Also, 15 nature protection NGOs from Central and Eastern Europe asked the participants in the meeting in an open letter to refrain from signing the declaration until the management plan was revised because it "based on misleading and false data."
The Framework Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, which went into force in 2004, has great significance for water-related crossborder cooperation, it was said at the conference.
The ministers and their delegates said they were pleased with the cooperation so far and expressed willingness to solve the joint problems on the Sava.
Croatian Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina said the declaration was an excellent foundation for continuing regional cooperation and sustainable development on the Sava in the 2015-21 period. He said all member states had expressed willingness to cooperate in a joint flood protection project.
Tibor Mikuska of the Croatian Bird and Nature Protection Society said in a statement that the management plan was based on "incorrect data" and that it violated European Union legislation and risked the future of the Sava, "one of the most valuable river ecosystems in Europe."
Romy Durst of Germany's EuroNatur said the Sava and most of its tributaries were in outstanding ecological condition, but that the Sava Commission classified the Sava as "heavily modified", the lowest class for rivers according to EU Water Framework Directive.
The management plan encourages the building of at least 19 power plants on the Sava and hundreds on its tributaries, said Ulrich Eichelmann of Riverwatch.
The NGOs have therefore asked the European Commission to stop financing all projects based on the "current incomplete and misleading draft management plan."