The “Athens Declaration” concerning Shared Water, Shared Future and Shared Knowledge provides a framework for a long-term process to support cooperative activities for the management of shared water resources in the SEE and Mediterranean regions. The Athens Declaration Process is intended to assist SEE countries, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to prepare IWRM and water efficiency plans for major river basins and lakes, including a range of complementary interventions, with a coordinated mechanism to allow for exchange of information and experience between activities.

The Petersberg Process, concerns also cooperation on the management of transboundary waters. The Petersberg Process – Phase II is intended to provide support to translate into action the current developments and opportunities for future cooperation on transboundary river, lake and groundwater management in SEE. A Concept Paper on the further development of the Petersberg Process – Phase II has been prepared and presented at a planning meeting between cooperating parties hosted by the Government of Germany, 6-7 December 2004, in Rudesheim, Germany.

A revised Concept Paper has been prepared on the occasion of the Roundtable on Protection and Sustainable Use of Transboundary waters in South Eastern Europe (Berlin, Germany, 5 – 7 December 2005). The Concept Paper presents the background of the process, update on activities undertaken and synergies with on-going initiatives. It also describes future orientation and next steps foreseen. Links with the Athens Declaration Process and other on-going initiatives are included.

The World Bank (WB) participates as a core partner in both processes. WB is supporting initiatives and joint actions in the region in an effort for ways to be found that shared water resources can become a catalyst for cooperation and sharing of benefits, presenting an opportunity rather a constraint for development.

The two processes are linked in order to generate synergies and maximize the outcomes for the benefit of the SEE region, rather than duplicate activities and consequently efforts. The Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process has become a reference for many other processes and activities in the region. The Process would complement European Union (EU) integration processes, the Stabilisation and Association process of the European Union and other ongoing initiatives in the region. It contributes directly to the scope and objectives of the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative (MED EUWI).

As agreed in Rudesheim, 2004, follow-up activities focus on basins of transboundary rivers lying south of Danube, which flow into the Adriatic, the Ionian, the Aegean and the Black, Seas, and on the set of transboundary lake basins in the same area.

The main objective is to build capacity and share experience on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), and to develop IWRM plans for these shared water bodies as a response to the targets of the Johannesburg Summit, 2002. The activities are fully integrated in the MED EUWI Work Plans.

The Berlin Roundtable (December, 2005) has been a milestone in the Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process. More than 60 participants, representatives of competent Ministries of the countries of the SEE, water stakeholders, representatives of the German and Greek Governments, World Bank, GEF, European Commission, UNESCO, UNECE, UNEP, KfW, GTZ, InWEnt and GWP-Med, participated.

The Roundtable reviewed the progress on cooperation in the field of TWRM in the region at unilateral and multilateral level and underlined its importance for succeeding stability and prosperity in the SEE. It reaffirmed the, common, interest for the continuing and enhancement of close cooperation and underlined the importance of initiatives that promote such activities. It acknowledged the central role of Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process and provided input and guided the next steps of the Process in the effort to succeed its objectives.

It was recommended that the Petersberg – Phase II/Athens Declaration Process will:

• Continue to provide a dialogue Forum for identification of new and discussion of all relevant ideas and challenges in transboundary water management in SEE
 
• Support measures to obtain and enhance the political, economic and environmental benefits that may be realized through effective cooperation in management of transboundary waters
 
• Increase the visibility of success stories and good practices that may inspire similar initiatives
 
• Focus on a set of key areas and conduct activities at an increasingly local level to facilitate a broader range of participants in the dialogue

The Process would not directly support investments. However it would provide the framework for exchange of the necessary information and experience that would support the creation of conditions that would facilitate investment to take place.

GEF IW:LEARN, in cooperation with the World Bank, the Governments of Germany and Greece, and GWP-Med is supporting synergy in the Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process, and contributions of practical experience from GEF projects working in transboundary river, lake and groundwater in the SEE region as well as elsewhere in the world.

Activities within the Process are primarily supported by the Governments of Germany and Greece, World Bank and GEF IW:LEARN. GWP-Med provides technical and administrative assistance.

Organizations and Institutions having experience and working in the field of TWRM, such as UNESCO, UNESCO-IHP/International Shared Aquifers Resource Management Programme (ISARM), International Network of Water-Environment Centres for the Balkans (INWEB), and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) are collaborating partners. Synergies with active institutions, processes, initiatives and projects supported by GEF, other IFIs and donor countries, in the field of transboundary water management at the international, regional and national level, are developed.