Convention for the Protection of the Rhine

KEY POINTS

The aims of the convention are as follows:

• the sustainable development of the Rhine ecosystem through:
  • maintaining and improving the quality of the Rhine’s waters, and its natural function;
  • protecting species diversity;
  • reducing contamination;
  • conserving and improving natural habitats for wild fauna and flora;
  • ensuring environmentally sound management of water resources;
  • taking ecological requirements into account when developing the waterway;
• the production of drinking water;
• improvement of sediment quality;
• flood protection;
• coordination with measures to protect the North Sea.

The riparian countries (the countries through which the Rhine flows) undertake to:

• cooperate in taking actions to protect the Rhine;
• implement programmes and studies concerning the river;
• identify the causes of and parties responsible for pollution;
• ensure that technical measures liable to have a serious effect on the ecosystem, as well as discharges of waste water and hazardous substances, are subject to prior authorisation;
• reduce the risks of environmental accidents.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) is made up of representatives of the contracting states. It is chaired in turn by these states. It takes decisions unanimously and communicates them to the contracting parties. Its tasks are to:

• prepare studies and programmes on the Rhine ecosystem;
• make proposals for actions;
• evaluate the effectiveness of the actions carried out;
• coordinate warnings and alerts;
• inform the public as to the state of the Rhine and the results of its work.

Each year, the ICPR draws up an activity report and submits it to the contracting parties.

The contracting parties report regularly to the ICPR on the legislative, regulatory and other measures they have taken to implement the convention and the results of those measures.

In February 2020, at a Ministerial Conference in Amsterdam, the riparian states met to take stock of the implementation of the ICPR’s ‘Rhine 2020’ programme. They also adopted the new ‘Rhine 2040’ programme for the subsequent 20-year period.