EU water resources protection plan

The European Commission presented a Blueprint to safeguard Europe’s Water Resources on 15 November 2012. This sets out a three-pronged strategy to guarantee the quality and sustainability of this key resource across the Union by 2015.

ACT

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources [COM(2012)673 - not published in the Official Journal]

SUMMARY

Water is essential for human life, nature and the economy and, over the past three decades, the EU has taken action to ensure it is of high standard throughout Europe. Despite the undoubted achievements, problems such as quality, pollution and scarcity remain. Greater efforts are required if the Union is to reach the objective, contained in wide-ranging legislation, adopted in 2000, of achieving good water status for all its lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater by 2015.

The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources sets out how to meet that goal by identifying obstacles and ways to overcome them. It emphasises that proper care of our water resources is essential not only for environmental and health reasons, but also for our economic welfare. A vibrant and innovative water industry can make a significant contribution to growth and job creation.

The Blueprint does not present one single blanket approach. Instead, it identifies three different strategies which national and regional authorities and policy makers can implement to improve water management.

The first emphasises the need to improve the way existing EU water policy and legislation are applied. This could be achieved by restoring wetlands and floodplains to improve water retention or by applying the polluter pays principle more rigorously. Wider use of meters would also ensure that users pay for the water they consume.

The second route would require decision makers to pay greater attention to the EU’s overall water policy objectives when implementing other policies ranging from agriculture and fisheries to energy and transport or when allocating funding to infrastructure projects.

Finally, the Blueprint underlines the need to increase water efficiency, possibly by setting national targets, by reducing leakages which in some cases reach 50% and by developing EU standards for the re-use of water. Improved water efficiency in residential buildings could reduce consumption by 10%, for instance.

The Blueprint provides a major input to the EU’s wider resource efficiency programme and to its overall 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. As such, it will drive EU water policy over the long term.

RELATED ACTS

Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. [Official Journal L 327 of 22.12.2000]

Communication from the Commission: Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth [COM(2010)2020 - not published in the Official Journal]

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe. [COM(2011)571 final - not published in the Official Journal]

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Report on the Review of the European Water Scarcity and Droughts Policy. [COM(2012)672 - not published in the Official Journal]

Last updated: 09.12.2013