Fitness Check EU Water Policy Peter Gammeltoft, DG ENV Fitness Check 1st Stekeholder meeting, 10/5/2011

2012: A Blueprint to safeguard EU Waters The Blueprint is the convergence of 3 assessments scheduled for 2012 Assessment of 1st river basin management plans under Water Framework Directive Review of the Strategy for Water Scarcity and Droughts Assessment of the vulnerability of water and environmental resources to climate impacts and man-made pressures. The Blueprint will: Look back and assess the implementation and achievements of policies and measures in place to ensure the protection and availability of EU water resources Look forward at the evolving vulnerability of the water environment to assess the sufficiency of existing measures and tools, and evaluate potential new instruments to ensure a sustainable use of good quality water in the EU in the long term. The Blueprint will synthesise policy recommendations drawing from the evaluation and impact assessment exercises, and will be accompanied by a number of reports and new initiatives, including of a legislative nature if appropriate.

Outlook of sustainability and vulnerability of EU water resources Impact Assessment Outlook of sustainability and vulnerability of EU water resources « Fitness Check» EU water policy instruments Policy Options 2012 Blueprint To Safeguard EU Waters Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation

Fitness Check New process part of EC smart regulation policy Systematic check that all EU laws meet their objectives in an efficient way. Water policy selected as a pilot area Objective: assess the effectiveness of the policy measures taken in achieving the objectives already agreed in the context of water policy identify whether any gap needs to be filled to deliver our environmental objectives more efficiently.

Scope Water Framework Directive & Common Implementation Strategy Groundwater Directive Environmental Quality Standards Directive Floods Directive Key drivers good status: Urban Waste Water Directive Nitrates Directive + Non-legislative approaches Water scarcity and droughts Water & Climate change adaptation

Key questions to be addressed (1/2) Coherence Degree of integration of WFD with the other instruments covered by the FC? Degree of integration of water policy across Member States and sectors? Divergences between Member States in defining and implementing the key concepts of the WFD? What is the degree of integration and coherence with other policy instruments addressing the use (or re-use) of water? Is the scope for integration with other policy objectives fully exploited? Relevance Are current instruments sufficient for the sustainable management of freshwater resources? (e.g. management of water demand and water availability) Is enough attention being given to the control of pollution at the source to reduce the reliance on end of pipe solutions?

Key questions to be addressed (2/2) Effectiveness Notwithstanding the ongoing implementation of the existing regulatory instruments, are the preliminary achievements in line with the stated objectives? Efficiency Assess the ongoing implementation of the WFD, with a special focus on the degree of co-operation and policy integration between the river basin level and the different administrative units in Member States, and between Member States in trans-boundary basins Are availability of and access to funding a constraint in the implementation of the Directives, as well as of agreed policies on water scarcity and droughts? Are there regulatory gaps, inconsistencies, overlaps or evidence of excessive administrative burdens?

Phased Approach Support scoping contract January - June 2011 January: Inception phase February-April: Literature review / stakeholder interviews May: Stakeholder workshop in Brussels June: Final report June - December 2011 in-depth assessments of specific topics Public consultation 2nd Stakeholder workshop Draftng final report,to be published early 2012 3rd European Water Conference 2012 (spring) Presentation of the Fitness Check Presentation/discussion of policy options, to be included in Blueprint (Nov 2012)

List of stakeholders in the chosen policy sector and approaches for involving them. Water Directors & Strategic Co-ordination Group (SCG) Members of the WFD Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) working groups and expert groups (experts from Member States, industry and NGOs). Representatives of river basins management authorities or regional authorities, or other institutions, industry and NGOs not represented in the above mentioned CIS groups. Approaches: Web-based questionnaire Interviews (70+) Workshop Case studies

Policy options The key conclusions of the Fitness Check (FC) will be taken up in the Blueprint. The FC will also provide a set of specific objectives for improving the governance system stemming from EU water policy. On that basis, and building on the RBMPs assessments, options to be developed will aim at: Supporting an administrative setup (at both national and trans-boundary level) that better serves the objectives of water policy, in particular the implementation on the ground (e.g. enhancing the role of River Basin Authorities). Improve the effectiveness of the implementation (e.g. reporting requirements) while providing the reactive capacity needed to face emerging challenges (e.g. climate change adaptation) improve the quality of the knowledge base for water policy making.

The workshop today: Close to the end… A starting point… Discuss draft findings study Deloitte/IEEP A starting point… Help scoping the issues to be analysed in more detail in the 2nd semester 2011 Thank you very much in advance for your active participation! Additional comments (before 23 May c.o.b): ENV-FRESHWATER-FITNESS-CHECK@ec.europa.eu