1. Commission activities
WG Groundwater
25-26 April 2017, San Lawrenz, Malta
Christoph Leitner, Elisa Vargas Amelin, Joaquim Capitão
DG Environment, Unit C.1

2. Overview Previous WD & SCG meetings 2RBMP assessment Water reuse
WG DIS
WG Chemicals
Water and agriculture
ATG Article 4(7)
BLUE2 study
Review of the DWD
EIP Water
2/19

3. CIS work programme
Just as a reminder: CIS work programme for with agreed activities and tasks for WG Groundwater. The following slides summarise COM's activities that are of interest to the group. Most slides have links to the corresponding policy or folders in circabc where additional information and technical documents can be found.
3/19

4. Water Directors (WDs) Meeting outcomes 28-29 November 2016
Continuation of the discussion on the WFD process of the 3rd cycle and beyond 2027 – ASG established
Priority substances – coordination of WFD and EQS reviews supported, investigation of more holistic approach to regulation of chemicals in the environment supported; technical work on PS review to be finalised
Took note of Water & Agriculture workshop on 24 Oct 2016, supported idea of joint meeting with agriculture decision makers on strategic issues
Floods Directive – lessons learned
CIS – Took note of progress report and progress on intercalibration
WFD WISE reporting – acknowledged high priority. Used for RBMP assessment and ERDF/EARDF ex-ante conditionality assessment
4/19

5. SCG meetings 9 March 2017 (& 27-28 October 2016)
Overview on the state of adoption of River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) and Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMP). Updates on:
WISE reporting
Commission's assessment of the RBMPs and FRMPs
Commission activities
Circular Economy, EIR, Communication on SDGs
Initiative on water reuse
Strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment
Start of the Blue2 Study
Developments on Water and Agriculture
Since the WGGW met in Bratislava in October 2016, the following WFD related events took place. Please check corresponding folders in circabc for minutes, presentations and technical documents.
Blue2 study: 'Study on EU integrated policy assessment for the freshwater and marine environment, on the economic benefits of EU water policy and on the costs of its non-implementation'
Update of reporting tools for the Floods Directive – a Sub-group on Reporting established; 2 meetings so far (31/1 in Brussels and 16-17/3 (afternoon to afternoon) in Bucharest). Next meeting on 30&31 May in Brussels. Final updated reporting tools to be endorsed by the Water Directors in Dec 2017.
5/19

6. Prep-SCG 10 March 2017
Exchange of information among WGs. Aim: informal exchange of updates, discussion of links and synergies.
Other co-chairs were informed on the progress made on:
Watch List (link with WG Chemicals)
Threshold Values (TVs) – search for activity leads
WFD/DWD coordination activities – interest from WG Chemicals
Special session on GW ecology – interest from WG ECOSTAT
Note: each of this topics will be further elaborated and discussed throughout the meeting (agenda points )
6/19

7. Assessment of 2nd RBMPs and 1st FRMPs
Second RBMPs:
country specific assessments
assessment at EU level (overview)
First FRMPs:
International coordination in water resources and flood management
iRBD/iUoM specific assessments
7/19

8. Assessment of 2nd RBMPs and 1st FRMPs
WFD achievements regarding status and pressures (EEA report – further information after this presentation)
WFD "compliance" assessment
Integrated assessment
DPSIR storylines for main pressures
Synergies with other water and environmental legislation/policies
8/19

9. Assessment of 2nd RBMPs and 1st FRMPs
Pilot testing completed, assessment started in April
Opportunity to provide feedback on draft MS reports in late spring discussion in next SCG
WFD integrated assessment to start in late spring
EC Implementation report for WFD and FD: legal obligation = End 2018
Further information
9/19

10. Water reuse http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/reuse.htm
CIS Guidelines on 'Integrating water reuse into water planning and management in the context of the WFD' (endorsed by WDs in June 2016)
Works on Minimum quality requirements for water reuse in irrigation and aquifer recharge. JRC developed a technical proposal by end 2016.
Consultation of MS and organizations e.g. via the CIS 
Consultation with EFSA and SCHEER  opinion of both Committees in May 2017
Proposal for an EU legislation  end 2017
Water reuse in industrial activities: In the framework of the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) implementation
Further and better integration in Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs) for relevant industrial sectors (food, drink, milk, textiles, industrial cooling systems).
Support to research and innovation, EU funds available (EIP, H2020, ERDF, CF, EFSI, LIFE…)
10/19

11. Working Group Data and Information Sharing
Deadline for communicating RBMPs was 22 March 2016.
RBMPs reported through WISE by 23 MS. Full reporting completed by 18 MS.
Annex 0 submission (for MS to indicate if they are not able to report some required information and why) – 21 MS transmitted one or more Annex 0s.
Issues in Annex 0 are either related to data not collected in the way required or show gaps in implementation (mainly indicators of gap to good status and of contribution of each Key Type of Measures to fill that gap, data on costs of measures)
Reference document on indicators to communicate progress towards good status – adopted by WDs in Nov. 2015, will need to be reviewed once data available to assess feasibility of individual indicators: c48b6a945501
Links with all documents and tools needed for reporting:
11/19

