Main Conclusions - Minutes of the Meeting

EU Water Initiative
Mediterranean Component
Regional Seminar
on the Development of the Mediterranean Component
of the EU Water Initiative

Hellenic Water Week
Athens, 20 June 2003

Introduction
The Regional Seminar on the Development of the Mediterranean Component of the EUWI, that was the second official meeting for the Component following the kick-off meeting (Brussels, 17 February 2003), was organised in the context of the Hellenic Water Week and took place in Athens on 20 June 2003.

The Regional Seminar was attended by some 200 participants from International Organisations and Research Institutes, greek and international NGOs, governments and administrations of partner countries, greek Ministries and Universities, regional networks, local authorities and the European Commission. The Seminar aimed to present to an international audience the scope, structure and scheduled activities of the EU WI, report on progress of the Preparatory Phase of the MED EU WI, discuss the Operational Plan for the development of the MED EU WI and to elaborate suggestions of concrete actions, on the different Themes of the MED EU WI (building blocks, demonstrations projects) as well as to facilitate the development of synergies by different players.

The Seminar was broadly structured around 4 parts: a first introductory part for the presentation of the EUWI and the major water activities supported in the Mediterranean and the Balkans, a second part for the presentation of the Draft Operational Plan of the Component, a third part covering 2 breakout groups with 3 roundtables on Integrated water resources management, with emphasis on management of transboundary water bodies and on Water supply and sanitation with emphasis on the poorest part of society and Water, food and environment interaction, with emphasis on fragile ecosystems, and finally, a forth part on reporting from the roundtables, drawing of conclusions and wrap up.

The EU Water Initiative and major water activities supported in the Mediterranean and the Balkans
Presentations under this part covered, in detail:
- the organisational, thematic and political aspects of the EUWI with special emphasis on the Mediterranean region,
- related cross-cutting issues such as financial flows, policies and needs for meeting the Johannesburg targets on water,
- major activities of International Financing Institutions, e.g. the EIB (FEMIP for the Med region and CEEC for the Balkans) and the World Bank, in the Med and Balkans as well as future prospects and priorities for financing water infrastructure and other activities related to IWRM and the WSSD targets,
- the thematic priorities for funding and implementing research projects related to water in the Med and Balkans through the EC's DG Research, and finally
- a presentation of the road map and international agenda since Johannesburg with regard to raising interest on water issues and the Med Component in particular.

Presentations gave special emphasis to the need for applying the principles and priorities of the EU Water Framework Directive in the whole Mediterranean Region, for striking a balance between human and environment needs in the region, for applying viable water pricing policies and integrating water policies in other sectors, eg agriculture, as well as the need to link IWRM to coastal waters management and ICZM. An analysis of the financial challenges to meet the water related MDGs and Johannesburg targets demonstrated the need to double all financial resources allocated to water issues, including ODA, domestic budgets, user chargers and private investment. It has also demonstrated that meeting the international targets for development cooperation of 0.39% GNI and 0.7% GNI would substantially add to achieving current WS&S financing needs. The presentation of the European Commission's activities in the field of international water research and scientific cooperation indicated that international water research maintains a high policy profile at Community and EU M/S level. The thematic priorities funded under the Community 6th Research Framework Programme that aims at promoting innovation and better knowledge management, include the promotion of IWRM at catchment level, twinning partnerships, integrated urban water management in urban and peri-urban areas, management of water scarcity in south Med counties and the development of scenarios of water demand and availability at 20-25 years in SE Med.

