LEGAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT: THE RHINE

Abstract

In the second half of the 19th century, considerable changes in the ecosystem of the Rhine became evident. As water pollution increased due to the steadily growing industry along the river the number of fish species decreased.About 40 years ago, Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxemburg joined together in the International Commission for the Protection the Rhine against Pollution (ICPR), the European Community became a member in 1976.Two approaches to preventive and curative water protection have been practised within the ICPR: on the one hand internationally binding conventions on chemical pollution, on pollution by chlorides and on thermal pollution and on the other hand the Rhine Action Programme.The Convention on chemical pollution aims at elaborating, adopting and implementing limit values for the so-called black-list substances listed in Annex I to the Convention. By August 1990, limit values according to only two out of nine recommendations on which the ICPR and reached the required unanimity had been formally accepted by all of the Riparian States and the European Community.Equally, the implementation of the chlorides conventional has so far been most disappointing. Due to national problems in France, the first stage of the 1976 Chlorides Convention did not become effective before 1987. Negotiations in the past years have shown that the member countries have extreme difficulties in finding an agreement on the implementation of the second stage of this Convention, the required decision is still pending. As far as the drafting of a convention on thermal pollution is concerned, the member countries have decided to postpone the negotiations and to treat other more important questions first.The second ICPR-approach to water protection consists in the Rhine Action Programme (RAP) and is considerably more pragmatic. This comprehensive programme is a political agreement by means of which all parties hope to achieve greater improvements of the Rhine ecosystem than what has been the case so far. The necessity of such programme became evident after the fire at the Sandoz warehouse in November 1986, which had a disastrous effect on the Rhine and its ecosystem. The implementation of the RAP was meant to complement rather than to replace on-going negotiations within the already existing convention. However, experience has shown that there is a tendency to concentrate more on work within the RAP than on that within the Conventions.Even though little progress has been made with the implementation of the two Conventions, they present an international legal setting for private legal actions against the companies causing important ecological damages the Rhine. The out-of-court settlements achieved in some cases also prove that the companies concerned are most aware of how controversial their discharges are.