Pavel Misiga on the EU dimension in water policy

The Directorate General for the Environment is keen on sharing the knowledge and best practices with our partners in third countries. A good opportunity in this respect is our participation in the work of international commissions like the ICPDR. © ICPDR/Mello

Protecting water resources and ecosystems is one of the cornerstones of environmental protection in Europe. The stakes are high, the issues cross national boundaries and concerted action at EU level is necessary to ensure effective protection. Pavel Misiga, the new head of the unit for water at the European Commission, speaks about the tools to meet the Danube region’s water management challenges and the importance of countries working together - through EC programmes and organisations like the ICP DR – to secure these precious resources for the future.

Danube Watch: Mr Misiga, the ICPDR community is looking forward to working with you and your team in your new role as EC Head of Unit for water. Your home country Slovakia is a riparian one strongly shaped by the Danube. What is your personal relationship with this river?

Misiga: I have very close personal relationship with the Danube. I grew up in Bratislava, in the city suburbs close to the river. I spent a lot of time as a boy playing in the inundation forests and as a teenager on canoe trips down the river. My first working experience, as a young hydrogeology and applied geophysics graduate, was also closely connected with the Danube. I worked in the area of water infrastructure assessment and hydrological and environmental monitoring in the Danube region.

Danube Watch: Where do you see the most pressing areas for action at the EU level and how does the Danube Basin fit into this? Where do you personally see priorities for the EC?

Misiga: EU Member States have been through a long process establishing river basin management plans and making the programmes of measures operational to achieve good status of waters in Europe. The final deadline for achieving those goals – 2015 – is rapidly approaching therefore the upcoming second river basin management plans will hold a mirror reflecting where we are with the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in Europe. The most urgent task is therefore the implementation of effective measures, which may not be easy in the current economic context. Also integrating water policy objectives into other policy areas is a key challenge because without involving agriculture, industry, households, hydropower, navigation and other stakeholders it will not be possible to deliver the right measures.

We need more effort in the regions exposed to too much or too little water as well. Huge areas of Europe are prone to water scarcity and droughts at least seasonally. There is a need to establish water accounts and allocate the available water resources based on them considering the ecosystem needs. In other areas, recurrent floods destroy property and undermine people’s wellbeing. In addition, 2015 is also the year of implementing the first flood risk management plans – a crucial step in the coordination between flood protection and river basin management via natural water retention measures, for example.

The challenges and opportunities in the Danube Basin are similar to those in other basins, but thanks to the work of the ICPDR the integrated planning process is well advanced and gives a good basis for the achievement of the objectives. However it will still depend on the Danube countries to implement the plans adopted.

Danube Watch: The ICPDR coordinates the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive on a basin-wide level. Several countries that are not EU member states but are politically committed to work towards the implementation of both directives. It is a challenge to comply with the legal regime, especially with regards to investments. What does the European Commission do to help non-EU countries in their efforts to align with the acquis communautaire?

Misiga: The EU provides funds to candidate countries or potential candidate countries through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The IPA aims to support candidate countries and potential candidates in implementing the political, institutional, legal, administrative, social and economic reforms required to bring the countries closer to EU values and to progressively align with the EU acquis communautaire. The IPA is made up of different components, like assistance for transition and institution building, cross-border cooperation, regional development (transport, environment, regional and economic development), human resources and rural development. For the period 2014– 2020, IPA II sets a new framework for providing pre-accession assistance. The most important novelty of IPA II is its strategic focus. Country strategy papers made for each beneficiary for the seven-year period will provide for stronger ownership by the beneficiaries through integrating their reform and development agendas.

A new initiative called Horizon 2020 allows for financing research, development and innovative activities in the period 2014–2020. Horizon 2020 will be open to the association of acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates and selected international partner countries that fulfil the relevant criteria (capacity, track record, close economic and geographical links to the EU, etc.).

The Directorate General for the Environment makes funding available through the LIFE fund including operating grants to environmental NGOs that are also available for EU candidate countries. Under the LIFE fund integrated projects that follow the river basin planning approach can be financed.

We are also keen on sharing the knowledge and best practices with our partners in third countries. A good opportunity in this respect is our participation in the work of international commissions like the ICPDR.

Danube Watch: The Balkans have suffered from devastating floods this year. What role do you see for the ICPDR in managing flood risks in the future – and where do you see opportunities for closer cooperation with the EC?

Misiga: The devastating floods that hit Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are still fresh in our memories. The international community demonstrated their solidarity, contributed and took part in common efforts, providing both countries with immediate assistance, including rescue teams, expertise and first necessity products, not least through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. With a view of responding to both countries’ call and to supporting both countries in their efforts, the European Commission, France and Slovenia took the initiative to convene an International Donors’ Conference under the motto ‘Rebuilding Together’. Delegations of over 60 countries and 23 international organisations, as well as representatives from the civil society and private sector, gathered in Brussels in mid July 2014.

As a follow up, the European Commission will call a regional meeting later this year in order to support the development of a regionally integrated strategy on flood prevention and management. This meeting will gather the countries of the region, international financial institutions, the river commissions and other relevant stakeholders. One of the objectives would be to put the existing structures (river commissions and EU macro-regional strategies) in the centre of regional action on flood prevention. This means that countries should commit to engage even more actively in the river commissions. With regards to the European Commission in particular, we are participating to the extent possible in the ICPDR meetings, expert and task groups. We see this as an additional opportunity to discuss with Member States as well as non-Member States issues that influence the implementation of the EU acquis and policies.

Danube Watch: Three years after its launch, the EU Strategy for the Danube Region is in full gear. The ICPDR contributes to the objectives of several priority areas, most importantly PA4 (Water Quality) and PA5 (Environmental Risks). What do you think is the biggest achievement of the EUSDR with regards to water to date – and where is the biggest challenge for the future?

Misiga: In my view, the biggest achievement so far is the establishment of a solid structure where the Danube region countries can work together tackling shared key challenges, based on politically agreed priorities in many different areas including the protection of the environment.

The EUSDR has a strong focus on water aspects, be they navigation, water quality, flood protection or biodiversity. The Strategy is meant to make better use of existing structures like for example the technical expertise of the ICPDR and to help mobilising funds. After three years of implementation, the first concrete results of cooperation in the framework of the EUSDR are already visible.

Cooperation among the countries and regions concerned is essential in order to face these challenges. For example, actions aimed at preventing or reducing nutrient or hazardous substances pollution of the Danube have a limited impact on the improvement of the water quality of the river if they are taken only by some of the riparian countries. In this regard the activities developed in the framework of the ICPDR, e.g. related to the implementation of the Danube River Basin Management Plan or of the European Transnational Cooperation South East Europe Danube parks project, are good examples of joint and coordinated activities benefiting, among others, the water quality of the Danube River.

Getting results involves getting programming right: the Danube Strategy is already being included in all partnership agreements and operational programmes. The new financing period is an opportunity that must be seized to make sure that important projects coming from the Strategy are implemented on the ground.

As the implementation of the Strategy develops, the next key challenge will be to integrate environmental aspects and water management into other related policy areas. There are several signs that this is achievable if all stakeholders are involved in a cooperation based on mutual trust but building such cooperation takes time. However, I believe that we are on the right track.