12. WG Chemicals – selected activities
Priority substances review
Provisional shortlist of substances and need for volunteers to lead EQS finalisation - discussed at WG Chemicals, Mar 2017
Final shortlist could change on basis of additional monitoring data and refinement of EQS.
Commission proposal on PS due beginning of 2018, but may propose intermediate voluntary action in MS 3rd RBMPs, then legislative follow-up coordinated with outputs from WFD review.
Surface water watch list
Reporting of data from first year of monitoring (Sept 2015-Sept 2016) largely complete; JRC has made preliminary analysis and will complete it by the summer to feed into review in the autumn.
Strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment
Study to support the development of the approach still underway; public consultation on options for possible follow-up - this spring.
Aim to finalise the approach by early 2018.
12/19

13. Agriculture
Background: No CIS group under the current WP – issue raised from technical to more political level to seek cooperation with agriculture stakeholders
Timeline:
Commission expects to adopt by end April a Staff Working Document on "Water and sustainable agriculture" drafted between ENV/AGRI with input from JRC, SANTE, RTD.
The SWD sets out an analysis of the main pressures (nutrients, abstraction, pesticides) on water status arising from agriculture and the need to work together across admin boundaries to address the issues together through the existing legislative framework.
The SWD identifies areas where further action is needed to help MS better avail of the opportunities that existing AGRI/ENV policy tools provide. These are: governance arrangements, better implementation, financial instruments, knowledge and innovation
Next steps – joint Water and Agriculture Director level meeting in Brussels 8 May under MT presidency to discuss the SWD
Water is the agenda point for the Informal agri fish council meeting 22 May - agri ministers (and Commissioners Hogan and Vella) to discuss steps to be taken within current framework to deliver sustainable agriculture and water management
13/19

14. Ad-hoc Task Group (ATG) for the WFD Article 4(7) Guidance
Workshop on December 2016, Brussels
Key issue paper as input for discussion at workshop
Case studies collected during autumn 2016
First draft of CIS Guidance completed in February 2017
Comments received from MS representatives and stakeholders
Second draft in preparation
Meeting 4(7) ATG on 1-2 June 2017, Brussels
Step-wise further development of Guidance during 2017
14/19

15. Started in January 2017 and has 2 parts
The BLUE2 Study on EU integrated policy assessment for freshwater and marine environment, on the economic benefits of EU water policy and on the costs for its non-implementation
Started in January 2017 and has 2 parts
15/19

16. BLUE2 - Objectives and Tasks
Part A (18 months)
Collect and generate solid economic arguments supporting the full implementation of EU water policy
A1 – Literature review
A2 – Demonstrating that water is a key resource for economic growth in the EU
A3 – Assessment of the costs and benefits of the proper implementation of the EU water acquis in 8 river basins
A4 – Improving the competitiveness of the EU water sector and promoting a more efficient use of water
A5 – Stakeholder workshops
Part B (24 months)
Develop of an integrated policy assessment method and software linked to models of the freshwater and marine environment
B1 – Establishment of an EU pressure inventory
B2 – Establishment of an EU water and marine measures database
B3 – Scenario design
B4 – Freshwater and marine benefits concept and model assessment tool
16/19

17. Review Drinking Water Directive
REFIT Evaluation of the Directive 98/83/EC
Commission Staff Working Document summarising the Evaluation published SWD(2016)428 final
Revision included in the Commission Work Programme 2017
Preparation for revision on-going:
Roadmap (Inception Impact Assessment) published for Feedback in February
Impact Assessment Study and Study on Materials/Products in contact with Drinking Water published in March
WHO-EC Cooperation Project Reviewing the Drinking Water Parameters to be concluded by Summer 2017
Commission Proposal and accompanying Impact Assessment scheduled for end 2017
17/19

18. EIP Water
Initiative within the EU 2020 Innovation Union. EIP Water aims to identify, test, scale up, disseminate and stimulate the uptake of innovative solutions by the market and society for ten major water related challenges by 2020.
29 EIP Water Action Groups (Some linked to GW: e.g. AugMent AG124, COWAMA AG111, MAR AG128…).
Phase: Focus on delivery of impacts. Action Groups speed up and overcome barriers individually. Involvement of FP7 and H2020 projects.
Successful EIP Water Conference on 10 Feb in Leeuwarden (NL).
Leeuwarden Declaration: why and how to drive water innovation in Europe
Urban Water Agenda 2030 (Conference on 29/9/2017 in Porto, PT)
18/19

19. Upcoming meetings ATG on Water Reuse tbc, Cyprus (tbc)
SCG & Art. 21 Committee May, Brussels
WGF Sub-group on Reporting May and 6 September, Brussels
ATG Article 4(7) Guidance 1-2 June, Brussels
Water & Marine Directors meeting June, Bratislava
Prep-SCG 25 September, Brussels
SCG & Art. 21 Committee September, Brussels
WG DIS 2-3 October
WG ECOSTAT October
WG Floods and WGF Sub-group on Reporting October, Tallinn
WG Chemicals October
Water & Marine Directors meeting 4-5 December, Tallinn
19/19