scholarly journals An integrated approach to water protection and management: the European Union model

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Adshead
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Basin Management ◽  
Member States ◽  
Modern Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Integrated River Basin Management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive. It seeks first to determine whether its provisions align with modern thinking on integrated river basin management and second to assess the degree to which it has the potential to achieve legislative and inter‐agency integration throughout the Union.Design/methodology/approachThis is a desktop study. The paper draws upon theories and definitions of integrated river basin management and internal integration in existing literature and then proceeds to examine the provisions of the Water Framework Directive in the light of the models identified.FindingsThe framework for river basin management in the Water Framework Directive does not fully match the modern approach to integrated river basin management. The directive is limited by its primary focus upon the single medium of water, and its consequent failure to fully address wider land use planning issues. It, therefore, also fails to achieve integration between all relevant legislative instruments. It provides a framework for stakeholder involvement that could potentially serve the goal of inter‐agency integration. However, due to the high level of discretion in the hands of member states, there is likely to be a substantial divergence of practice across the EU.Originality/valueIn assessing the Water Framework Directive against modern notions of river basin management and the directive's stated integrative aspirations, the paper informs implementation and practice in member states.

EU policy on nutrients emissions: legislation and implementation

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Blöch
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Waste Water Treatment ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Basin Management ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Water Legislation ◽  
Emission Limit

After 25 years of EU water legislation the European Union has just thoroughly restructured its water policy. The European Parliament and the Council, following a tough conciliation procedure between the two legislators, have in summer 2000 agreed a proposal by the European Commission for a Water Framework Directive. This legislation will have the following main objectives:integrated river basin management across borders, with coordinated programmes of measuresprotection of all waters, surface waters and groundwater, in quality and quantity with a proper ecological dimensionemissions and discharges controlled by a “combined approach” of emission limit values and quality standards, plus the phasing out of particularly hazardous substancesintroducing water pricing policiesstrengthening public participation This new Water Framework Directive adopted in September 2000 will complement existing EU water legislation on nutrients reduction - the 1991 Directive on nitrates pollution from agricultural sources and the 1991 Directive on urban waste water treatment. These Directives will remain main pillars of EU water policy whilst at the same time being integrated into the river basin management in a coherent way.

Measures and costs of integrated river basin management - the Wupper example

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kolisch ◽  
J. Londong ◽  
J. Renner
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Cost Estimate ◽  
Basin Management ◽  
European Water ◽  
Integrated River Basin Management ◽  
Additional Costs ◽  
Time Required

The implementation of the European Water Framework Directive entails additional costs in the areas of management, monitoring and water quality. As a first estimate, an attempt is made to assess the effects of implementation on the development of costs in a sub-basin, taking the Wupperverband as an example. The work and measures required are presented and the costs are assessed. On this basis, a cost estimate for the maximum time required for the implementation of the WFD is made. This takes into account all the relevant tasks in the area of the association with respect to rivers.

scholarly journals Transforming European Water Governance? Participation and River Basin Management under the EU Water Framework Directive in 13 Member States

Water ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Jager ◽  
Edward Challies ◽  
Elisa Kochskämper ◽  
Jens Newig ◽  
David Benson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Basin Management ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Water ◽  
The Eu

Setting the threshold: An analysis of different approaches for the definition of exemptions to water quality objectives in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Bolinches ◽  
Lucia De Stefano ◽  
Javier Paredes-Arquiola ◽  
Carlotta Valerio ◽  
Alberto Garrido
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
European Union ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Member States ◽  
Environmental Objectives

<p>Continental water ecosystems and human water uses may be jeopardized by degradation of water quality.  To prevent this degradation, the maximum concentration of pollutants for freshwater bodies may need to be set in the legislation. In some cases, the actions needed to achieve those environmental objectives may be technically challenging or financially overburdening. In the case of the European Union (EU), the Water Framework Directive (WFD, Article 4) requires the achievement of the good status of water bodies but allows for the declaration of exemptions due to lack of technical feasibility or disproportionate costs. Twenty years after the WFD approval, the conditions to declare exemptions remain unclear and in practice their declaration  is highly discretional.</p><p>The extant scientific literature suggests several methods to formulate the justification of exemptions. Although the methodologies are diverse, they all require to select a threshold (e.g. in terms of cost disproportionality) above which a relaxation of the environmental objectives may be accepted. This threshold should be uniform across the EU River Basin Districts in order to guarantee a fair distribution of efforts across Member States. To date, however, there are very few studies that compare the application of exemptions in different regions to assess the uniformity of approaches to the declaration of exceptions.</p><p>When defining actions to achieve the good status of water bodies, the quantification of the different pressures, their interactions and the effects on receiving water bodies can be challenging. In the case of physico-chemical pollutants, however, it can be easier to define policy actions as pressures can be quantified (point loads of wastewater treatment plants, diffuse loads emanated by different land uses) and the evolution in receiving waters can be modelled.</p><p>In our research, we analyzed over one thousand water bodies in the River Basin Districts of five different Member States of the European Union (Estonia, a transboundary Ireland-United Kingdom basin, Italy, Spain and Portugal), using the available databases on Digital Elevation Models (Copernicus EU-DEM), land use (CORINE land cover), urban pressures (European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive dissemination platform and reported data), runoff and gauged flows (Water Information System for Europe, national gauging networks) and WFD exemption databases. Each water body was characterized according to the level of nitrogen and phosphorus pressures deriving from point and diffuse loads, and the declaration of exemptions to the environmental objectives for those nutrients. The exemption threshold is assessed for each River Basin District, allowing for a critical review of the different water policies in this significant aspect of the Water Framework Directive implementation.</p>

Practice of the member states of the European Union in the field of anti-corruption regulation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmytro S. Melnyk ◽  
Oleg A. Parfylo ◽  
Oleksii V. Butenko ◽  
Olena V. Tykhonova ◽  
Volodymyr O. Zarosylo
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
The Eu

Purpose The experience of most European Union (EU) Member States has demonstrated effective anti-corruption practices, making the EU one of the leaders in this field, which can be used as an example to learn from in the field of anti-corruption. The purpose of this study is to analyze and identify the main features of anti-corruption legislation and strategies to prevent corruption at the national and supranational levels of the EU. Design/methodology/approach The following methods were used in the work: discourse and content analysis, method of system analysis, method of induction and deduction, historical-legal method, formal-legal method, comparative-legal method and others. Using the historical and legal method, the evolution of the formation of anti-corruption regulation at the supranational level was revealed. The comparative law method helped to compare the practices of the Member States of the EU in the field of anti-corruption regulation. The formal-legal method is used for generalization, classification and systematization of research results, as well as for the correct presentation of these results. Findings The main results, prospects for further research and the value of the material. The paper offers a critical review of key EU legal instruments on corruption, from the first initiatives taken in the mid-1990s to recent years. Originality/value In addition, the article analyzes the relevant anti-corruption legislation in the EU member states that are in the top 10 countries with the lowest level of corruption, namely: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.

Room for the River: delivering integrated river basin management in the Netherlands

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen Rijke ◽  
Sebastiaan van Herk ◽  
Chris Zevenbergen ◽  
Richard Ashley
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Basin Management ◽  
Integrated River Basin Management
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