Results of the European Symposium on the Organisation of the Protection of Fresh Water (Strasbourg, 16-20 September 1974)

Recommendation 754 (1975)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 25 January 1975 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc. Doc. 3545, report of the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities). Text adopted by the Assembly on 25 January 1975 (22nd Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Having regard to the report of its Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities on the results of the European Symposium on the Organisation of the Protection of Fresh Water, held in Strasbourg from 23 to 25 October 1974 in pursuance of its Resolution 560 (1974) (Doc. 3545) ;

2. Welcoming the fruitful co-operation and valuable dialogue conducted at the symposium between the members of the Assembly, a political body, and the European Federation for the Protection of Waters, a technical and scientific body ;.

3. Noting with satisfaction the symposium's final declaration and its practical proposals for an intensified water policy in Europe ;

4. Reaffirming its determination to spare no effort to promote the progressive establishment of a genuine European water policy, co-ordinating national arrangements in this field ;

5. Convinced, in this respect, of the need for a European water agency to be set up expeditiously, for the purpose of managing and protecting Europe's water resources and, in particular, coordinating the activities of existing national and international agencies with partial responsibilities in this field ;

6. Also convinced that the Council of Europe's role and scope for action in the field of water protection have by no means been exhausted, and that a further effort should be made to reactivate European water policy,

7. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

a redefine its Intergovernmental Work Programme with regard to water problems, so as to ensure the necessary continuity and optimum effectiveness for its efforts initiated by the European Water Charter and carried on by the European Convention for the Protection of International Watercourses against Pollution ;

b put into practice the complementary European plan of action proposed to the Council of Europe by the participants in the European Symposium on the Organisation of the Protection of Fresh Water, which includes :

the establishment of a European network for the surveillance of surface water, through the use of modern technology, which would make it possible to seek, collect, evaluate and retransmit data rapidly in objective and economically satisfactory conditions ;

the preparation of a pilot study on the value of a system of this kind, using equipment for the automatic monitoring of water quality, combined with certain comparative hydrobiological observations ;

a study of the application of procedures for notification and consultation, making it mandatory for member states to inform other members of any projected measure liable to have a deleterious effect on the condition of water covered by the European convention ;

a study of the long-term economic effects of surface and groundwater pollution ;

strengthening of European research and co-operation relating to groundwater, drawing, for instance, on the encouraging experience gained by the Scientific Working Party on the Rhine Valley Water Table ;

the preparation of international legal instruments for the effective protection and rational management of these groundwater resources, which are essential to meet the growing consumption of Europeans ;

the progressive integration of the manifold efforts already under way or proposed for the protection and management of European water resources through a single body such as a European water agency ;

c entrust a committee of experts with the task of studying and implementing this programme, and refer the final declaration to the European Ministerial Conference on the Environment.