Alpine Convention

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Convention for the Protection of the Alps
Short title: Alpine Convention
Abbreviation: AK
The logo of the Alpine Convention
Date: Nov 7, 1991
Reference: 96/191 / EG (CELEX: 31996D0191) / SR 0.700.1
Federal Law Gazette No. 477/1995
Contract type: Multinational
Legal matter: Environmental law
Signing: 9 (including Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland)
Ratification : 9 (as of December 2010)
Please note the note on the applicable contract version .

The Alpine Convention ( AK ), formally the Convention for the Protection of the Alps , is an international treaty for the comprehensive protection and sustainable development of the Alps . The permanent secretariat of the convention is located in Innsbruck , with a branch at the European Academy in Bolzano . The Alpine Conference is the regular gathering of the contracting parties.

The Alps

history

In 1989 the Alpine states and the European Economic Community passed the Berchtesgaden resolution at the first Alpine Conference (October 9-11, 1989) in Berchtesgaden (Bavaria) , which expresses the will to establish common framework conventions for the development of the Alpine region .

On November 7, 1991 the framework convention was signed by the environment ministers of the Alpine countries at the meeting of the Alpine Conference in Salzburg .

The signatories were:

These eight states are now called Alpine states (or also Alpine riparian states ).

Yugoslavia was also involved in the preparatory work , but it was not signed because of its dissolution in individual states.

In contrast to the resolutions of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Alpenländer  (Arge Alp) , in which the regional heads of government can only issue recommendations, the Alpine Convention and its implementation protocols are legally binding international treaties . They are to be ratified accordingly by the parliaments of the contracting parties listed above .

The Bavarian Administrative Court , however, decided in September 2012 that the Alpine Convention was not directly applicable law, and had a civil suit against the reduction of a protected landscape area from which had relied on the prohibition of deterioration of the Alpine Convention.

content

In the general framework convention, which has since been ratified by all contracting parties, the contracting parties undertake to specify the objectives of the Alpine Convention to develop so-called implementation protocols - so far there have been nine. These technical protocols have been ratified by Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. France ratified all the protocols in 2005, Monaco and Italy some of the protocols.

The EU has been considering ratification for a long time. In Switzerland, some of the protocols are highly controversial. There are logs on the following topics:

Since 2006, two ministerial declarations on specific subject areas have been adopted:

  • Declaration of population and culture
  • Declaration on climate change

organization

Since 2003 the Alpine Convention has had a permanent secretariat , which has its seat in Innsbruck with a branch in Bolzano. Following the decision of the Alpine Conference on December 4, 2012, Markus Reiterer was appointed Secretary General of the Alpine Convention. Alenka Smerkolj succeeded him in this role in 2019 . The Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention

  • provides administrative and technical support to the organs of the Alpine Convention;
  • communicates the convention, its protocols and their implementation;
  • coordinates alpine research projects;
  • participates in the implementation of the Alpine Convention and compliance with its protocols;
  • manages the Alpine observation and information system ;
  • translates and interprets.

The chairmanship of the Alpine Convention changes roughly every two years. France has held the presidency since 2019. Previously these were the following countries:

  • 2016–2019 Austria
  • 2015–2016 Germany (focus should be on the policy of "green economy in the Alpine region")
  • 2013–2014 Italy
  • 2011–2012 Switzerland
  • 2009–2011 Slovenia
  • 2007-2008 France
  • 2005–2006 Austria
  • 2003–2004 Germany
  • 2001–2002 Italy
  • 1999–2000 Switzerland
  • 1996–1998 Slovenia
  • 1995–1996 Slovenia
  • 1991-1994 France
  • 1989–1991 Austria

The Alpine Convention has eleven official observer organizations. The most active is the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, CIPRA (Commission Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes) , which, when it was founded in 1952, called for the Alpine states to draw up an Alpine Convention. On the CIPRA website you can find a lot of information about the Alpine Convention, an overview of the status of ratification of the Convention and Protocols and the original texts in the four convention languages ​​German, French, Italian and Slovenian.

Alpine Conference

The Conference of the Contracting Parties (Alpine Conference, Conference alpine) is the decision-making body of the Alpine Convention. It takes the resolutions by means of a consensual voting procedure. The functions of this body include issues in which the contracting parties have a common interest and aspects of cooperation. With this in mind, the contracting parties shall provide the Alpine Conference with information on the measures taken by the partners to implement this Convention and the Protocols.

As a rule, the regular meetings of this body take place every two years at the Contracting Party presiding over the Convention.