The Operational Plan of the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative
The Operational Plan of the Med Component constitutes a detailed and comprehensive presentation of the overall objectives and strategic priorities of the EUWI and the Med Component which aims at building on existing initiatives, programmes and partnerships bringing them under a common framework and giving emphasis on Mediterranean and Balkan priorities, according to needs and strategies to be further elaborated in partnership with governments, the EU Commission and major stakeholders. The Operational Plan also includes a detailed description of major water related problems and fields of action for sustainable water management in the Mediterranean and South East Europe as well as a reference to regional initiatives for cooperation, networking schemes and partnerships, at various levels and in the context of the EU, Regional and/or International Organisations, on water issues in the geographic areas covered by the Component. The Draft Operational Plan also encompasses a comprehensive description of the modalities, organizational structure and coordination mechanism envisaged for the development of the Component. Finally, the Draft Operational Plan presents the Road Map for the activities with regard to the Component that have been implemented within the period January to June 2003, covering mainly activities regarding the initiation, presentation and awareness raising concerning the Component, as well as a series of activities planned for the 2nd Semester of 2003 (July to December 2003) that include mainly an assessment of water financial flows in the Med, meetings for screening of donors, development of building blocks and compilation of a detailed Activity Plan for the Component until 2005 (see attached Road Map 2003). Representatives from Greece that presented the Operational Plan stressed the fact that it should be considered a Draft and that it will be finalised by July 15, following comments from interested parties.

The development of the Med Component will be strongly based on building blocks, i.e. networks, alliances or programmes and projects which are either on-going, planned or under preparation, that would assist in bringing different stakeholders with related activities under a common framework and co-ordination, aiming to provide an enabling environment for the development of the various complementary activities within the thematic priorities of the Component. Collection of building blocks will on one hand provide a good overview of the existing activity and on the other hand will allow for an identification of gaps. One of the key aims and criteria for this exercise would be the strong inter-relationship between the building blocks so that these reinforce rather than duplicate each other in achieving the MED EUWI targets and objectives. Presentation of the Operational Plan gave special emphasis on the need to collect "good" building blocks: participants were encouraged to submit their building blocks, through November 2003, by filling in the relevant datasheet annexed to the Operational Plan.

The discussion that followed the presentation of the Operational Plan touched upon a large number of relevant issues and gave the opportunity for experience sharing and presentation of various view-points. Among the issues that were brought up and discussed were:
- The need to submit "good" water projects so that there is effective allocation and disbursement of available funding; representatives from small NGOs and CSOs from partner countries commented on the difficulty they face to prepare detailed water project proposals as required and that financial support and capacity building to small scale partners for submitting good bankable projects is very little and urgently needs to increase. EIB's representative stressed that they are willing and have been working to put in place a special policy form assisting small partners apply and submit good proposals for large water projects;
- Many participants commented on the need to have climate change, agriculture, water pricing and water-energy linkages higher in the agenda of the EU Water Initiative and the Mediterranean Component in particular. EC and greek representatives mentioned that agriculture is indeed incorporated in the IWRM thematic priority of the Initiative. It was also stressed that the Initiative does not promote privatization of water resources, on the contrary it is supporting the promotion of a holistic approach taking into account social aspects in national water pricing policies;
- Several participants mentioned that if the EUWI is to bring about change, fresh money and new financing opportunities should also be foreseen and not just a recycling of existing funds; the EC representative responded that new funds of EURO 1 bln are foreseen at the moment for the ACP countries through the proposed EU Water Fund and that other similar Funds for other regions might follow suite. Concerning the Mediterranean region funds are for the moment available only through existing mechanisms and that it is up to the partner countries to prioritise water in their national strategies and submit more water projects. It was also mentioned that enough funds are available, but emphasis should be given on tapping and using them effectively;
- The idea of separating IWRM in two different levels, i.e. national and transboundary has also been proposed for the Med Component; nevertheless is was commented that the EUWI should give priority to the transboundary management of water resources since the WSSD do not cover tranboundary water issues;
- The need to strengthen the linkages between the Mediterranean and the Research Components of the EUWI but also the horizontal aspects of the latter with all other component of the Initiative has also been stressed.
- Some participants also commented on the impacts that doubling financial support to meet international water targets will have on the need to also increase financial assistance to other environmental sectors, e.g. to meet international target on climate change or to combat poverty. EC representative stressed that solving water problems does not imply that other sectors will lag behind since meeting water targets and needs will benefit a lot other sectors due to the horizontal nature of water issues.

Parallel roundtables
Roundtables covered the themes of Integrated water resources management, with emphasis on management of transboundary water bodies (RT A) and Water supply and sanitation with emphasis on the poorest part of society (RT B1) and Water, food and environment interaction, with emphasis on fragile ecosystems (RT B2). Roundtables were structured around one key-note presentation on the Mediterranean Component's respective selected themes. Discussions during RTs, following the key-note presentations, were aiming to lead to suggestions of concrete actions (building blocks, demonstrations projects), expression of commitment for cooperation and development of synergies among the different stakeholders that were participating in RTs for the MED EU WI development. Discussions also touched upon some of the horizontal Themes of Transfer of technology, transfer of know how and training as well as Education.

