water.europa.eu Assessment of the River Basin Management Plans – preliminary findings Conference on River Basin Management Planning Ankara, 28 February 2012

water.europa.eu Slide 2 WFD principles Protecting all water bodies, including transitional waters and coastal waters Achievement of good status in all water bodies and no deterioration of status Integrated planning process at river basin scale Comprehensive assessment of pressures, impacts and status, including the ecological perspective Economic instruments and water pricing Integration of water policy with other policies (agriculture, transport, energy…) Public participation and active involvement

water.europa.eu Slide 3 WFD - Main objectives and elements Good status in 2015 Ecological status Chemical status Quantitative status (groundwater) No deterioration Key elements Water quality defined in terms of biology, chemistry and morphology Objectives set in river basin management plans Programme of measures to achieve objectives as part of plans Attention paid to socio-economic impacts through a process of duly justified exemptions Integration of measures under other water-related EU legislation, contributing to these objectives

water.europa.eu River basin districts Diversity of river basins Many transboundary rivers

Planning process Transposition, RBD delineation, competent authorities, administrative set-up, coordination arrangements Characterisation, pressure and impact and economic analysis Monitoring and assessment Setting objectives Programme of measures Implementation of measures Public participation and stakeholder involvement Planning cycle

water.europa.eu State of adoption of river basin management plans 6 RBMP adopted (23) Consultation on-going or not started (4) (all 4 MS that have not adopted are before the Court) 

water.europa.eu Slide 7 Transposition into national lawDec 2003 Administrative arrangementsDec 2003 Environmental analysis: Analysis of characteristics Assessment of human impacts Economic analysis of water use Dec 2004 Monitoring programmes Dec 2006 Public Participation startsDec 2006 Significant water management issuesDec 2007 Draft river basin management plans Dec 2008 Final river basin management plans Dec 2009 Measures implemented at the latestDec 2012 Implementation, adjustment2015 till 2027 WFD Timetable

water.europa.eu 8 Common Implementation Strategy

water.europa.eu EC implementation reports 9 1 st implementation report (22 March 2007) COM(2007)128 final – Transposition into national law – Administrative arrangements – Environmental analysis & economic analysis of water use -> Presented at 1 st European Water Conference 2 nd implementation report (1 April 2009) COM(2009)156 final – Monitoring programmes -> Presented at 2 nd European Water Conference, together with a quick scan of 17 available draft River Basin Management Plans 3 rd implementation report – end 2012 – River basin management plans

water.europa.eu 10 Some general preliminary findings +A lot of effort put into preparation of the plans +High uptake of the common framework and common language on water management provided by the WFD +Integration of ecological perspective into water management +Enhancement of international cooperation +Public participation, stakeholder involvement +Impressive improvement in the knowledge base +Some very good examples in every subject –Low ambition in many of the plans (extensive use of exemptions) –Lack of concrete measures and expected achievements (but programme of measures needs to be operational in 2012 only) –Lack of comparability in some issues (e.g. chemical status!) –Dressing “business-as-usual” as WFD

water.europa.eu 2012 Blueprint to safeguard Europe’s waters Nov 2012 Blueprint To Safeguard EU Waters Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation Review Water Scarcity & Droughts Strategy Report on 2009 River Basin Management Plans Outlook of sustainability and vulnerability of EU water resources « Fitness Check» EU water policy instruments Policy Options Expected November 2012 Consultation process Public consultation to be launched later this year 3 rd European Water Conference Brussels May 2012, back to back to the Green Week

water.europa.eu 12 Thank you for your attention