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BALKAN VITAL GRAPHICS 48 BACKGROUND MINING WATER NATURE 49
Adapting to international rules
All the Balkan countries are now committed to the Eu-
ropean integration progress, with the goal of joining the
European Union. They must consequently accept the
acquis communautaire and transpose it into their
national legislation. One major challenge – and not just
for new member states – is the Water Framework Di-
rective, which introduces new rules for water manage-
ment hinging on river basins.
On joining Europe, a country automatically accepts the
terms of all international treaties to which the EU is part.
In the case of the UNECE conventions, this means that
Balkan countries must comply with them even if they
have not actually ratified them. Serbia, for example,
complies with the Espoo Convention and the Strategic
Environmental Assessment Protocol without being part
to either. The same is true of the Aarhus convention.
But Balkan countries would benefit by signing up to
international treaties already ratified by the EU, particu-
larly as doing so would strengthen their environmental
policies and commitments at a national level and serve
as a framework for transboundary cooperation on en-
vironmental damage and hazards. The UN Convention
on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International
Watercourses is yet another case in point. To accept
the principles underpinning international instruments
protecting the environment and water resources, and
to work within their framework would surely bring ben-
efits, stability and security to the Balkans.
How Balkan countries go about complying with EU re-
quirements in this respect depends on how successful
they are in changing the national water management
systems they inherited from the socialist era. This
means accepting new, and in the most part very ad-
vanced, approaches to water management, which in-
volve active co-operation with neighbouring countries
sharing a river basin. Over the last 12 years, all Balkan
countries, except Serbia, have passed new water legis-
lation, replacing outdated water management methods
and facing up to future challenges.
The body of EU legislation which candidate countries must adopt to
become EU members.
Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Trans-
boundary Context (EIA, Espoo Convention, Espoo 1991)
Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Ac-
cidents (Helsinki 1992)
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention,
Helsinki 1992)
Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation
in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmen-
tal Matters (Aarhus Convention, Aarhus 1998)
Protocol on Water and Health (London 1999)
Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA
Protocol, Kiev 2003)
Protocol on Civil Liability and Compensation for Damage
Caused by Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents
on Transboundary Waters (Kiev 2003)
Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers
(PRTR Protocol, Kiev 2003)
Water-related multilateral agreements
facilitated by the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe
Maritsa Bulgaria GreeceTurkey Drina Montenegro Bosnia-Herzegovina
Serbia
Sava Slovenia Croatia Bosnia-Herzegovina Serbia
Tundzha BulgariaTurkey Vardar Axios Macedonia Greece Kolpa Kupa Slovenia Croatia
Mesta NestosBulgaria Greece Struma Strimonas Bulgaria Greece
Serbia Macedonia
Vardar Axios Macedonia Greece
Ergene Evros Turkey Greece ArdaBulgaria Greece
UnaCroatia Bosnia-Herzegovina
NeretvaBosnia-Herzegovina Croatia
Drin Albania Macedonia Serbia Vardar Axios Macedonia Greece