The two rapporteurs of the Office - one a deputy, the other a senator - were invited to investigate the ecological impact of the Rhine-Rhone link, and have found themselves involved in an emotional and fascinating debate on the very future of this project. Their concern was therefore to reintroduce transparency and objectivity, by focusing on the real problems and pointing out the paradoxes in this matter. Their conclusions stemmed from a two-fold analysis: For a project such as this which, although ambitious, was disputed, poorly run and poorly presented, it is important to find a way out of the current impasse and to move on. It is essential to adopt a completely different approach so as to take into account the changes that have taken place over the last fifteen years in terms of ecology, to note some aspects of the experience with the Rhine-Main-Danube canal, more closely to control the consequences of the works proposed, to draw benefit from an overall approach to transport systems, to make better use of ministerial authority and to enable a democratic discussion as well as an independent view of the ecological consequences of the work carried out.