Europe - UNEP

The Europabrücke, or Europe’s bridge, above the Sill River (Danube basin) in the Wipp valley just south of Innsbruck, Austria. Photo credit:
Richard Hilber, via Wikimedia Commons.
3.2.1.1 The Water Framework
Directive (WFD)
Early EU policy adopted a sectoral approach,
mainly focusing on setting water quality
objectives for particular water uses, or limiting the
discharge of certain pollutants. While
considerable cooperation throughout the EU
member countries occurred, the piecemeal
approach to adopting water legislation meant
that by 1996, EU water law and policy suffered
from a lack of coherence and coordination.
Therefore, in 1996 the EU Commission called for
the adoption of a framework directive designed
to more efficiently and effectively implement EU
water law and policy. This led to a directive
establishing a framework for community action in
the field of water policy: the Water Framework
Directive (EU WFD) in 2000 (Chave, 2001).
Marking an important shift from the piecemeal
approach that existed in the 1970s, the main
objective of the EU WFD is to ensure the longterm
sustainable use of all EU waters.
Furthermore, the EU WFD attempts to provide
both the criteria for determining what constitutes
sustainable use, and the mechanisms for
determining how the principle can be
implemented.
According to preliminary assessments in
2005, a large part of Europe’s water bodies are
at risk of failing to meet the ambitious
environmental objectives of good ecological
status by 2015 (EU, 2005). The EU Commission
has already launched infringement proceedings
against a number of member countries. However,
most member countries have transposed the EU
WFD into their national law, designated river
basin districts, and employed competent
authorities (WFD, 2004). In addition to the EU
WFD, the EU has been active in developing law
and policy on a number of water-related issues.
For instance, a new directive on the protection of
32 — Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: Europe