Fewer than half of the EU’s water bodies are in good condition, even if the deadline set by European legislation to achieve this was 2015, according to the ‘fitness check’ of the water directives, published on Thursday 12 December by the European Commission.
This mixed record shows that EU legislation is adequate to achieve the objectives pursued and more relevant than ever: tackling water pollution, reducing the loss of freshwater biodiversity and increasing resilience to the effects...