Brussels - On November 20, European Council transport ministers will meet to discuss Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T) plans which contain transport infrastructure projects set to receive priority financing from the common EC budget. European environmental groups are concerned about the way in which the TEN-T priorities are being drawn up. NGOs from Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia are particularly alarmed about the plan to construct the Danube-Oder-Elbe canal. [1]

The canal project would involve massive construction work along almost 2000 kilometres of rivers and artificial canal links. Independent analysts have cost the entire project at potentially over EUR 20 billion.

In a position paper that has just been published by the 'Life for the Danube, Oder and Elbe Rivers Coalition', campaigners summarise the most controversial aspects of the project from both the environmental and economic perspectives. [2] While they are not against shipping as such, they stress that it should not be developed in a way which leads to rivers being transformed into canals, the deepening of riverbeds, damming and other environmentally harmful effects.

Although the routing has still to be confirmed, there is the serious prospect of 38 potential Natura 2000 sites in the river basins of Oder, Elbe and Morava (Czech tributary to the Danube) rivers being affected. The project would also contradict the EC Water Framework Directive.

At the same time there is no hard evidence that the Danube-Oder-Elbe canal project will be economically viable. Results from other 'desired' waterways, like the Danube-Main-Rhine canal (put into the operation in 1992), have thus far shown that the transported volume of goods remains far below projected volumes and in general the volume of goods transported on inland waterways in central Europe is in fact decreasing.

The position paper requests the European Commission and the national transport ministers to axe the plan from the long term transport development priorities. It also demands that a strategic environmental assessment for the whole project should take precedence over the usual section by section assessments. Further, a cost-benefit analysis of all other relevant transport options should be carried out.

The position of the NGO coalition was supported ten days ago by participants at an international conference on CEE waterways in Potsdam, Germany. One hundred and twenty conference participants endorsed a declaration expressing concern about natural rivers being turned into waterways, criticising the TEN-T planning process and rejecting the construction of the Danube-Oder-Elbe canal project.

Jeroen Kuiper, from BUND Berlin/Friends of the Earth Germany, said, “We sincerely hope that the European Commission will abolish this senseless plan. It would mean a contradiction in EU policies: on the one hand the Commission wants the Water Framework Directive and the Natura 2000 network to be implemented; on the other hand it goes for waterway construction. Both at the same time is ludicrous. With decreasing transport volumes on rivers in CEE and natural beauty along these rivers that current member states can only dream of, it is clear that such construction plans should not receive support.”

Pavel Pribyl, from Friends of the Earth CZ and CEE Bankwatch Network, said, “In scale this project is comparable to the notorious turning of the flows of the Siberian rivers in Soviet times. Its promoters would like to tap EU funds to make it a reality. The project is being presented as an ideal option for achieving the desired 'shift from roads'. But it is not roads that this waterway would compete with but the railways which already run parallel to the proposed canal route and whose capacity is far from being fully used.”

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT:

Jeroen Kuiper, +49 3329 690603, jeroen.in.bet@gmx.net
Pavel Pribyl, + 420 222 514 759, +420 603 207 249, pavel.pribyl@hnutiduha.cz
Milan Janak, DAPHNE Slovakia, + 421 2 654 121 33, janak@changenet.sk

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

1. It is part of both the Accession Treaty and the transport priority list of the Czech Republic within the Cohesion Fund, and represents one of the potential long term TEN-T priorities.

2. The position paper is available at: http://www.hnutiduha.cz/publikace/infolisty/pdf/canal_position_paper.pdf