The fight against harm to the environment in the Black Sea
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 11998
| 17 July 2009
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- adopted
at the 1063rd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (8 July 2009)
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 1837
(2008)
1. The Committee of
Ministers has examined with interest Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1837 (2008) on “The fight against harm to the environment in the
Black Sea” and welcomes the interest shown by the Assembly in this
question. It has brought the recommendation to the attention of
the member states and forwarded it to several competent bodies for
information and possible comments.
Note
2. The Committee of Ministers shares the Assembly's concern over
the growing environmental degradation of the Black Sea, which is
increasing the risks for the neighbouring populations. It also emphasises
that no activity with negative transboundary environmental effects
should be developed in relation to internationally protected areas,
such as those protected under the Bern Convention and those to which
the Council of Europe awarded its European Diploma of Protected
Areas. It notes that the fragility of the Black Sea is due to it
being almost entirely closed, to the extent that pollution control
must form part of co-operation efforts made by the Danube basin
countries.
3. In this context, the Committee of Ministers welcomes the co-operation
structures and standard-setting framework existing in the Black
Sea region and encourages the riparian countries to make full use
of them in order to strengthen co-operation in environmental activities
and risk reduction. It also notes that these states (Bulgaria, Georgia,
Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine) are all
Parties to the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement
(EUR‑OPA), which provides an appropriate framework for improving
policies for the prevention of technological accidents. Furthermore,
five of the six states bordering on the Black Sea are Parties to
the Bern Convention. The Committee of Ministers closely follows
the work, including ongoing international expert evaluations, which
is carried out by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention
(T-PVS), in particular regarding the implementation of its
Recommendation 111 (2004) on the proposed navigable waterway through the Bystroe
estuary (Danube Delta, Ukraine).
4. The Assembly is invited to take note of the comments of the
Committee of Permanent Correspondents of the EUR-OPA Agreement and
the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention on the recommendation, appended
to the present reply.
5. The Committee of Ministers also wishes to draw attention to
the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the
European Continent, adopted by the European Conference of Ministers responsible
for Regional/Spatial Planning (CEMAT) and addressed to the member
states in Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers.
These principles attach full importance to the problems linked to sustainable
development including in the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins,
in particular in sections “IV. Principles of a planning policy for
sustainable development in Europe”, “V. Spatial development measures
for different types of European regions” and “VI. Strengthening
of co-operation between the member states of the Council of Europe
and participation of regions, municipalities and citizens”. It urges
the member states to draw on these principles.
6. The Committee of Ministers welcomes the initiative of the
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
to set up the Black Sea Euroregion (BSER) Association. It regards
the Black Sea Euroregion as a useful framework for co-operation
at local and regional level, which aims to complement existing international
co-operation initiatives.
Appendix 1 – Comments by the Committee of
Permanent Correspondents of the European and Mediterranean Major
Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) on Recommendation 1837 (2008)
After careful examination of Parliamentary
Assembly Recommendation
1837 (2008) at its meeting in Istanbul on 30 and 31 October 2008,
the Committee of Permanent Correspondents of the European and Mediterranean Major
Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA):
1. Shares the concern of the Parliamentary
Assembly on the growing environmental degradation of the Black Sea
which is increasing the risks for its neighbouring populations;
2. Notes that the Black Sea is a closed water body very vulnerable
to technological accidents such as oil spills from tankers or pollution
incidents such as the one on the Tizsa and Danube rivers in the
year 2000, in which a flood of toxic cyanide and heavy metals entered
those rivers following the break of a mining dam;
3. Supports enhanced co-operation on environment and risk reduction
activities in the states bordering the Black Sea, while noting that
all those states (Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey
and Ukraine) are all Parties to of the European and Mediterranean
Major Hazards Agreement (EUR‑OPA) and that such a framework is an
appropriate one to further develop prevention policies concerning technological
accidents;
4. Notes, however, that other states (particularly those in the
Danube catchment area) need to identify the sources of pollution
and to collaborate to reduce the high discharge of pollutants that
is a source of environmental and health risk for populations living
around the Black Sea;
5. Encourages Parties to the Convention on the Black Sea against
Pollution (Bucharest, 1992) to reinforce the activities of the Convention
and to improve the implementation of obligations so as to reduce
risks and pollution. Parties are also encouraged to establish appropriate
synergies with the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean
Sea against Pollution;
6. Calls all states involved in oil transport questions in the
Black Sea to improve safety preventive measures and to fully comply
with international regulations aimed at avoiding oil spills and
minimise risks.
Appendix 2 – Comments of the Standing Committee
of the Bern Convention on Recommendation
1837 (2008)
The Bern Convention’s Standing Committee:
1. Shares the concern of the Parliamentary
Assembly on the growing environmental degradation of the Black Sea
and its warning about the “danger of becoming an unprecedented ecological
disaster”;
2. Notes that five out of the six states bordering the Black
Sea (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine) are Parties
to the Bern Convention, and have also signed and ratified the Convention
on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (Bucharest,
1992), which provides the framework for the conservation of marine
resources, together with the Russian Federation;
3. Agrees with the Parliamentary Assembly about the need to strengthen
the Bucharest Convention in order to make it a more effective instrument
of regional co-operation for environmental protection;
4. Stresses that due to the fragility of the Black Sea as an
almost closed sea, the control of pollution should include co-operation
efforts with the countries of the Danube River basin;
5. Notes the recommendation from the Parliamentary Assembly regarding
the stopping of the Danube-Black Sea Navigation Route Project in
the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, and recalls that the Standing Committee
opened a case file against Ukraine for this project after adopting
Recommendation 111 (2004) on the proposed navigable waterway through the Bystroe
estuary (Danube Delta, Ukraine), whose implementation is still being
monitored;
6. Recalls that the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve holds the
Council of Europe’s European Diploma of Protected Areas since 2003;
7. Invites the Parliamentary Assembly to continue collaborating
with the Bern Convention on matters of common interest.
