Water Framework Directive

The end of June finally saw the end of the deadlock between the European Parliament and Council on the terms of the proposed Water Framework Directive after intense negotiation under the conciliation procedure. The 30 member Conciliation Committee (15 members from the European Parliament and 15 from the Council) finally reached agreement, which, subject to being confirmed by the Council and the European Parliament under qualified and absolute majority voting respectively, will mean the Directive is adopted shortly. Unfortunately, until such time, the final agreement will not be published.

The Directive has been under development for over 5 years. Growing pressure for a re-think of Community policy on water resources and management came to a head in 1995 when the Commission accepted requests from the European Parliament's Environment Committee and from the Council of Environment Ministers. A Communication was formally addressed to the Council and the Parliament and a 2-day water conference was hosted in May 1996. Attended by over 250 delegates, there was widespread consensus that existing water policy was too fragmented and that there was a need for a single framework Directive to resolve this. Discussions have continued since then, intensifying in recent months with the focus being on the environmental objectives of the Directive, strategies for pollution prevention and the principle of a daughter directive for the prevention of groundwater pollution.

The ultimate goal of the Directive is the sustainable use of water resources within the European Union. To achieve this, it was decided that better co-ordination between the Member States was required and that an integrated and consistent approach to improving and maintaining water resources should be established. The Directive therefore provides an EU-wide framework for the protection of inland surface water and groundwater. It is based on a river basin approach. Integrated and coherent programmes and measures to achieve high quality surface and groundwater in river basins within 15 years of the adoption of the Directive must be established. River Basin Management Plans must be drawn up which are to cover a 6-year implementation period, aimed at achieving the objectives of the Directive. It is not clear at this stage without having seen the final agreement whether this year's target will be legally binding or merely an overall aim. There was considerable dispute between the European Parliament and the Council in this regard.

Public participation in consultation processes and the dissemination of information is seen as crucial to the integration of Community water policy. The information on the state of the aquatic environment in each river basin that will need to be gathered to formulate the River Basin Management Plans is to be made freely available to the public. The public must also be consulted on the final Plans. The reason for the transparency of the measures used to achieve the Directive's objectives is so that Member States take greater care in implementing the legislation and achieving compliance.

There already exists many pieces of water legislation and the Directive recognises this overlap. Some pieces of legislation will have to be amended or repealed, otherwise existing and applicable legislation must be used first to achieve river basin quality objectives. Examples of such legislation include the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regime, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and the Directive on Nitrates. Where existing laws solve quality problems, the objectives of the Framework Directive are achieved. Where they do not, Member States must formulate the necessary additional measures to ensure compliance.

Environmental quality standards for pollutants must be respected within each river basin and the discharges of some pollutants will be identified for cessation or phase-out within 20 years of the adoption of the Directive.

Several fundamental concepts common to environment legislation can be found in the Directive. An integrated approach is one, as already discussed. The "polluter pays" principle can also be found in the Directive, where there are provisions relating to the recovery of the costs for the provision of water services. Member States will be required to ensure that water pricing policies adequately reflect environmental and resource costs, such as abstraction and treatment of waste water. Water pricing is already common to many Member States but has no current position in some and derogations will be allowed to ensure basic services can be offered at an affordable price.

Until the final text of the Directive is published, some of the detailed measures await clarification, however it is at least certain at this stage that progress is being made. In the face of demands from individuals and environmental organisations for the right to sustainable water resources, the Commission has acted appropriately and prioritised water protection. It will be interesting to see the compromises that have been made by the Council and Parliament to reach agreement on the proposed Directive and which party conceded the most ground.

For further information, please contact Verity Shepley at [email protected] or on +44 (0)20 7367 3182.