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Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive - Actions towards the ‘good status’

 

Today, 9 March, the European Commission adopted the Communication “The Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the FloodsDirective (FD): Actions towards the ‘good status’ of EU water and to reduce flood risks”.

Following the obligations under art. 18.4 of the WFD, the communication makes an appraisal of the first cycle of implementation of the WFD, while evaluating the progress in the implementation of the Floods Directive.

Building on the assessment of the River Basin Management Plans published in 2012, the report provides Member State specific recommendations for the second cycle of the River Basin Management Plan, in order:

- to reconcile environmental and economic objectives by relying on measures that offer clean water in sufficient quantities for nature, people, and industry
- to ensure the long term sustainability and economic viability of EU agriculture and aquaculture;
- support energy production, sustainable transport and tourism development, thereby contributing to a genuinely green growth of the EU economy.
The recommendations include:

1. Tackling pollution: Member States need to strengthen their basic measures to tackle diffuse pollution caused by agriculture. Member States should tackle the sources of pollution by fully implementing WFD measures and water-related legislation, especially the Nitrates Directive [..]. This is much preferable to using end-of-pipe treatment, for instance, to ensure the high quality of drinking water while avoiding high treatment costs and protecting the environment.
2. Using economic instruments and incentives wisely: Member States should adjust inadequate pricing of water resources, especially but not
only in the agricultural sector. This is still causing very significant environmental and economic damage, for instance, inefficient use of scarce water resources or pollution requiring expensive treatment. [..]
Adequate WFD-compliant pricing based on metering and cost recovery would lead to water use efficiency reducing unnecessary consumption, […] as well as raising funds to ensure the long term sustainability of infrastructure investments and address wastage due to leakage.
Enjoy your reading of the comprehensive set of documents at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/impl_reports.htm

 

Carla

Water Matters.EU Matters

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