Tag Archive for: WFD

The EEA report on the state of water bodies in Europe has just been published : Pollution, over-use and climate change threaten water resilience in Europe

Member States must urgently accelerate the implementation of the Water Framework Directive to improve the state of our waters.

Bruxelles, Belgique, 15 october 202, press release from Living Rivers Europe

A new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) reveals that Europe’s water resources are under serious pressure, with no significant progress made since 2009*.

The report Europe’s state of water 2024: the need for improved water resilience underscores the urgent need for stricter implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), significant changes to agricultural production, pollution reduction, and urgent ecosystem restoration.

Its main findings include:

  • Less than 40% of surface waters, such as rivers and lakes, are currently healthy.
  • Nearly 25% of groundwater bodies are not in good chemical status, even though they provide almost two-thirds of our drinking water.
  • The chemical status of rivers, lakes, and coastal waters has further deteriorated, with less than 30% meeting the pollution standards set by the WFD.
  • Harmful agricultural practices, particularly the intensive use of nutrients and pesticides, continue to be the most significant pressure on water. Diffuse pollution pressures from agriculture affect 32% of groundwaters and 29% of surface waters.
  • Chemical pollution from coal-fired plants, along with alterations to rivers due to dam construction and straightening, also exerts considerable pressure on surface waters.

Claire Baffert, Senior EU Policy Officer, Water & Climate Change Adaptation at WWF European Policy Office, said: “The persistently lousy state of Europe’s waters shows that Member States are failing to address the water crisis, year after year. The Water Framework Directive has been in place for over two decades, but its goals remain largely unmet because national governments do not take its requirements seriously. Unfortunately, as reflected in the Draghi report*, there are strong calls to weaken the directive’s standards to facilitate harmful projects, when what we truly need is to prioritise the protection of our water resources.”

Sara Johansson, Senior Policy Officer for Water Pollution Prevention at EEB, said “The EEA data shows that less than 30% of surface waters are in good chemical status. While these stats are alarming, they’re not even giving the full picture as it’s only assessed against a limited and outdated list of pollutants. New quality standards for water must be adopted with urgency so that monitoring and planning of measures can be included in the next River Basin Management Plans.”

Mark Owen, Director of the European Anglers Alliance, said: “This report not only highlights the crisis that we face with the state of EU waters but also the significant cost that citizens will face by continued inaction by member states. The report showcases the way forward with the example in Estonia restoring 3,300 KM of rivers by removing dams and river restoration, increasing biodiversity with improvements to 32 species. Similar actions are now required across the EU.”

Irene Duque, Freshwater Policy Officer at Wetlands International Europe, said: “Thank you, EEA! We have heard the message loud and clear: our water resilience is at risk. The path forward to meet EU targets and improve the health of European waters is equally clear: wetland restoration over maladaptation. Building dams and relying on more grey infrastructure continues to prove counterproductive, often worsening the problems it aims to solve. Wetland restoration remains a low priority on the EU’s agenda, but for those concerned about devastating floods, droughts, the decline of freshwater fish, or access to water as a human right, this is truly a no-brainer.”

Andras Krolopp, Head of Biodiversity Policy at The Nature Conservancy Europe, said: “The state of Europe’s waters is a wake up call for urgent action. As the EEA report shows, this is not only a European issue, but a global crisis. Restoring at least 25,000 km of rivers to their free-flowing state is not just an environmental necessity: it’s a commitment to biodiversity and our future. Europe has a global commitment under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nature Restoration Law to achieve this goal. We need to accelerate the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and prioritise water and ecosystem protection across all policies. The time to act is now, and delay is not an option.”

Europeans are increasingly paying the price for their government’s inaction on the water crisis. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, 78% of Europeans want the EU to do more to address water pollution.

The Living Rivers Europe NGO coalition* urges Member States to accelerate the implementation of the WFD to improve Europe’s waters and integrate water and ecosystem protection across all policies.

