EuropaWorld 2/11/2001Commission Acts to Promote a Clean Up in the Black Sea

Reacting to the deterioration in the environment around the Black Sea, the European Commission has taken steps to improve matters. The Communication it adopted this week
highlights the actions that are needed: such as more co-operation between member states's policies towards countries in the region and co-ordinating EU programmes of financial assistance.

The Danube - Black Sea region constitutes an axis of increasing geo-political importance in the enlarging European Union. However, it is suffering acute environmental problems. The Danube is subject to increasing pressures: waste discharges, irrigation and water supply demands, industry, fishing, tourism, power generation and navigation - all aggravate already severe problems of water quality and quantity besides contributing to a drastic reduction in bio-diversity in the basin.

"The popular image of the 'blue' Danube is sadly inaccurate," said Margot Wallström, the EU's Environment Commissioner. "The Danube today is heavily affected by pollution from agriculture, industry and cities. The pollution ends up in the Black Sea and affects a very large area. This is why the EU is taking the initiative to make the countries of the region work closer together and to step up its own involvement in remedying the situation."

The Commission's goals to rehabilitate the region include the reduction of nutrient discharges, allowing the Black Sea to recover, and the application of a River Basin approach (rather than working according to administrative or political boundaries) to assist the countries of the region in their own environmental efforts.