Pilot River Basin Workshop Common Implementation Strategy Gent/Gand, 4/5 October 2004 The PRB exercise – A core part of the WFD Common Implementation Strategy
Diversity of river basins
Pilot river basins across Europe BE, FR, NL (Scheldt), DE, FR, LU (Moselle-Sarre) FR (Marne) IRL (Shannon) DK (Odense Fjord) SF (Oulujoki) PT (Guadiana) ES (Júcar) GR (Pinios) HU, RO (Somes) CZ, D, PL (Neisse) IT (Tevere, Cecina) NO ( Suldalsvassdraget) UK (Ribble)
Key PRB elements From theory of the guidance to practice Involving the regional level directly Communicating the WFD on another level Capturing a wider interest Trigger of positive process inside PRBs or national implementation
Lessons from the PRBs (1) WFD implementation is possible – it can be done! Guidance document are useful – good basis for implementation Practical obstacles sometimes more important Integration most difficult part
Lessons from the PRBs (2) PRBs not always “front runners” Diversity of approaches still remains Interest / resources to share experience on EU level limited Commitment varied considerably
PRB 2005/2006 the CIS process PRBs 2005/2006 Expert Advisory Forum Priority Substances Intercalibration Eutrophication Working Group 2.A “Ecological Status” Working Group 2.D “Reporting” PRBs 2005/2006 GIS Working Group 2.C “Groundwater” Working Group 2.B “Integrated River Basin Management” Agriculture Cost effectiveness RTD link
Future of PRBs Continuation of PRB exercise supported More flexibility – more responsibilities for PRBs Integration in all CIS activities Variety of outputs depending on interest and resources of PRBs Extension of the PRB network Encouragement of “own initiative” projects
Further information Internet http://europa.eu.int/comm/ environment/water CIRCA information exchange system “Implementation of the Water Framework Directive” with technical/practical documents http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/env/ wfd/home (public access to all finalised documents) Contact address env-water@cec.eu.int