Notes to editors:

*The deteriorating trend in the chemical status of surface waters and the overall lack of progress are partially linked to the fact that Member States are improving their monitoring practices, thereby identifying more pollutants than before.

*In its previous assessment from 2018, the EEA reported that “It can be expected that, by the time the third River Basin Management Plans are drafted (2019-2021), some of the several thousand individual measures undertaken in the first and second RBMPs should have had a positive effect in terms of achieving good status.” This has not been the case, showing that many Member States have failed to implement the planned measures.

*The Draghi report notes that the EU should consider other targeted updates to relevant EU Environmental legislation (i.e. the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, the Birds, Habitats, Water Framework and potentially the SEA Directive) for renewable energy installations and grids. It considers including limited (in time and perimeter) exemptions in EU environmental directives (e.g.  the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive) until climate neutrality is achieved. Exemption requirements need to be met under certain conditions (e g  installations do not endanger the population and mitigation measures).

*An illustration of insufficient WFD implementation can be found in the resurrection of infrastructure projects that damage biodiverse rivers, such as the Răstolița Hydropower Project in Romania, or the TURNU MĂGURELE –NIKOPOL hydraulic structure project on the Danube.

*Living Rivers Europe is a coalition of organisations advocating for the defence, maintenance and implementation of the WFD in its current form. The coalition includes the European Anglers Alliance, the European Environmental Bureau, the European Rivers Network, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International, and WWF, representing a movement of over 40 million European citizens. See the Living Rivers Europe’s handbook for the 2024-2029 mandate.

EU water law will NOT be changed, confirms European Commission

In a landmark day for Europe’s rivers, lakes and wetlands, the European Commission has announced, 22nd of June,  that the EU’s strong water legislation — the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) — will not be changed. We welcome this excellent news after more than two years of fitness check.

In a statement to POLITICO, the EU’s Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, confirmed the need to focus on supporting implementation and enforcement “without changing the directive”.The message from the Commission is clear: the WFD is an essential piece of EU environmental legislation and is here to stay in its current form.

The European Commission must now work with all stakeholders to speed up implementation and ensure that the WFD objectives are achieved by 2027 at the latest. Gaps in implementation, highlighted by the evaluation, will need to be addressed while putting in place the European “Green Deal”.

Below Press release from Living Rivers Europe coaltion 

In a landmark day for Europe’s rivers, lakes and wetlands, the European Commission has announced that the EU’s strong water legislation — the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) — will not be changed.

In a statement to POLITICO, the EU’s Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, confirmed the need to focus on supporting implementation and enforcement “without changing the directive”.The message from the Commission is clear: the WFD is an essential piece of EU environmental legislation and is here to stay in its current form.

The decision comes six months after the law was concluded to be “fit-for-purpose”, following a thorough two-year evaluation. Over the course of this process, more than 375,000 citizens demanded that the law be kept in its current form and better implemented by their governments.

The Commission’s decision is welcomed by WWF, EEB, the European Anglers Alliance, European Rivers Network and Wetlands International, who together form the Living Rivers Europe coalition and led the #ProtectWater campaign to safeguard the WFD.

The WFD is one of the EU’s most ambitious and holistic pieces of environmental legislation, setting the target of having 100% of the EU’s freshwater ecosystems in good health by 2027 at the very latest [1], up from just 40% currently [2]. The EU must meet this target in order to preserve its water resources and ensure Europe can adapt to climate change. But implementation from Member States has been weak and political will to make the law work in practice low. There has also been much pressure to weaken the legislation, including from industry lobby groups.

Ester Asin, Director of WWF’s European Policy Office, said:

“Good legislation is not something to be tampered with. The EU needs the Water Framework Directive to safeguard its water supply, halt and reverse biodiversity loss and tackle climate change. We congratulate the Commission for standing by the strong evidence, taking the views of EU citizens on board, and following up on the ambitions of the European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy. But with 2027 right around the corner, better implementation needs to start right now. We look forward to working with the Commission on ensuring the law works not just on paper but in practice to bring life back to our rivers at last.”

