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The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released its latest report, “Europe’s State of Water 2024: The Need for Improved Water Resilience,” shedding light on the growing challenges to Europe’s water security. The report, which draws on data from the 3rd River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs), highlights significant pressures on surface and groundwater bodies across Europe, emphasizing the need for immediate action to strengthen water resilience.

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.

As the climate crisis worsens, severe droughts devastate European landscapes. According to the data published by the European Drought Observatory, more than 60% of land in the European Union and United Kingdom – an area nearly the same size as India (!) – is now affected by drought conditions. The Danube River Basin and the Danube itself have been affected by serious droughts in the past, e.g., in 2003, 2015, and now again one of the most feared natural phenomenon has gripped much of the Danube River Basin.

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.

In 2015 significant parts of the Danube River Basin were affected by droughts which negatively impacted different water-dependent economic sectors, vegetation and the aquatic environment. This is the latest of a series of drought events which occurred in Europe during the last decade.

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.

Bucharest, 5-6 November 2012. The Danube and Tisza River Basin Management Plans require a dialogue between stakeholders from the agricultural and water management sectors. To facilitate this, a Workshop on Agriculture and Water Management in the Danube River Basin will be held in Bucharest between 5-6 November 2012.