Basin Area
An international agreement was signed in 2002 in Ghent, Belgium about the management of the river amongst France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Also participating in the agreement were the Belgian regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels (which is not in the basin of the Meuse but pumps running water into the Meuse).
Most of the basin area (approximately 36.000 km2) is in Wallonia (12.000 km2), followed by France (9.000 km2), the Netherlands (8.000 km2), Germany (2.000 km2), Flanders (2.000 km2) and Luxembourg (a few km2).
An International Commission on the Meuse has the responsibility of the implementation of the treaty.
The costs of this Commission are met by all these countries, in proportion of their own territory into the basin of the Meuse: The Netherlands and Wallonia 30%, France 15%, Germany 14.5%, Flanders 5%, Brussels 4.5%, Kingdom of Belgium and Luxemburg 0.5%.
The map of the basin area of Meuse was joined to the text of the treaty.
On the cultural plan, the river Meuse, as a major communication route, is the origin of the Mosan art, principally (Wallonia and France).
The first landscape painted in the Middle-Age was the landscape of Meuse. For instance Joachim Patinir He was likely the uncle of Henri Blès who is sometimes defined as a Mosan landscape painter active during the second third of the 16th century (i.e., second generation of landscape painters)
Read more about this topic: Meuse (river)
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