With this announcement, it is clear that there can be no further delays from Member States. The European Commission must now work with all relevant stakeholders to fast-track implementation and ensure that the WFD’s objectives are reached by 2027 at the very latest. Member States will need to pull out all the stops in the next cycle of River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs).

Since the launch of the fitness check, the WFD has received public support from hundreds of thousands of EU citizens and scientists. The critical role of the WFD in halting the decline in freshwater biodiversity was highlighted in a letter from close to 6,000 scientists, which was sent to the Commission at the end of last year. The WFD also has the public support of a group of businesses, who have urged the Commission and EU Member States to preserve this groundbreaking law in its current form.

Roberto Epple, President of ERN France, said :

“This is a great victory after two years of evaluation of the directive, a success of the #protectwater campaign led by the Living Rivers Europe coalition, of which ERN is a member, and supported by thousands of citizens and hundreds of NGOs. France made no mistake when it asked in March 2020 that the Directive should not be modified. Having taken this step, we must now focus on accelerating efforts to restore and protect our freshwater ecosystems. The current context, the covid19 crisis , repeated droughts, etc., but also the European green deal, the EU biodiversity strategy no longer leaves us with a choice, all the players, including industry, must respond now and be equal to the challenges to be met to make water protection a reality.”

Sergiy Moroz, Policy Manager for Water and Biodiversity at the EEB, said:

“The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the importance of healthy ecosystems as an insurance against pandemics, in addition to the countless other benefits that healthy, resilient water environments provide. By giving the EU’s groundbreaking water legislation the final sign-off, the European Commission and Member States can now get on with the job at hand: Bringing our rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers to ecological health by 2027 at the latest. The gaps in the implementation of this law that the two-year evaluation highlighted will need to be addressed while putting in place the European Green Deal.”

Steven Weiss, Associate Professor at the Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens University of Graz and signatory of the letter from scientists, said

“As one of nearly 6,000 scientists who signed a letter of support to the Water Framework Directive, I am delighted to see that the European Commission has taken on board the views of the scientific community. Freshwater species are currently the most vulnerable in Europe. Full implementation of the Water Framework Directive is vital in reversing this trend, and in protecting the diversity of life and processes that freshwater ecosystems support.”

ENDS

Contact:
Sophie Bauer
Communications Officer (Freshwater)
WWF European Policy Office
sbauer@wwf.eu 
+32 471 05 25 11

References:

[1] The original deadline for meeting this final objective was 2015, and was missed by a long shot. With 60% of EU waters still not healthy, the European Commission and Member States need to pull out all the stops to boost implementation and meet the final 2027 deadline.

[2] The latest data from the European Environment Agency shows that 60% of EU fresh waters are currently not healthy and fail to meet the WFD’s standards (EEA, European waters — Assessment of status and pressures 2018)

Notes to the editor:

European Commission stands strong in the face of pressure to weaken the EU’s water legislation:

  • Since the launch of the European Commission’s evaluation, the Water Framework Directive has been under significant pressure from business lobby groups, who have been pushing for a weakening of the legislation. Many of these groups represent sectors which exert huge pressure on freshwater ecosystems, including the hydropower industry and industrial agriculture.
  • In March this year, the lobby organisation BusinessEurope attempted to influence an exchange of views on the follow-up to the directive’s evaluation taking place at the Environment Council, calling for less stringent water protection requirements. A majority of Member States expressed their support for the fitness check conclusions on the Water Framework Directive ahead of/on the day of this meeting. Several – including France, Austria, Denmark and Greece – stated that the WFD needs to be maintained in its current form.

