A policy analysis for the upper Danube river section in Hungary

This paper presents the results of a preliminary application of the method of policy analysis to the case of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydropower project in the Danube. The policy analysis method provides a framework for the generation and comparison of technical alternatives for large infrastructural projects. After more than 10 years of dispute between successive governments in (Czecho)Slovakia and Hungary, the countries still have not reached a final agreement about the modalities for the completion and operation of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydropower project in the Danube. The dispute has been submitted for arbitration at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. As a result of the Court's ruling of 25 September 1997, Slovakia and Hungary have been negotiating again about the modalities of the execution of the project. The case is presently (December 1999) still pending in the ICJ, as no agreement has been reached so far. The results presented in this paper relate to the selection of evaluation criteria and comprehensive technical alternatives for the purpose of a policy analysis comparing technical alternatives for this project.