News & Media

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.

Vienna, 17 December 2014. The Danube River Basin Management Plan Update 2015 and the 1st Flood Risk Management Plan for the DRB are published here for comments until 22 July 2015.

Vienna, 10 December 2014. Croatia will take over the ICPDR Presidency 2015. In the frame of the 17th Ordinary Meeting of the commission, incoming president Mr. Drazen Kurecic received a bottle of Danube water as a symbol for the presidency from acting president Ms. Emilia Kraeva of Bulgaria.