Brussels, 15/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - There is either too much water or too little of it and its quality often leaves a lot to be desired. The programme to safeguard Europe's water resources (“Blueprint to safeguard Water Resources”) adopted on Wednesday 14 November by the European Commission, is a long-term strategy to ensure the availability of quality water in a sufficient quantity in the EU. This strategy is accompanied by a comprehensive action plan to ensure all inland water in the EU attains quality status by 2015, a target set out in the draft directive on water but which it is obvious will not be achieved without additional measures being taken. If the policy does not change, only half of all inland European water will have an ecological status that meets requirements set out in this legislation. The EU should therefore step up efforts to resolve problems relating to water contamination, water capture for agriculture and electricity production, soil use, as well as the effects of climate change.
On Thursday 15 November, Janez Potocnik the European Commissioner for the environment presented this initiative to the press and explained that European water is not in a good state and we need to step up our efforts. The blue print intends to reorientate these efforts to ensure the needs of the people are met, as well as that of the economy and the environment. The plan contains many concrete proposals for better integration of water in appropriate sectoral policies and to complete implementation of the legislative framework. He said that we need a new impetus and we need to do more and do it better. In this connection, he highlighted the essential role played by agriculture in the integration of these objectives and said that CAP reform, currently being negotiated, would prove decisive. In the context of the new initiatives on this level, he highlighted water efficiency in buildings and water recycling.
Far from proposing a one size fits all solution, the blue print proposes a comprehensive tool kit of instruments for member states to improve water management at national, regional and river basin levels. The Commissioner explained that “what is needed is a sustainable balance between water demand and supply, taking into account the needs of both people and the natural ecosystems they depend on”. He also said that they wanted to take action at a European level where they had added value.
The action plan is therefore based around three objectives: (1) improving implementation of current EU water policy by making full use of the opportunities provided by the current laws. For example, increasing the take-up of natural water retention measures such as the restoration of wetlands and floodplains or improving implementation of the “polluter pays” principle through metering, water-pricing and better economic analysis. The Commissioner indicated that in the pricing field, the action plan proposes a common methodology for calculating cost recovery; (2) promoting the integration of water policy objectives in agriculture, fisheries, renewable energies and transport, as well as cohesion funds, structural funds and EIB loans; (3) in dealing with the shortcomings in the framework legislation, which does not include an instrument for sound water management. To this end, the Water Blueprint envisages water accounts and water efficiency targets to be set by member states and the development of EU standards for water re-use.
The Commission explains that preserving water is not only about environmental protection. It is also about health and well-being, which in its turn has repercussions on economic growth and prosperity. It is a way of ensuring that the EU water industry fully develops its growth potential and that all the economic sectors that depend on availability of water of a certain quality can prosper thereby creating growth and job opportunities through novel solutions.
The Water Blueprint time horizon is closely related to the EU's 2020 Strategy and, in particular, to the 2011 Resource Efficiency Roadmap. However, the analysis underpinning the Blueprint covers a longer time span, up to 2050, and is expected to drive EU water policy over the long term. But despite improvements, the rivers, lakes and humid zones in Europe have to confront pollution, surplus demand and deterioration in the quality of water resources. The problem of water quantity is also causing as much concern, given that there are an increasing number of countries suffering from water shortages, while others are experiencing freak weather conditions on a more frequent scale, such as floods. The WWF sees this blueprint as an important and crucial step to help implement the water framework directive effectively. It welcomes this initiative as a robust way of providing a boost to member states at a time when their efforts to improve the purity and quality of their water have declined, and is keen to point out that most of the actions advocated by the Commission will not be possible without the support of member states. (AN/transl.fl)