Report issued by the President of the ICPR
Preparation of the conference of Ministers 2013
Upon invitation of the Swiss government, the 15th Conference of Rhine Ministers will be staged in Basel on 28 October 2013 in order to draw a balance of activities so far and to determine the cornerstones for the future. In addition, basic decisions concerning the second management plan to draft according to the WFD and the first flood risk management plan according to the Floods Directive must be taken.
In 2012, the PLEN-CC had set up an SG-MIN group to prepare the Conference of Ministers and the corresponding documents.
On 6 June 2013, a meeting between the President of the ICPR and NGOs was staged at the ICPR in Koblenz during which the President outlined the contents of the communiqué.
Following the 15th Conference of Rhine Ministers, the ICPR will stage the 6th International Rhine Symposium on the issue of "Monitoring in great River Districts" in Basel. This symposium is completely dedicated to the international UN year of water cooperation. The comparison of ongoing monitoring programmes along great European rivers is supposed to give an important impetus for future work.
Balance of the present state of the Rhine and its catchment – joint progress report for 2012/2013
A brochure to be published on the occasion of the Conference of Rhine Ministers in October 2013 describes success so far due to measures implemented and aimed at improving the state of the Rhine and its catchment.
The brochure will inform on the most important results and trends of chemical and biological water quality analysis and the effects of restoration measures taken. Furthermore, it will present progress with respect to the implementation of the Action Plan on Floods going on since 1998. The different contributions of the working groups Ecology, Water Quality/Emissions and Floods are issues the PLEN-CC13 will agree upon under agenda point 5.
Further coordinated implementation of the WFD: Update of the inventory according to the WFD
Based on the first inventory according to the WFD of 2005, the principal need for updating its part A, i. e. the catchment > 2,500 km² was outlined within the ICPR. It has been decided, which working group is to do what work and by when and what maps have to be updated. The Small Strategy Group (SG-K) is in charge of updating the inventory.
During the first half of 2013, the Small Strategy Group (SG-K) met twice to discuss this issue. Since the states or federal states will not proceed with the required updating of data in WasserBLIcK before the autumn of 2013, it did not seem to make sense to present a first document to the PLEN-CC 2013. The SG-K will discuss an advanced draft on 13 November 2013.