Article 3 and appendix IV of the Espoo Convention provide an inquiry procedure. Also relevant is paragraph 15 of the appendix to decision III/2 ("Where a matter is being considered under an inquiry procedure under Article 3, paragraph 7, of the Convention, that matter may not be the subject of a submission under this decision.").
The fourth session of the Meeting of the Parties adopted a decision on the inquiry procedure, further to a note by the secretariat on the first inquiry procedure, considered by the Working Group on EIA.
Inquiry procedure
Decision IV/3 | ENG | FRE | RUS |
The inquiry procedure has been invoked on one occasion to date, in 2004, regarding the Danube-Black Sea Deep Water Navigation Canal in the Ukrainian Sector of the Danube Delta.
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Inquiry Commission (photographs below) |
Subject matter | 
| Danube-Black Sea Deep Water Navigation Canal in the Ukrainian Sector of the Danube Delta | | Date of notification | 19 August 2004 | Requesting party | Romania
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ref. No. E VI-I/5091) | Other party | Ukraine | Membership of the inquiry commission | President: Prof. Joost Terwindt, Emeritus Professor in Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Romania: Dr. Mircea Staras, Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development, Tulcea, Romania
Ukraine: Dr. Lyudmyla Anishchenko, Ukrainian Research Institute of Ecological Problems, Kharkiv, Ukraine | Status | First (preparatory) meeting, 26 January 2005, Geneva.
Second (preparatory) meeting, 24 February 2005, Geneva.
Meeting, 28 October 2005, Geneva.
Meeting, 16 December 2005, Amsterdam (the Netherlands).
Site visit, 8-13 May 2006, Romania & Ukraine.
Final meeting, 30 (p.m.)-31 May 2006, Geneva.
Transmission of the Inquiry Commission's opinion to the parties to the inquiry procedure and to the secretariat, 10 July 2006, Geneva. | Final opinion | Document Title | ENG |
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Final report (1.7 MB) | ENG | Unanimous conclusion that there will likely be a significant adverse transboundary impact. See also press releases. | Appendices: | Final reports by specialist experts Report of the Hydro-Morphology Expert, Jos van Gils (2MB) | ENG | Report of the Geochemistry Expert, Nico de Rooij | ENG | Report of the Fishery Expert, Stefan Schmutz (1.3MB) | ENG | Report of the Birdlife Expert, Mark O'Connell (2MB) | ENG | Contributions by the Members of the Commission
Dr Mircea Staras Rom. 1: Documentation on the likely significant transboundary impact of the Ukrainian Deep-water Navigation Canal Danube-Black Sea in the context of ESPOO Convention, 1991. February, 2005 (1.6MB) | ENG | Rom. 2: Additional information requested for the third meeting of the Inquiry Commission on the likely significant transboundary impact of the Ukrainian Deep-water Navigation Canal Danube-Black Sea in the context of ESPOO Convention, 1991. October, 2005 | ENG | Rom. 3: Comments to Annexes no. 15-28, presented by the Ukrainian expert at the third meeting of the Inquiry Commission on the likely significant transboundary impact of the Ukrainian Deep-Water Navigation Canal Danube-Black Sea in the context of ESPOO Convention, 1991. December 2005 | ENG | Rom. 4: Comments on documentation presented by Ukrainian expert at 4th meeting of the Inquiry Commission (16 Dec. 2005) | ENG | Dr Lyudmyla Anischenko Document Title | ENG |
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Ukr. 1 The assessment of transboundary impact of the navigation route reopening in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, February 2005 | | - Report | ENG | - Annex 1 | ENG | - Annex 2 | ENG | - Annex 3 | ENG | - Annex 4 | ENG | - Annex 5 | ENG | - Annex 6 | ENG | - Annex 6a (2 MB) | ENG | - Annex 6b (2 MB) | ENG | - Annex 6c (2 MB) | ENG | - Annex 7 | ENG | - Annex 8 | ENG | - Annex 9 | ENG | - Annex 9, original (1.1 MB) | ENG | - Annex 10 | ENG | - Annex 11 | ENG | - Annex 12 | ENG | - Annex 13 | ENG | - Annex 14 | ENG | - Annex 14, revised | ENG | Ukr. 2, October 2005 | | - Annex 15 | ENG | - Annex 16 | ENG | - Annex 17 | ENG | - Annex 18 | ENG | - Annex 19 | ENG | - Annex 20 | ENG | - Annex 21 | ENG | - Annex 22 | ENG | - Annex 23 | ENG | - Annex 24 | ENG | - Annex 25 | ENG | - Annex 26 | ENG | - Annex 27 (2 MB) | ENG | - Annex 28 (2 MB) | ENG | Ukr. 3, December 2005 | | - Annex 29 | ENG | - Annex 30 | ENG | - Annex 31 | ENG | - Annex 32 | ENG | Ukr. 4, April 2006 | | - Annex 33 | ENG | - Annex 34 | ENG | - Annex 35 | ENG | - Annex 36 | ENG | - Annex 37 | ENG | - Annex 38 | ENG | - Annex 39 | ENG | - Annex 40 | ENG | Ukr. 5, May-June 2006 | | - Annex 41 | ENG | - Annex 42 | ENG | - Annex 43 | ENG | - Annex 44 | ENG | - Annex 45 (1.1 MB) | ENG | - Annex 46 | ENG | - Annex 47 | ENG | Ukr. 6 Report on Scientific Research Work: "Environmental Assessment (EA) within the framework of the project "Creation of the Danube – the Black Sea deep-water navigable passage in the Ukrainian part of the delta. Stage 1". Ministry of Environment Protection of Ukraine. Kharkiv, Ukraine, 2003 | ENG | | Additional information | 
Report of the Joint Mission of the Expert Team of the European Commission and International Conventions to the "Bystroe project" in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta (6-8 October 2004) | ENG | | |
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| Submission of the opinion of the Inquiry Commission, 10 July 2006, Geneva. From left: Deputy
Permanent Representative of Romania, Monika Linn (UNECE), Kaj Barlund (UNECE), UNECE Executive
Secretary Marek Belka, Ambassador of Ukraine and Joost Terwindt (President of the Inquiry Commission). | | 
| Meeting with NGOs in Bucharest, May 2006. From left: Mircea Staras (Romania), Wiek Schrage (UNECE secretariat), Joost Terwindt (President), Liudmila Anishchenko (Ukraine) and interpreter. | | 
| Meeting with NGOs in Bucharest, May 2006.
Both photographs courtesy Eco-Counselling Centre, Galati (Romania). | |
