Agro-Economic Study for the Danube River Basin. Synthesis Report

This report provides a summary of country studies that analyse the role of the agricultural sector in the Danube River Basin. In addition, it explores ways to reduce the impact of agricultural production in water resources, concerning both the quality and the quantity. The focus of the report is on identifying cost-effectiveness of measures. For this purpose an extensive literature survey was conducted. The report summarises ways to improve the governance of environmental measures at various levels of regulation. A major finding of the study is that the cost of reducing harmful substances varies significantly across the regions. In some parts of the Danube River Basin pressure indicators show a reduction of noxious impacts during the last years. Forecasts about the likely future development of the agricultural sector indicate that environmentally harmful emissions are likely to be reduced even further.