What we need now:

  • The European Commission must now work with Member States and all relevant stakeholders to fast-track implementation and ensure that the WFD’s objectives are reached by 2027 at the very latest. Concretely, we will be looking out for the following implementation gaps to be tackled:

On dam removal:

  • In the past, Member States’ River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) have missed the opportunity to improve river health by tackling hydromorphological pressures (changes to the physical shape and/or flow of a water body), including through dam removal. Dam removal has large economic benefits, in terms of job creation, and is cost-efficient when compared to the costs of maintaining obsolete dams, and increases resilience to extreme weather events.
  • Whilst the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy includes the concrete commitment to restore 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers (including through dam removal), it is neither clear from this nor from the Recovery Package how the Commission will financially support this target. Dedicated funding is needed to turn this commitment into a reality, and the Natural Capital and Circular Economy Initiative proposed under the Recovery Package could be an opportunity for this. Freeing up money for this initiative is a win-win, helping meet the Biodiversity Strategy’s targets and the objectives of the WFD.

On drought:

  • Drought management strategies need to be developed as part of Member States’ River Basin Management Plans and as a preventative response to climate change, rather than solely as an emergency response when droughts have already hit. Water management is not an isolated issue and must be tackled holistically, as required under the WFD.

On financing:

  • The European Commission’s WFD implementation report and fitness check conclusions highlighted lack of funding as a significant obstacle to the law’s implementation. If Member States were to fully implement cost recovery under the WFD, they would not be depriving themselves from a source of revenue. Moreover, they would ensure that the costs of implementing the measures were not solely borne by consumers, while at the same time incentivising good practices.

On hydropower:

  • The pressure of hydropower dams on Europe’s rivers is immense, with more than 20,000 existing plants and more than 8,000 additional ones on the cards. With the costs of solar and wind plummeting, the EU must invest in these renewable options rather than giving the green light to more hydropower plants, and invest in the refurbishment of existing hydropower plants.

Christmas comes early for rivers and nature: European Commission concludes EU water law is “fit for purpose”

Yesterday, 11 of Decembrer, European Commission release the fitness check results and they are largely positive, concluding the EU Water Framework Directive to be “fit for purpose”, acknowledging that the objectives of the law “are as relevant now as they were at the time of the adoption” and that the law has led to “a higher level of protection for water bodies and flood risk management”. The results also saying that any lack of progress is due to ‘insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation’.

The conclusions also reference that : ‘water policy is very important to European citizens. The public consultation received more than 370,000 responses in total, which is an exceptionally high number’. Congratulations to all citizens and NGOs participated through the #ProtectWater campaign making this happen. And of course Living Rivers Europe coalition will be closely monitoring next steps.

These results are a very important first step towards bringing our European freshwater bodies back to life and must revitalize Member States who are now finalising their River Basin Management Plans to achieve the WFD’s objectives during the 2022-2027 cycle. This is an unparalleled opportunity for them to triple and speed-up their efforts on water protection, but also challenge climate change, water scarcity and pollutants of emerging concern for whom the report says that the Water Framework Directive flexible enough to accommodate this emerging pressures.

More infos
>Read Living Rivers Europe press release below
> More info about the campaign and Living Rivers Europe
> press release from ‘European Commission”

Media release

The European Commission’s final evaluation of EU water legislation has concluded the EU Water Framework Directive to be “fit for purpose”, acknowledging that the objectives of the law “are as relevant now as they were at the time of the adoption” and that the law has led to “a higher level of protection for water bodies and flood risk management”.

This concludes the two-year evaluation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and, by discarding the possibility of revision, sets the EU back on course to bring life back to its rivers through full implementation and enforcement of the law.

The message from the European Commission is clear: the WFD is a critical pillar of the EU’s environmental legislation and is here to stay in its current form. The fitness-check results highlight that the delay in reaching the WFD’s objectives is “largely due to insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation.”

The conclusions come hot on the heels of the European Environment Agency’s State of the Environment Report 2020, which highlighted the WFD as being essential to halting and reversing biodiversity loss. The conclusions are strongly supported by WWF, EEB, Wetlands International, the European Rivers Network and European Anglers Alliance – who together form the Living Rivers Europe coalition and led the #ProtectWater campaign to safeguard the WFD. 

