EU Strategy for the Danube and protecting the Danube Delta

Question for written answer  E-001109/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Traian Băsescu (PPE)

The EU Strategy for the Danube Region, which was adopted in 2011, seeks to connect the region, protect the environment and build prosperity there, and strengthen the region. Over the past ten years, and especially following the European Green Deal, the objectives relating to the environment, greening transport and protecting biodiversity have changed. A comprehensive and detailed legislative and public policy programme is needed for the Danube region. By harmonising the conditions relating to navigation and the technical standards applicable on the Rhine and the Danube, river transport can be made more cost-effective from an energy efficiency perspective, while the Danube also provides a green energy alternative, as long as its hydroelectric potential is harnessed alongside a strategy to protect biodiversity, habitats and biota. The Danube Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of great biological diversity, and it provides a range of ecosystem services thanks to the variety of ecosystems found there. Given the Danube Delta’s importance for the environment, culture and biodiversity of the region, it merits special attention. Can the Commission therefore state:

• 1.What it is doing as regards reviewing the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and adjusting its current objectives to fit with the aims of the Green Deal?
• 2.How it plans to protect the Danube Delta?
• 3.What it is doing to unleash the Danube’s huge energy efficiency potential?