Legal issues in WFD implementation WD meeting 16 June 2008 Jorge Rodríguez Romero, Unit D.2, DG Environment, European Commission

Contents State of play infringement procedures Compliance checking Article 8 monitoring programmes Follow-up from Commission implementation report 2007 Bilateral meetings In-depth assessment of Article 5 economic analysis Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

State of play infringements Transposition including Water Services 9 launched and 9 more in preparation Order responds to resources issues not to importance of conformity problems Non-communication monitoring networks: two cases in preparation Article 5 non-communication: all cases closed (Greece delivered report after Court ruling) Article 3: one case before the Court (Spain) Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

Compliance checking Article 8 monitoring networks On-going work based on concept paper presented to Working Group Reporting – useful comments received The work will be the basis of Commission report – to be finalised end of 2008 Assessment of key issues Objectives of monitoring programmes Comprehensiveness Status of developments of methods Selection of quality elements Frequency of monitoring Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

First impressions compliance checking monitoring networks Some very good examples Some problems detected Some MS do not report basic information such as design considerations or methods used Lack of integration with other networks Diversity reflects different realities but also different understanding of the concepts of the Directive (e.g. surveillance vs operational) – CIS monitoring guidance unevenly followed In some cases monitoring effort is clearly insufficient – e.g. minimum frequencies cannot deliver a comprehensive and reliable picture of water status in the RBD Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

Follow-up of Commission 2007 WFD implementation report The Commission is still willing to hold bilateral meetings with some Member States In-depth economic analysis Addresses one of the weak points identified in 2007 report Looks for good practices Identification of areas where further dialogue and information exchange with MS may be beneficial Results will be used prioritise some areas for compliance checking on RBMP Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

Some topics assessed Consideration of water services and water uses Cost recovery Financial cost consideration Integration of taxes and subsidies Environmental and resource costs Baseline scenario/projections Preparing cost effectiveness analysis Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

Overall preliminary impressions in-depth assessment economic analysis Quality is diverse – but generally too poor, both based on economic analysis requirements, but also as a basis for economics integration in RBMP Mixture of poor reporting (more work done, but not transparently reported) and/or poor analysis In some cases: lack of effort, economic analysis consisting of a couple of pages with general information Low level of technical links between economic analysis and pressures & impact analysis: crucial for integrated RBMP Level of detail reported often insufficient for the preparation of implementation of esp. article 9 Few MS have performed well in all areas assessed A number of “good practices” however identified… Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.

Proposals for way forward – economics The Commission will finalise the analysis soon The results could be presented and discussed at a workshop in autumn 2008 (tentatively end September) which could also cover Exchange of information on key topics e.g. measures linked to Art. 9 Role of CIS on economic issues in view of first RBMP Present and discuss relevant EU projects (Aquamoney, handbook economic valuation of impacts on water…) Reporting sheets economics in RBMP This would include the renewal of network on water economic experts - call to be issued to Water Directors Water Directors are invited to give their views on this proposal for a workshop Notes for the Speaker: More information on the Directive, the implementation process and also the guidance documents are available on the internet.