The Institute for European Environment Policy (IEEP) report – "water policy fitness check

Citation

(2012), "The Institute for European Environment Policy (IEEP) report – "water policy fitness check", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 23 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2012.08323baa.003

The Institute for European Environment Policy (IEEP) report – "water policy fitness check"

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 23, Issue 2.

The future of Europe's water is under the spotlight leading up to the expected agreement on a new comprehensive Blueprint in 2012. As part of the preparation for this, the European Commission is undertaking a Fitness Check to assess the effectiveness of existing laws and identify possible gaps or inconsistencies that need to be dealt with. The first phase of this assessment has just been completed with the help of the consultancy Deloitte and the IEEP. The report suggests that the policy laid out in the water framework directive is robust and largely coherent with other EU environmental laws. However, implementation remains challenging and makes the achievement of the 2015 targets uncertain. The EU needs to step up action on policy integration, particularly with regard to using water in agriculture and buildings more efficiently. Member states have made only sluggish progress with introducing economic instruments such as water pricing, while the principle of cost recovery remains controversial.