RT A: Integrated water management with emphasis on transboundary water bodies
Key-note presentation by Mr Khaled Abu Zeid, Center for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe, gave a comprehensive overview of major initiatives on management of transboundary water bodies in the Mediterranean, containing reference to all key legal instruments (laws and conventions) dealing with transboundary water issues as well as reference to key challenges for meeting water supply-demand gaps, the MDGs and funding requirements. The presentation also contained reference to major regional initiatives such as the Nile Basin Initiative that has been effective in bringing 10 riparian countries to the table and the initiatives concerning transboundary Northern African aquifers, e.g. the Nubian Sandstone aquifer and the North Western Sahara aquifer. Examples of possible building blocks for the Med Component included the establishment of a network for monitoring and sharing lessons learned from management of North African transboundary aquifers as well as the establishment of regional and national programs to monitor achievement of MDGs in the context of activities of the Egyptian Water Partnership. Following key-note presentation, two other building blocks were presented and discussed: the integrated coastal areas and river basin management programme in the Adriatic Sea for promoting IWRM in the area and contributing to the WFD implementation and the "Good water makes good neighbors" project which is being implemented between the 3 riparian states of Jordan, Palestine and Israel, focusing on promoting community participation, awareness raising and community based solutions for transboundary water conservation and management. During discussion, several building blocks for the Med Component were proposed from the floor, e.g. the establishment of the MED Network of Basin Organisations and the establishment of the Prespa Lake Park involving Albania, FYROM and Greece.

B1: Water supply and sanitation, with emphasis on the poorest part of the societies
The key-note presentation by Mr Hachmi Kennon, IME, as well as the discussion that followed, focused on the state of the water supply and sanitation sector in the Mediterranean region, as well as the main problems that need to be addressed. In particular, key-note presentation and discussions, focused, inter alia, on the main challenges in the WSS sector that lie in the rural and peri-urban areas, which have been particularly affected by recent demographic trends. Consequently many countries in the Med now have less than 50% of their rural population connected to water supply and even less to adequate sanitation networks. Discussions also stressed the challenges faced in urban areas where deterioration of water infrastructure is threatening the quality of services that the connected receive due to low user charges and absence of sufficient subsidies. Participants also identified the lack of data as being an important problem and recommended to increase efforts to monitor the WSS sector. The issue of good governance of the water sector was also discussed. Concerning proposal of building blocks, there have been a number of projects that were mentioned including a private sector participation project in the urban WSS system of Casablanca to increase its efficiency and financial viability (this project also contains a social component which aims at extending the network to connect poor peri-urban settlements); and a project in Tunisia to collect data on peri-urban areas with the objective to identify their priority needs.

B2: Water, food and environment interaction, with emphasis on fragile ecosystems
The key-note presentation by Mr Spyros Kouvelis, MEDWET, and consequent discussions focused on the importance of wetlands and environmental issues in the context of the EUWI which are often forgotten; the example of MEDWET as an existing major collaboration across the Med region is an indication that the Med Component of the EUWI is starting from a position of comparative strength in integrating important environmental and economic aspects (e.g. agricultural activity that utilises around 70-85% of available water) at an early stage. Key-note presentation stressed that sound management of wetlands is important as they sustain also other activities and thus form a vital element in income generation which is imperative for social stability and prevention of population moves and migration. Reference was also made to both the direct interactions between agriculture, water and wetlands through, for example drainage and habitat loss for agricultural conversion, and the indirect ones by diverting water for irrigation away from wetlands. Proposals for tackling water problems in the region covered, inter alia, the need for a detailed assessment of the impacts and pressures, the requirement for integrated policies across water, agriculture and environment which are currently seriously lacking, the need to tackle gaps in administrative systems between the authorities as well as the need to improve understanding and education on these issues. The establishment of an extended network involving as many related partners possible based on the existing MEDWET network has been proposed as a possible building block for the Med Component that will be initiated by the end of 2003. Discussions also touched upon the need to formulating new models of food production in the area as well as a new water/economic development culture, the need to incorporate the issues of deforestation, climate change, agroforestry, organic agriculture and permaculture as part of the IWRM theme of the Component and finally the need for establishing detailed criteria for the building blocks for the Component.

