Danube Watch 1/2017 - Bottling the spirit of Danube cooperation

As part of a longstanding ICPDR tradition, Peter J. Kalas of the Czech Republic (right) presents a bottle of Danube Water to Peter Gammeltoft of the European Union (left).

The ICPDR is a worldwide model for cooperation in river basin management, and the role of the Danube countries as guardians of the precious resources of the river basin is always at the heart of the ICPDR’s work – as the waters of the Danube are literally passed on from one presidency country to the next.

Each president steers the ICPDR, acting as its captain for the year, while the expert groups – panels of specialists from the ICPDR’s contracting parties and its observers – function as the crew, undertaking much of the work of the ICPDR. The technical secretariat supports the president during his or her mandate.

However, the president provides visibility to his or her country during the year and leaves a mark on the work of the ICPDR by bringing a special focus on several issues. The Presidency is a symbolic torch reminding the ICPDR community of the original objective of the Danube River Basin Protection Convention – to improve the water quality in the basin for the countries which are the owners of the convention.

A tradition of responsibility
The presidency is held for one year, and passed from one contracting party to the next in alphabetical order, in English. The delegation representing the next contracting party nominates its representative to become President of the ICPDR. The President as a rule does not take the floor on behalf of that delegation within the meetings of the ICPDR.

The transition is made in a ceremony held in January hosted by the outgoing president, at that country’s embassy in Vienna. At the ceremony, the outgoing president presents the new president with a bottle of Danube water. At once a reminder of the custodial role of the Danube countries to protect the previous resources of the Danube and its tributaries, the handover also symbolises the passing of the baton of responsibility, reinforcing the shared commitment each country has made to the ICPDR.

Beginning and ending with the Danube
The handover tradition began in 2000, and every year Igor Liska, ICPDR Technical Expert for Water Quality at the ICPDR Secretariat, has collected and sampled water for the ceremony.

While the bottle itself is passed to each president, a new water sample is collected each year from the same location at the Danube River at km 1930 at the Reichsbrücke (Imperial Bridge) in Vienna.

This enduring tradition gives a special continuity to the ICPDR as Danube cooperation and the integrated work of the ICPDR lives on, now and for the future.