The EU Water Framework Directive: beyond the analysis of the partial success

In the run-up to its third management cycle, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is under review. Public consultation (part of the WFD fitness check) took place through March 2019. In early 2019, the European Commission launched its fifth WFD Implementation Report. These processes shed light on the partial success of the WFD’s implementation. Three issues stand out for the EEAC Network:

  1. a) Lack of adequate financing;
  2. b) Limited uptake of the WFD’s economic thinking;
  3. c) Lack of a paradigm shift to a systemic approach in water policies.

The EEAC Working Group on Fresh Water Affairs organized a round-table session in Brussels on 19 June 2019 to study possible solutions to these issues. A selection of national, subnational and European stakeholders joined the advisory bodies with a view to information-sharing and informed debate.

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