News – Last released

September 2007

• Since September 2007 Mr Stephan von Keitz is the Resident Twinning Adviser of a new Twinning Project: "EU Water Framework Directive Implementation in Croatia" and thus based in Zagreb.

March 2005

• Ms Zsuzsa Csaki, member of the Department of soil and Groundwater protection at the Hungarian Ministry for Environment and Water, is going to work at the Hessian Ministry for Environment for a period of two weeks.
  This is going to be the first exchange of experts between the two ministries within the "hospitation programme".
• The Hungarian Ministry for Environment and Water hands in the National 2005 Report to Brussels.

January 2005

• Please find the Final Report of the Twinning Project for download here (PDF - 137kb)

November 2004

• First Hungarian map of river quality assessment based on macroinvertebrates (PDF - 280kb)

click on picture to enlarge

October 2004

• Twinning Project Wrap-up Meeting on October 27th
  Looking back on 23 months of various WFD implementation facets in Hungary, the Twinning Project has been finalised with the 6^th Steering Committee and at the same time Wrap-up Meeting that took place on October 27^th at the German Embassy, Budapest.
  Find out more about the event – have a look at the Meeting Agenda.
  
  

Wrap-up Impressions:

Ms Karbowski German Federal Environmental Ministry	Mr Hollo Hungarian Water Director	Mr Dietzel Hessian Environmental Minister

Ms Karbowski, Ms Steindl (PL-HU) and Mr von Keitz (PAA)	Did you get your Twinning T-Shirt ? Contact the Team for requests!!

 

• European Workshop on WFD-implementation – “From Initial Characterisation to River Basin Management Plan”
  This workshop taking place on October 21^st and 22^nd in Paris aimed to facilitate exchange of experiences and practices on activities following WFD Article 5 analyses. 
  Have a look at the provisional programme of the workshop and find out more about the several sessions and contributors foreseen.
  Please find the presentation "Measures foreseen in Hungary on the Reduction of Eutrophication" of Mr von Keitz for download here (PDF - 927kb)

• Ecological Survey of Surface Waters in Hungary
  The Twinning Project on WFD implementation in Hungary is accompanied by supplementary service contracts. One of them covering the Ecological Survey of Surface Waters in Hungary is just about to start. On October 4^th representatives of ARCADIS EUROCONSULT, the company which won the bid, invited to a “Kick-off Meeting”. The participants had the chance to become acquainted with the Project Leader Rob R.A. Nieuwenhuis as well as to learn more about the goals and expected results of the project such as:
              – introduction of ecological survey methods in line with WFD requirements and recent EU standards
              – implementation of ecological survey in order to determine the actual ecological standards
              – development of sound databases.
  The project has an expected runtime till September 2005. After finalisation Hungary will dispose of nationwide homogenous biological data, an unparalleled precedence in Europe.

• Several Service Contracts launched
  Two more supplementary service contracts on
              – upgrading of the existing Hungarian WFD internet presence www.EUVKI.hu and
              – the development of GIS datasets and maps for WFD reporting purposes have been launched in the frame of the Twinning Project. The Hungarian companies “Ipicon Kft” (internet presence) and “Micro Map Bt” (GIS) have been assigned with the tasks listed.
  
  
  

September 2004

• European Workshop on WFD-implementation – “Status of IMPRESS and economic analysis”
  The main goal of this international workshop with about 80 participants from 21 countries was to support the Member States preparing the upcoming WFD implementation steps such as the Pressure and Impact Analysis as well as the Economic Analysis.
  The Final Report as well as the presentations and list of participants of the WFD workshop that took place in Mannheim from June 16-18 is now available.
  Find information about how to
              – enhance the integration of economic and ImPress issues
              – strengthen co-operation between different actors implementing the WFD
              – proceed after 2004, etc.
  
  
• Meeting on ImPress analysis in the Twinning office

On September 16th a meeting took place at the Twinning Office in order to screen the existence but above all the ad-hoc availability of Hungarian data necessary for the accomplishment of the “Analysis of Pressures and Impress (ImPress)”. The several participants from the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Water, Budapest Technical University, Vituki, OKTVF, Hungarian Consultants as well as Twinning team members judged the meeting as fruitful: the data situation seems to be highly sufficient in order to carry out a first ImPress analysis.

