basin”. 60 students and teachers from nine secondary schools from the Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina attended. The Sava Commission is an observer of the ICPDR.

Vienna, 24 October 2014. The final event of the SEE River Project will be integrated with next week's 6th European River Restoration Conference at Vienna’s TechGate. The final publication of SEE River is available in print and for download. The project has lasted from October 2012 until now.

Luxemburg, 13 May 2014. According to an EU Audit, the union has only partially succeeded in integrating water policy goals into the common agricultural policy (CAP). The audit highlighted weaknesses in the two instruments currently used to integrate water concerns into the CAP and pointed out delays and weaknesses in the implementation of the WFD.

Western Balkans, 19 May 2014 (updated 27 May). Resulting from the most intensive rain in a century, the worst floods in the Balkans for decades caused more than 40 dead and forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.

Sava Basin, 1 June 2013. The International Sava Day is celebrated today in the Sava sub-basin, opening June as the "month of rivers". Events will be organised in all countries of the Sava Basin and will range from cycling tours to the Sava Youth Parliament and other educational events.