Alpine Convention

The Alpine Convention (AC), formally the Convention on the Protection of the Alps, is an international treaty on the comprehensive protection and sustainable development of the Alps. The Convention is a pioneer of its kind as the first international treaty covering a whole mountain range that crosses several national borders.

The Framework Convention was signed by the eight Alpine countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Switzerland and Slovenia) and the former European Community (now the European Union) and came into effect in 1995. It is complemented by ten protocols.

The Alpine Conference is the regular high-level meeting of the Contracting Parties, who gather approximately every two years to discuss and take decisions on various topics. Since 2003, a Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention has been established to support the bodies of the Alpine Convention. The Permanent Secretariat’s main office is in Innsbruck, Austria, and it has an operational branch office at the European Academy Bolzano (EURAC) in Bolzano/Bozen, Italy.