The International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe River Agreement was signed in Magdeburg on October 8, 1990.

• Convention on the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe (EEC Translation)
• Protocol to the Convention of 8 October 1990 between the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and the European Economic Community on the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe

• Federal Republic of Germany
• Czech Republic

Observers:

• Austria
• Poland
• European Union
  (EU was the ICPER signatory power until April 30, 2004, thus to the date of the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU on May 1, 2004.)
• International commissions for the protection of the Rhine River, the Odra River, and the Donau River
• NGOs

• making the use of water possible, especially promoting the retrieval of drinking water via river bank infiltration and enabling the agriculture to utilise the water and the sediments,
• achieving the most natural ecosystem possible; one that can provide for healthy species population,
• permanent strategy to decrease the burden imposed on the North Sea by the Elbe River basin.

To achieve these objectives, it is necessary

• improve the status of the Elbe River and its tributaries from the physical, chemical, and biological conditions point of view; the components involved are water, suspended solids, sediments, and organisms,
improve the ecological value of the Elbe River riparian zone.