ABSTRACT
The idea of the river basin as a kind of archetypal, natural ‘planning region’ goes back to Patrick Geddes and his concept of the ‘valley section’, developed in the early twentieth century (Hall 1988, p. 140). Although a river basin may form a natural region with clear perimeters, from the perspective of territorial governance, it does not automatically form an integrated region. This is largely because almost every river basin cuts through administrative borders. Large rivers such as the Rhine often cut across international borders, which remain the most entrenched administrative boundaries, even within the European Union (EU). Nevertheless, cooperation between the countries bordering the Rhine predated the 1958 establishment of the European Economic Community by no less than eight years. The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) was created as early as 1950, only a few years after the Second World War, and remains active today. Its establishment was prompted by major concerns about water quality. Decades later, the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine also became a main channel for addressing water quantity issues, a development that was directly related to the so-called EU Floods Directive of 2007 (EC 2007). As a separate institutional entity, the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine has become embedded in EU policies, although one of the participating countries (Switzerland) is not a member of the EU.