During the course of the meeting, the organ can decide to convene working groups that are deemed necessary for the implementation of the Convention. In doing so, the organ takes into account the findings of scientific activities. The body has internal rules of procedure and also takes the necessary decisions in the financial area.

Alpine conferences that have taken place so far
  • I. Alpine Conference: Berchtesgaden , Germany - 1989 (Berchtesgaden Resolution)
  • II Alpine Conference: Salzburg , Austria - 1991 (Alpine Convention)
  • III. Alpine Conference: Chambéry , France - 1994
  • IV Alpine Conference: Brdo pri Kranju , Slovenia - 1996
  • 5th Alpine Conference: Bled , Slovenia - 1998
  • VI. Alpine Conference: Lucerne , Switzerland - 2000
  • VII Alpine Conference: Merano , Italy - 2002
  • VIII Alpine Conference: Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany - 2004
  • IX. Alpine Conference: Alpbach , Austria - 2006
  • Xth Alpine Conference: Evian , France - 2009
  • XI. Alpine Conference: Brdo pri Kranju , Slovenia - 2011
  • XII. Alpine Conference: Poschiavo , Switzerland - 2012
  • XIII. Alpine Conference: Turin , Italy - 2014
  • XIV. Alpine Conference: Grassau , Germany - 2016
  • XV. Alpine Conference: Innsbruck , Austria - 2019

See also

literature

  • Roland Norer: The Alpine Convention - international law treaty for the Alpine region, Institute for Economics, Politics and Law, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, 2002.
  • Alpensignale 1, Alpine Convention - reference work
  • Alpensignale 2, Alpine Convention in concrete terms - objectives and implementation, 2004
  • Alpensignale 3, Cross-Border Ecological Network, 2004
  • Alpensignale 4, documentation of natural events, 2006
  • Alpine signals 5, mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the Alpine region, 2008
  • Report on the State of the Alps: Transport and Mobility, 2007
  • Establishing an Alpine Ecological Network, 2007
  • Report on the state of the Alps: Water balance and water management - short version, 2009
  • The eight states of the Alps, one area, 2009
  • PER ALPES. Discover the Alps on 20 circular hiking trails, 2010
  • The Alps. People and pressures in the mountains, the facts at a glance, 2010

Protocols, on alpconv.org :

Ministerial declarations, on alpconv.org alpconv.org :

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b 96/191 / EG: Council decision of 26 February 1996 on the conclusion of the Convention for the Protection of the Alps (Alpine Convention) , Official Journal No. L 061 of 12/03/1996 p. 31 (CELEX: 31996D0191)
  2. ↑ a b Convention of 7 November 1991 for the Protection of the Alps (Alpine Convention) (with appendix), SR 0.700.1 ( admin.ch )
  3. ^ Alpine Convention - Organization
  4. ↑ Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety : The Alps - Special Features of a Habitat
  5. ↑ Ewald Galle: The Alpine Convention and its protocols. (pdf) Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, archived from the original on May 18, 2006 ; Retrieved April 9, 2008 .
  6. ↑ a b Overview of the ratification of the Framework Convention. Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, convenzionedellealpi.org, 2002, archived from the original on December 18, 2011 ; Retrieved January 5, 2010 .
  7. ↑ Alpine Convention , Federal Law Gazette No. 477/1995 of July 21, 1995, last amended by Federal Law Gazette III No. 18/1999, ris.bka
  8. ^ Protocol on the accession of the Principality of Monaco to the Convention for the Protection of the Alps (Accession Protocol) , January 28, 1999 (pdf, cipra.org; 13 kB)
  9. ↑ Münchner Merkur: Popular lawsuit failed , September 17, 2012
  10. ↑ Protocol Nature Conservation and Landscape Management
  11. ↑ Protocol mountain agriculture
  12. ^ Protocol on spatial planning and sustainable development
  13. ↑ Protocol Bergwald
  14. ^ Tourism Protocol
  15. ^ Protocol energy
  16. ^ Protocol soil protection
  17. ↑ Protocol traffic
  18. ^ Dispute resolution protocol
  19. ^ Declaration on Population and Culture Alpine Convention website, February 1, 2011.
  20. ^ Declaration on Climate Change Alpine Convention website, February 1, 2011.
  21. ^ French Presidency of the Alpine Convention. Alpine Convention, accessed on July 2, 2020 .
  22. ^ German chairmanship of the Alpine Convention. (No longer available online.) BMUB, archived from the original on July 15, 2015 ; accessed on July 14, 2015 .