The clarification of data availability marked an important initial step towards the efficient finalisation of this task although the work on the actual Analysis of Pressures and Impacts will certainly require a lot of further-on dedication and persistent effort of all parties involved.   József Deák, Zoltán Simonffy, Teréz Bozó, Dietrich Borchardt, Stephan von Keitz, Eszter Havasné Szilágyi, Arnold Quadflieg, Kornél Albert, Ágnes Tahy (left to right)

 

• German Chancellor Schröder in Budapest

The occasion of the 15th anniversary of the date Hungary opened up its borders to East Germans and allowed them to leave to the West has been one of the motives for Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s visit to Hungary on Wednesday, September 15th, and Thursday September 16.
On Wednesday the primary focus has been on a „Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Scientific Research and Technology Development”. Mr Schröder witnessed the signing of the declaration by Education Minister Edelgard Bulmahn and her Hungarian Counterpart Bálint Magyar.
Thursday Chancellor Schröder discussed mainly economic issues in a meeting with the President of the Hungarian-German Chamber of Commerce Mr Elek Straub and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Medgyessi. The Twinning team has been invited to this event (see pictures below).

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, President of Hungarian-German Chamber of Commerce Mr Elek Straub, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Medgyessi

Tibor Adler (Head of division “Science and Environment” at the German Embassy, Budapest), Nike Sommerwerk, Stephan von Keitz

August 2004

• Twinning Team takes part in „Aqua Terra Danube Survey”

Andrea Zagyva (Vituki), Nike Sommerwerk, Stephan von Keitz	On 23rd of August the research ship „Argus” stopped at   Budapest to pick up victuals and the Twinning Team. That days programme, the „Budapest up-, and downstream sampling”, marked 2 out of more than 30 sampling points of the sampling and analysis programme of the „Aqua Terra Danube Survey”. Aim of this 1,5 year project is e.g. to investigate the pollutant burden of Danubian sediments and suspended solids, to investigate the condition of benthic invertebrate biocenosis
as well as to relate suspended solid load in Austrian Danube segments to agricultural land-use practices, erosion or changed climate conditions. The survey covers about 1100 km of the Danube River from Klosterneuburg in Austria till Calafat, Romania/Bulgaria.  Mr Csányi Béla (right picture, right), a Hungarian Expert involved in the Twinning Project on WFD Implementation in Hungary, acts as one of the Biological experts at this Danube survey.		Together with Momir Paunovic (left) from Serbia…
…he ”fishes” e.g. some macrozoobenthos…		…which is taken back to the “Argus” and the other experts for further examination.

 

• Prolongation of the Twinning Project is approved!
  
  On 5th of August additional financial EU PHARE means have been granted towards the project.
  Within the prolongation period some activities will be continued as well as new activities commenced:
  - Assistance in the delineation of heavily modified water bodies,
  - Assistance in the final delineation of water bodies which are at risk,
  - Assistance in the technical support of the activities if the Hungarian working groups,
  - Further development of the Hungarian guidance document,
  - Methodological support of the 2004 report to Brusels and ICPDR,
  - Support in the development of a common GIS-dataset for reporting purposes,
  - Assistance in the development of the Hungarian Internet platform for the WFD implementation as well as
  - two Service Contracts for private sector input for the further development of the Hungarian Internet platform and the GIS datasets.
  See text of the Addendum to the original Twinning Contract for further details.
  
  We would like to thank all the participants of the project, who paved the way to the rare privilege of a prolongation period including additional financial input with their excellent input!
  
  

 July 2004

• First analysis under the WFD and its link to the environmental objectives. EU Discussion Document

 

• Impress analysis in Hungary. Presentation held by Peter Kovacs, Head of Department for Water and Soil Protection, at the „Impress and Economic Status Workshop” in Mannheim

 

• New edition of the „Handbook on the Implementation of the WFD” coming up, soon!
  See extract of the 2002-edition (German)