Andreas Baumüller, Head of Natural Resources at  WWF’s European Policy Office and Chair of the Living Rivers Europe coalition, said

“By signing off the Water Framework Directive as fit for purpose, the European Commission is standing shoulder to shoulder with the hundreds of thousands of European citizens, scientists and civil society groups who have all championed the WFD over the past two years. 

We congratulate President Von der Leyen on sealing the deal before the end of the year. As the results point out, slow implementation is to blame for not having yet reached the WFD’s objectives. As expressed yesterday upon the publication of the European Green Deal, the Commission now needs to put its money where its mouth is. It must ensure that Member States submit ambitious plans and concrete actions to achieve the law’s objectives by 2027, and that this is supported by dedicated funding.”

Mark Owen, Freshwater Policy Advisor to the European Anglers Alliance and Living Rivers Europe partner, said
 
“For 20 years we have been battling Member States to properly implement the Water Framework Directive as the most sustainable way of restoring fish stocks for the millions of anglers who take part in recreational fishing, the thousands of jobs that depend on angling together with the rural economies that directly benefit from angling tourism. Now that the fitness check has determined that the WFD is not only fit for purpose but that failure is due to lack of implementation by Member States, we would expect urgent action to conform with the present legal requirements to deliver for fish and fishing.”

Support for the WFD stretches far and wide 

Just last week, an open letter from 5,500+ scientists was sent to Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Sinkevičius, calling on them to “save and implement the Water Framework Directive” in order to halt and reverse the catastrophic decline in freshwater biodiversity. Earlier this year, 375,386 citizens took a stand for the WFD through the #ProtectWater campaign, which facilitated citizens’ participation in the European Commission’s public consultation on the WFD (the only opportunity for the general public to have its say during the fitness-check) to express their clear opposition to changing the legislation. This made the public consultation on the WFD the third largest in the history of the EU. It went on to be supported by more than 130 civil society organisations, including national partners and offices of Greenpeace, BirdLife and Friends of the Earth, as well as unions. 

A well enforced WFD must be at the heart of the European Green Deal

The gifts people and nature receive from healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands are key to delivering the four main pillars of the European Green Deal. From supporting climate adaptation to protecting biodiversity, fuelling sustainable food systems to thriving economies, a strong WFD forms the necessary baseline to secure all the benefits healthy freshwater ecosystems provide. 

Next steps

Looking ahead, it is now important to pull all efforts towards reaching the objectives of the WFD by 2027. 

There is a long way to go. 60% of EU surface waters are not healthy, failing to meet the WFD’s standards. Last week’s State of the Environment Report 2020 showed that, out of the four freshwater indicators analysed by the EEA, only one has shown progress over the last 10-15 years. For all indicators, the outlook to 2030 is “a mixed picture”. 

However, Member States are now finalising their plans to achieve the WFD’s objectives during the 2022-2027 cycle (known as River Basin Management Plans). This is an unparalleled opportunity for them to triple and speed-up their efforts on water protection. The European Commission needs to embark all actors together in an ambitious vision for healthy and clean waters in Europe, one which requires political will, enforcement of the legislation, and investments.

 

Contact:

Sophie Bauer
Communications Officer (Freshwater)
WWF European Policy Office
sbauer@wwf.eu 
+32 471 05 25 11

Claire Baffert
Senior Water Policy Officer
WWF European Policy Office
cbaffert@wwf.eu 
+32 49273 1092

European Commission publish today his latest report on WFD implementation

25 februar 2019
EU Commission’s latest report on its implementation, published today, paints a bleak picture. Despite the EU’s strong water legislation, Europe’s rivers are suffering.
Although some progress has been made, Member States are not on track to bring Europe’s rivers, lakes, wetlands, streams, groundwater, transitional and coastal waters to good health by 2027.
The report provides yet more evidence that Member States are seriously undermining their legal commitments and, in doing so, threatening the availability of water for nature and for people.
You can access the European Commission’s reports here, but not all are available yet. For now there are links only to the short report from the Commission.
=> You can also read the pressereleases by major NGOs : WWF EPO’s    Wetlands International    EEB