European Socialist MEPs on the European Parliament’s committee on development and committee on environment and three Romanian Social-Democratic MEPs are campaigning for the promotion of the Danube Delta in the world and for the implementation of infrastructure and pollution cleaning projects for the area.

MEPs Victor Bostinaru, Daciana Sarbu and Adriana Ticau of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) organised these days in the Danube city of Tulcea the third edition of a wide -ranging Danube Delta promotion project started in Brussels where invited to attend were European Specialist MEPs and Francine Cousteau, widow of renowned French oceanographer Jacques Yves Cousteau, who received the diploma of Danube Delta ambassador.

Attending the conference on the conservation of the Danube Delta through European Union regional and environmental protection policies were local government officials the governor of the Danube Delta, Environment Minister Nicolae Nemirschi and state secretary with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAPDR) Catalin Rosculete. MEP Sarbu told the conference that Romania no longer needs a country brand because the Danube Delta already is a brand that waits to be put to good use and kept intact.

She asked the officials of the Socialist MEP group on the environment and the development committees of the European Parliament to support Romania’s approach of this matter, saying that Romania does not belong to Romania only, but to the European Union as well.

Bostinaru pleaded for an integrated action of the projects that regard the Danube Delta, which he said is the quintessence of policies for this region. ‘Territorial approaches will lead to static projects only and not to the mechanisms for horizontal engagement that can provide answers to the Danube Delta issues. The only chance for the Delta projects to succeed is to approach them within an integrated policy,’ said Bostinaru.

Ticau reviewed some European regional transport and infrastructure projects, pointing out that there is no river transport development without consolidating parallel infrastructures. She also argued that economic development must take into account environmental rules, tourism has to be developed in a sustainable manner, pesticides should be barred from farming, while the fishery policies should limit illegal activities.

The Danube Delta can become Romania’s symbol in the world thanks to its uniqueness, as it is the most dynamic European project created at the end of the longest river of the European Union, coordinator of the Socialist MEP group for regional development matters in the European Parliament Constanze Krehl told the conference on Tuesday.

Krehl said she was pleasantly impressed by the beauty of the Danube Delta, which she toured these days, but unpleasantly surprised by the quantity of plastic bottles and trash there. She argued that greening up the Danube Delta could be part of a wide-ranging operational programme for environmental protection started off in Romania with support from the European Union for the Danube Delta.
Minister Nemirschi said he belongs to the hardliners’ wing in the fight for the Danube Delta, not because he is now a minister, but also because he was born in the region and loves its places.

‘The Danube Delta is one of my main priorities because it has a special significance to Romania and Europe. Some are fighting over oil, and my conviction is that in not too distant a future this place would be as if oil were flowing here,’ said Nemirschi.

Danube Delta Governor Grigore Baboianu said sustainable development is a basic concept underpinning the concept of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, arguing for the importance of cross-border cooperation in this area.

The Dutch representative of the Socialist MEP group on the development committee Dorette Corbey said she was impressed by the beauty of the Delta, which she toured aboard a motor boat with her MEP colleagues and pledged full support for the area before the European Parliament.

Francine Cousteau, the widow of famous French oceanographer Jacuqes-Yves Cousteau, promised her full support for the promotion of the Danube Delta in the world. On her firs tour of the Danube Delta, Francine Cousteau, who is already promoting the importance of the Danube Delta in the world, said she was impressed by the beauty and uniqueness of the Delta.

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