Europe's Water Vision Unveiled

Opening speeches were presented by Janez Podobnik, Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning (Republic of Slovenia) and Stravros Dimas, Commissioner for Environment. They set the stage for water as a valuable resource that needs careful management.

The vision then was presented by the President of European Water Partnership to Richard Seeber and Stavoros Dimas. Like a ‘message in a bottle', the vision was received and all attendees of the gathering were invited to write their say on little drops. They were collected and will be used for further discussion later in the process.

A High Level Policy discussion then set the scene on Europe's Water Vision to 2030, with contributions from Richard Seeber, Pekka Personen (COPA-COGECA), Tony Baynes (Coca Cola HBC), Tony Long (WWF), Sharon Hunes (IBM), Mitja Bricelj (Republic of Slovenia) and Peter Gammeltoft (Acting Director DG Environment, European Commission). This discussion was lead by Fritz Barth (Vice Chairman of the EWP). Questions that were raised touched the price of water: affordibility or real cost? The social dimension of water was an addition of Bricelj: ‘Water is everybody's business', he said. Tony Long put it clearly: ‘Let's know the value of water before the well is empty' and Sharon Nunes emphasised the need for IT systems to serve as a decision support system. ‘We see a lack of data about the use of water - but we are able to make them available to everybody'. This presentation was followed by a discussion where the audience also was invited to have their say.

In the closing remarks, Hans-Gert Poettering, President of the European Parliament, said that water resources are clearly threatened, however not that prominently in Europe. ‘About 20% of the surface water in Europe is seriously threatened by pollution. We should introduce a water-caring culture. People should change their habits: have a shorter shower or stop the tap running whilst cleaning their teeth.'

Jean-Claude Vial talked about the French water situation which is diverse. Pierre Victoria concluded the session focussing the attention on the upcoming World Water Forum in Istanbul.

All guests then were invited for an informal cocktail, networking and talking about the new European Water Vision. Because, the discussion about the vision should not be closed yet!

The opening session, from left to right Tom Vereijken and Fritz Barth (both EWP), Richard Seeber, Janez Podobnik and Stravros Dimas.

An attentive audience for the discussions.

The Turkish delegation making use of the opportunity to contribute to the discussion.

More pictures

Thank you for making me aware of this error, it now is corrected. Joost Boers - 08/07/2008 - 09:29

FYI: The name of the Commissioner for Environment is Stravros Dimas and not Stavoros Lydie - 03/07/2008 - 12:16

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