Environment

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Water Framework Directive

Summary
Evaluation
Commission Proposal
Legal Act
Implementation

Overall State of Play

Fitness check: finalised SWD (2019) 439 on 10/12/2019
Commission proposal: adopted by the Commission on 26/10/2022, COM(2022)540

State of play, main conclusions, outlook

The Commission carried out a fitness check to evaluate the Water Framework Directive and also two linked Directives (the so-called "daughter-directives"): the Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC) and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (2008/105/EC). Moreover, the fitness check included the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC), which has been the catalyst for introducing a risk management approach in the dealings of Member States with significant floods across the EU.

The Fitness Check of EU Water Law (SWD (2019) 439¹) concluded that the directives are broadly fit for purpose but with some room for improvement. This relates in particular to: (1) Ensuring increased investment in water management and nature restoration; (2) Better implementing the existing rules; (3) Better integrating water objectives into other EU policies; (4) Improving measures against chemical pollution; and (5) Enhancing administrative simplification and digitalisation.

In 2022, the Commission put forward a proposal to address the Fitness Check findings in relation to chemical pollution and the obligation to review regularly priority substances and groundwater pollutants.

When exploring the options to address the problem, the Commission considered a number of possible measures aimed at simplification and burden reduction:

• The removal of substances from the list of surface water pollutants constitutes a limited reduction of burden, as does changing the revision of the watchlist to every three years rather than two, and the revision of the lists of surface water and groundwater pollutants through delegated acts rather than through co-decision.

• The creation of an automatic data delivery mechanism under the Water Framework Directive and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive will reduce reporting burden on the Member States, as will the abolition of the interim report on the programme of measures under Article 15(3) of the Water Framework Directive.

• Improving the existing guidelines for Effect-Based Methods and developing a harmonised methodology for monitoring microplastics will simplify Member States’ work in these areas.

¹ https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/swd_2019_0440_en.pdf

State of Play:

Fitness check finalised: SWD (2019) 439 on 10/12/2019

Scope:

The evaluation included not only the Water Framework Directive, but also covered its "daughter-directives": the Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC), the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (2008/105/EC), as well as the Floods Directive. (2007/60/EC).

Evaluation findings:

Since 2000, the Water Framework Directive has been the main legal instrument for water protection in Europe. In 2019, the European Commission concluded a ‘fitness check’ evaluation, which looked at the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value of the water legislation.

The Fitness Check of EU Water Law (SWD (2019) 439 final²) concluded that the directives are broadly fit for purpose but with some room for improvement. This relates in particular to: (1) Ensuring increased investment in water management and nature restoration; (2) Better implementing the existing rules; (3) Better integrating water objectives into other EU policies; (4) Improving measures against chemical pollution; and (5) Enhancing administrative simplification and digitalisation.

Estimated savings and benefits

Benefits reported in the Water Legislation Fitness Check

For the Water Framework Directive, studies on the value of ecosystem services and the restoration of rivers indicate that: (i) the benefits of measures to improve the status of water bodies outweigh the costs; and (ii) citizens’ willingness to pay exceeds the current expenditure on water measures. The costs businesses avoid through having water of good quality and in good quantity are also significant. Furthermore, available evidence shows that although restoration measures to address legacy pollution can be costly, the benefits still clearly outweigh the costs.

The fitness check revealed that insufficient use is being made of the principle of cost recovery, while exemptions based on disproportionate costs are not always adequately justified. Finally, for the Floods Directive, studies show that the cost/benefit ratio of flood protection measures is positive.

In the public consultation, a large majority of respondents indicated that they find the costs involved in implementing the relevant legislation to be justified given the benefits that will be achieved in the long term.

Research has shown that when local communities and business become aware of the specific benefits from good water conditions (e.g. recreation and health, water security), they are more likely to embed in their own agenda actions that support the Water Framework Directive objectives.

² https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/swd_2019_0440_en.pdf

State of Play

Adopted: COM(2022)540; adopted by the Commission on 26/10/2022

Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

The ultimate aim of the initiative is to set new standards for a series of chemical substances of concern to address chemical pollution in water, to facilitate enforcement based on a simplified and more coherent legal framework, to ensure dynamic and up-to-date information on water status, facilitated by the European Environment Agency (‘EEA’), and create a more flexible framework for addressing pollutants of emerging concern.

The specific objectives of this initiative are to:

• update the lists of pollutants affecting surface and groundwater by adding and removing substances and updating existing quality standards;

• improve the monitoring of chemical mixtures to better assess combination effects and take account of seasonal variations in pollutant concentrations;

• harmonise, wherever relevant, how pollutants in surface and groundwater are addressed across the EU;

• ensure that the legal framework can be more swiftly aligned with scientific findings to more promptly respond to contaminants of emerging concern;

• improve the access to, transparency and re-use of data, to enhance compliance, reduce administrative burden and improve coherence with the wider EU legal framework dealing with chemicals.

Estimated savings and benefits

It should be noted that precise identification and quantification of impacts is generally not possible due to the fact that impact will depend on measures that Member States take to achieve the objectives of the legislation.