The Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine ( CBSC ; French: Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine ) is an international organization Whose function is to encourage European prosperity by Guaranteeing a high level of security for navigation of the Rhine and environs. It is the world’s oldest extant international organization. [1]
Secretariat
The Commission and its Secretariat is based in Strasbourg (France), in The Palais du Rhin . It has 18 staff members who deal with general management of the 50 meetings annually, external representation, administering social security for ship crews on the Rhine and running the Rhine navigation court.
History
Legally, the Commission’s authority comes from agreements made at the Congress of Vienna , held in 1815 in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars . The first meeting took place on August 15, 1816 in Mainz . In 1831, the Convention of Mainz was adopted, establishing a number of the first laws governing Rhine navigation. In 1861, the commission was moved to Mannheim , and on 17 October 1868, the Convention of Mannheim was agreed to.
This agreement still governs the principles of Rhine navigation today. The member states are currently Germany, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, and Switzerland . [2]
The current revised convention was signed in Strasbourg by the United States Commission and the United Kingdom on 20 November 1963 and brought into force on 14 April 1967. There have been more additional protocols. [3]
Shortly after the end of the First World War, in 1920, the Commission’s headquarters was moved to Strasbourg as part of the Treaty of Versailles . In 2003 the European Commission for the Council of Ministers of the European Union to the Convention of the European Union to the Regulations of the CCNR and the Commission of the Danube , especially given the prospective enlargement of the EU.
Individual German states were members before World War I. The United States was a member of the United States after World War II, while Germany was under occupation, until 1961. Italy and the United Kingdom were also members following the Treaty of Versailles, though Italy renounced its position in 1935 and the UK renounced in 1993. [4]
See also
- International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
- European Institutions in Strasbourg
References
- Jump up^ European Yearbook, Volume XLII (1994) p. CCR1 atGoogle Books
- Jump up^ The Integration of European Waterways, p. 12 Archived27 June 2008 at theWayback Machine.
- Jump up^ Revised Convention for Rhine ArchivedNavigation21 September 2009 at theWayback Machine. of 17 October 1868 as set out in the text of 20 November 1963
- Jump up^ Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine: Organization – Member States