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The ICPDR’s legal basis is rooted in the "Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable use of the Danube River", commonly known as the "Danube River Protection Convention" or "DRPC". This pivotal convention was signed in Sofia in 1994 and took effect in October 1998.

The DRPC binds contracting parties (Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and the European Union) to unify their efforts in sustainable water management.

The Joint Programme of Measures is constructed upon the findings of the pressure analysis and the assessment of water status. These serve as the foundation for updating the Danube River Basin Management Plan, incorporating measures of basin-wide significance aligned with the established visions and management objectives outlined in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for the year 2027.

Danube Art Master is the Danube region’s flagship international environmental arts competition for children and young people from all schools, NGOs, clubs, day care centres or associations for children in the Danube Basin. It often runs closely alongside Danube Day celebrations,

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is an International Organisation consisting of 14 cooperating states and the European Union. Since its establishment in 1998, the ICPDR has grown into one of the largest and most active international bodies of river basin management expertise in Europe.

Given the complexity of the Danube River Basin, including many countries with widely differing economic and environmental management needs, one overall framework was required to sustainably manage the basin. In 2000, the ICPDR contracting parties nominated the ICPDR as the platform for the implementation of all transboundary aspects of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The WFD is a holistic legal and policy framework, based on transboundary cooperation in basins, seen by many as the strongest water protection legislation in the world. The ICPDR received a similar mandate in 2009 to support the coordination of the implementation of the EU Floods Directive. In its work to implement the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the EU’s Floods Directive (FD), the ICPDR and its partners have developed a truly integrated approach to the management of the river basin and its resources.

The EU Water Framework Directive aims to make all waters cleaner and healthier. To meet these requirements, the ICPDR's Danube River Basin Management Plan closely examines the most important pressures affecting water status.
Significant water management issues, called SWMIs, are the central pressures of basin-wide importance affecting the ecological and chemical status of surface waters, including pollution by organic substances, nutrients, and hazardous substances, as well as hydromorphological alterations. The first interim overview on the Significant Water Management Issues was created in 2007 for the 1st DRBM. The SWMIs outlined in this report were derived based on the requirements of the WFD and mainly related to quality aspects. For transboundary groundwater bodies, both qualitative and quantitative issues are addressed.

The ICPDR outreach activities activate the participation of youth: this is high and most important on our agenda! On this topic, many activities have already been in place for several years, such as Danube Day, Danube Box and Danube Art Master.

Welcome to the ICPDR! With more than 800,000 square kilometers, the Danube River Basin extends into the territories of 19 countries, and covers 10% of Continental Europe it is considered the most international river basin in the World!

Accidental pollution events are dangerous form of water contamination by hazardous substances. Industrial facilities, mining areas and contaminated sites that store, process or produce such substances in substantial amounts pose hazard (potential risk) to water. To avoid pollution accidents appropriate prevention measures have to be in place.

VIENNA, 29 June 2023 – The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River is delighted to announce the highly anticipated 2023 Danube Day festivities.

The voice of our stakeholders matters in shaping the future of the Danube River Basin. As part of our commitment to effective water management and in accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive and EU Floods Directive, we invite all stakeholders to participate in this crucial process.