Dimas tekent drie protocollen om Alpen beter tegen erosie te beschermen (en)

EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas i signed three Implementation Protocols to the Alpine Convention on Soil Protection, Energy and Tourism

Vienna (OTS) - Today, Monday, EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas signed three Implementation Protocols to the Alpine Convention on Soil Protection, Energy and Tourism in the Vienna Hofburg on behalf of the EU. Environment Minister Josef Pröll, who is also President of the Alpine Convention, described the signing during Austria's Presidency as another important step towards securing sustainable development in the Alps.

According to Pröll, the aim of the protocols is to establish "a fair balance between ecological, economic and tourist interests in order to protect the Alps as a habitat and natural area and enhance the importance of the Alpine range as Europe's water reservoir". Pröll urged the European Commission to present the proposals for ratification quickly so that the protocols could enter into force.

The Protocol on Soil Protection essentially concerns preserving the soil in the long term and using land resources sparingly. National spatial efficiency studies and/or environmental impact assessments will have to be carried out for certain large-scale projects in the field of transport and tourism in particular. The Protocol on Tourism sets minimum standards for the tourist industry as a decision-making tool for the national authorities; the staggering of holidays is a central aspect. The main themes of the Protocol on Energy are energy saving and the use of renewables. A hierarchy has been established involving saving, refurbishment, efficiency improvement, decentralised energy supply, and the construction of new infrastructure only as a last resort.

The next urgent challenge according to Pröll is the discussion of the "centrepiece" of the Alpine Convention, the Transport Protocol, in the Council of Ministers. With regard to cross-Alpine traffic, which has increased threefold over the last three decades, it is important to implement sustainable transport development compatible with the needs of the economy in the Alpine region. The objective is gradually to introduce specific charging systems for transport, which enable costs to be covered in accordance with the polluter-pays principle.

Of the eight Implementation Protocols, the EU has already signed the Protocols on Spatial Planning, Conservation of Nature and Mountain Farming. The Alpine Convention is the world's first internationally binding convention on the protection of a mountain region. All eight Alpine States (Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Monaco, Italy and Slovenia) and the EU are party to the Convention, which entered into force in 1995.

More information on the Alpine Convention is available at www.alpenkonvention.org.