Contracting Parties
Under the Rules of Procedure the OSPAR Commission consists of representatives of each of its 16 Contracting Parties.
The Contracting Parties are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom, together with the European Union. Finland is not on the western coasts of Europe, but some of its rivers flow to the Barents Sea and historically it was involved in the efforts to control the dumping of hazardous waste in the Atlantic and the North Sea. Luxembourg and Switzerland are Contracting Parties due to their location within the catchments of the River Rhine.
The Commission elects a Chair and two Vice-Chairs by the unanimous vote of the Contracting Parties present at annual Commission meetings. Currently the Chair of the OSPAR Commission is Richard Cronin (Ireland). The Vice-Chairs are John Clorley (United Kingdom) and Sesselja Bjarnadóttir (Iceland).
If you wish to obtain information about national activities related to the work of OSPAR, please address your request to the relevant national contact point(s) below:
Belgium
Steven Vandenborre
Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment
DG Environment
Place Victor Hortaplein, 40 bte 10
B-1060 Bruxelles
Belgium
Denmark
Ane-Marie Løvendahl Raun
Ministry of Environment and Food
Holmens Kanal 42
1216 Copenhagen K
Denmark
+45 93 58 81 18
European Union
Michail Papadoyannakis
European Commission Environment DG
Marine Environment and Water Industry
B-1049
Brussels
Belgium
+32 2 296 3914
Finland
Sara Viljanen
Ministry of the Environment
Aleksanterinkatu 7
Helsinki
FI-00023 Government, Finland
France
Nadia Deckert
Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
27 rue de la Convention, CS91533
F-75732 PARIS Cedex 15
France
Carole Semichon
Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire
Direction des affaires européennes et internationales
Tour Pascal A, 6 place des Degrés
92055 La Défense Cedex
+33 (0) 1 4081 7665
Germany
Ingo Narberhaus
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz
und nukleare Sicherheit
Robert-Schuman-Platz 3
D-53175 Bonn
GERMANY
+49 3018 305 2526
Iceland
Sesselja Bjarnadóttir
Ministry for the Environment
Skuggasund 1
IS-101 Reykjavik
ICELAND
+ 354 545 8655
http://www.umhverfisraduneyti.is/
Ireland
Donal Cronin
Department of Housing Planning and Local Government
Floor 4, 1A South Mall
Cork
IRELAND
00 353 76 100 2684
Luxembourg
Anne-Marie Reckinger
Water Management Administration
1 avenue du Rock and Roll
L-4361 Esch-sur-Alzette
LUXEMBOURG
+352 26 02 86 37
Netherlands
Wim van Urk
Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment
Plesmanweg 1 - 6
Postbus 20904
NL – 2597 JG The Hague
THE NETHERLANDS
wim.van.urk@minienm.nl
+31 6 525 96097
Norway
Anja Elisenberg
Ministry of Climate and Environment
PO Box 8013 Dep
N-0030 Oslo
NORWAY
+47 22 24 58 72
Portugal
José Manuel Marques
Direçao Geral de Recursos Naturais, Segurança e Serviços Marítimos
Av. Brasilia
1449-030 Lisbon
Portugal
+351 213 035 711
