Agreement Concerning The International Commission For The Protection Of The Rhine Against Pollution

Filename: 1963-RhineCommission.EN.txt
Source: ??

AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RHINE AGAINST POLLUTION

Source: Unofficial Text

The Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Swiss Confederation,

Anxious to assure the quality of the waters of the Rhine by attempting to prevent further pollution and to improve the present state,

Convinced of the urgency of this mission,

Wishing to strengthen the collaboration between the signatory Governments already existing since 1950 in this matter,

Have agreed to the following:

Article 1

The Contracting Parties shall continue to collaborate in the question of the protection of the waters of the Rhine below the lower Lake, within the framework of the International Commission for the protection of the Rhine against pollution.

Article 2

The Commission shall:

a)prepare and carry out all necessary research to determine the nature, importance and origin of pollution of the Rhine and put the results of such research to use;

b)propose to Contracting Parties measures capable of protecting the Rhine against pollution;

c)prepare the basis of possible arrangements between the Contracting Parties concerning the protection of the waters of the Rhine.

2.The Commission, furthermore, shall be empowered to deal with any other matters which the Contracting Parties may, by common agreement, confide to it.

Article 3

1.The Commission shall be composed of delegations of Contracting Parties. Each Party may appoint at the most four delegates, including a head of delegation.

2.Each delegation may be assisted by experts to examine certain questions. The Commission shall determine the conditions of their participation in its work.

Article 4

1.Details regarding the exercise of the chairmanship of the Commission by the delegation shall be worked out by the Commission and included in its rules of procedure; the delegation assuming the chairmanship shall designate one of its members as chairman of the Commission.

2.As a general rule the chairman shall not intervene in meetings of the Commission as spokesman of his delegation.

Article 5

1.The Commission shall meet in ordinary session once a year at the convocation of its Chairman.

2.Extraordinary session shall be convoked by the Chairman at the request of two delegations.

3.The Chairman shall propose the agenda. Each delegation shall have the right to inscribe upon the agenda those points which it wishes to have considered. The order of the agenda shall be decided by the Commission by a majority vote.

Article 6

1.Each delegation shall have one vote.

2.In those areas coming within its jurisdiction the European Economic Community shall have the number of votes corresponding to the number of its Member States which are Contracting Parties to this Agreement. The European Economic Community shall not vote in cases where its Member States vote and vice versa.

3.Decisions of the Commission shall, except where otherwise provided in this Agreement, be taken in the presence of all delegations and by unanimity; a written method may be used under conditions to be laid down in the rules of procedure.

4.Unanimity shall not be impeded by the abstention of a single delegation. However, this provision shall not apply to the delegation of the European Economic Community.

Article 7

1.The Commission shall set up a working group for current research and may, if necessary, set up others for special missions.

2.The working groups shall be composed of delegates or experts appointed by each delegation.

3.The Commission shall decide the mission of each working group, fix the maximum number of members and appoint its chairman.

Article 8

Within the framework of its research and the use to be made of the results thereby obtained, the Commission may serve as a scientific institution giving full guarantees of independence.

Article 9

The Commission may make use of services of competent persons or organizations in order to examine special questions.

Article 10

The Commission shall collaborate with the international commissions for the Rhine and its estuaries and shall decide upon co-operation with other organizations entrusted with the protection of waters.

Article 11

The Commission shall each year furnish the signatory Governments with a report of its activity, including in particular the results of its research and analyses.

Article 12

1.Each Contracting Party shall bear the expenses of its representation within the Commission and its working groups, as well as of current research undertaken on its territory.

2.The remaining cost of the Commission's activities shall be shared out among the Contracting Parties as follows:

Federal Republic of Germ24.5% French Republic 24.5% Grand Duchy of Luxembourg1.5% Kingdom of the Netherlands 4.5% European Economic Community13 % Swiss Confederation12 %

Total 100 %

In certain cases, the Commission may adopt a different distribution.

Article 13

The Commission shall draw up its rules of procedure.

Article 14

The working languages of the Commission shall be German and French.

Article 15

1.Each of the Contracting Parties shall notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation when it has carried out the constitutional procedures required to put this agreement into force; the Government of the Swiss Confederation shall immediately confirm the date of receipt of such notification and shall advise the other Contracting Parties. The Agreement shall enter into force the first day of the month following receipt of the last notification.

2.After a period of three years from its entry into force, this Agreement may at any moment be denounced with six months notice by each of the Contracting Parties, by a declaration addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation.

Article 16

This Agreement, drawn up in a single copy, in the German, French and Dutch languages, each of the three texts being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Swiss Confederation which shall send a certified copy to each of the other signatory Governments.

Done at Berne, 29 April 1963.