Discussion-Conclusions
Following reporting from the three Roundtables, Mr Alan Hall, EUWI Secretariat, gave an overall presentation of key conclusions that could be drawn from roundtable discussions that constitute useful material for the MED Working Group in order to use to finalise the EUWI MED programme. Some of the key messages that were given included avoidance of duplication of existing processes, avoidance of fragmentation, need to add value where there is a comparative advantage in the EUWI as well as need to prioritise themes to be tackled at an early stage.

Some of the main points that were highlighted by several speakers as most important for the MED region were:
- Transboundary aquifers are important and should be part of the Med Component's focus as this will add value to the work done elsewhere on transboundary rivers;
- IWRM, in the context of the Med Component, was mentioned by several participants in various contexts; for example, related to the rational use of water and practical aspects of demand management, adapting the EU WFD to the MED region, giving more attention to integrating agricultural water use in IWRM, and care is needed not to let the environmental pillar to lose ground in the IWRM context;
- It was stressed that water governance is critical for the solution of many problems and links should be made to the GWP Dialogue on Effective Water Governance. This is particularly important in cases where the private sector is involved in service provision;
- The issue of sanitation should be given a higher profile in the work of the Med Component; in this respect, there are EU M/S, e.g. Ireland and Sweden, that could share innovative and cheaper technologies and solutions with others throughout the EU;
- More emphasis should also be given to economic instruments and in particular to increasing cost recovery for improved financial sustainability. In this respect better maintenance and replacement of existing systems should be ensured in order to ensure provision of better services. Capacity building and education should be objectives complementing other activities;
- Several references were made to building blocks and the need to identify new ideas rather than continue with business as usual. Careful thought should be given to prioritising building blocks rather than just drawing up a shopping list of projects. Several participants stressed the need to draw up a list of concrete criteria for building blocks assessment in order to ensure that focus will be given to real needs and overlapping will be avoided;
- Finally, more effort should be put into using existing funds (i.e. MEDA) more effectively, focusing on increasing partner countries' and small NGOs' capacity to draw up good bankable project with good perspectives. It was stressed that until 2006, that represents an important threshold, the EU financing mechanism should be restructured to a large extent;

Following the wrap up by rapporteurs, the organizers' and the EU representatives made an overall wrap up of discussions stressing, inter alia, that:
- The Mediterranean Region offers a good example for promoting and implementing the objectives of the EUWI due to the vast experience and networks in the region providing a solid platform for strengthening cooperation;
- Work on developing criteria for building blocks will be progressively concluded; nevertheless, the lack of concrete criteria at the moment should not prevent building blocks' collection that could start, at the moment, with building blocks that have a secured funding. However, we should not focus our efforts only on collecting building blocks and projects since that would be business as usual; there is a grate need for developing new instruments and mechanisms, catalyzing political will and enhancing coordination between partners;
- Transboundary water issues should have a prominent place in the Med Component's work;
- Mechanisms for education promotion, knowledge sharing and links with the Research Component should be a priority for the Med Component and Region;
- The draft Activity Plan, as it was presented, has been widely accepted and thus will form the basis for a detailed Operation Plan to be presented by the lead country by the end of 2003;
- The network that has been developed for the pilot projects in implementing the WFD in the Med offers a good basis also for the Med Component of the EUWI especially for promoting North-South twinning projects;
- Good water makes good neighbors; this approach should be expanded to the whole Med region and should be used as a guiding objective to catalyse and reinforce transboundary cooperation in the sensitive, both politically and environmentally wise, area of the Mediterranean.

In closing, Cion's representative, Mr F. Barth, congratulated Greece, as the EU Presidency and lead country of the Med Component, for hosting a highly successful Water Week, for pushing forward the EUWI agenda and prioritising water issues within its EU Presidency's work as well as for its leading role on water issues in the Mediterranean region.