8.3 The Water Law and Policy of the European Union
99
quality of the aquatic environment along EU-wide coordinated methodologies (Art.
8., Annex V.).
The planning and implementation framework of the WFD is the river basin.
Member states are obliged to identify river basins in their territory and assign them
to river basin districts (formal administrative management units comprising one or
more basins). If a river basin is shared by more than one member state, it has to be
assigned to an international river basin district (Art. 3.).
The environmental objectives of the WFD have to be achieved through a complex planning and regulatory process that, in the case of international river basin
districts, requires the active cooperation of member states (Art. 3., 13.). The main
administrative tools of member state action are the river basin management plans
and the programmes of measures to be drawn up for each river basin district (or the
national segment of an international river basin district). The WFD lays down strict
deadlines for the preparation of the management plans and for compliance with the
environmental objectives. As a general rule, all water bodies in the EU had to reach
good status by the end of 2015. If, objectively, that was not possible and was clearly
justified under any of the several statutory exemptions specified under the Directive
(Art. 4.4.–4.7.), good water status will have to be ensured by the end of the following
planning cycle of 2021, or ultimately, by the final compliance deadline specified by
the WFD, that is 2027. It must be underlined that these deadlines are not merely
“management-planning objectives”, but as the European Court of Justice underlined
in a landmark judgement in 2015, legally binding obligations for which member
states hold full responsibility under EU law.
46
The WFD, as its name suggests, provides only a framework for water policy.
There exists a range of additional EU legal acts addressing various specific waterrelated issues. The first group of such measures is concerned with various sources
of pollution or the chemical status of water. The most important such legislation
is the urban waste water directive,
47 the single most costly piece of environmental
legislation ever to be implemented in EU history. It obliges EU member states to
collect and subject to appropriate (i.e. at least biological) treatment all urban waste
waters above 2000 population equivalent and the waste water of certain industrial
sectors. Another important source of nutrient input: nitrates pollution from agricultural sources is regulated by the so-called nitrates directive.
48 It aims to prevent the
pollution of groundwater and surface waters from agricultural sources through the
promotion of good farming practices. Discharges into surface waters of the most
prominent hazardous substances are governed by the environmental quality standards directive (or priority substances directive)
49 that sets limit values for 33 priority
46 C-461/13, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. v. Federal Republic of Germany,
ECLI:EU:C:2015:433.
47 Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment.
48 Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against
pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.
49 Directive 2008/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on
environmental quality standards in the field of water policy.
99
quality of the aquatic environment along EU-wide coordinated methodologies (Art.
8., Annex V.).
The planning and implementation framework of the WFD is the river basin.
Member states are obliged to identify river basins in their territory and assign them
to river basin districts (formal administrative management units comprising one or
more basins). If a river basin is shared by more than one member state, it has to be
assigned to an international river basin district (Art. 3.).
The environmental objectives of the WFD have to be achieved through a complex planning and regulatory process that, in the case of international river basin
districts, requires the active cooperation of member states (Art. 3., 13.). The main
administrative tools of member state action are the river basin management plans
and the programmes of measures to be drawn up for each river basin district (or the
national segment of an international river basin district). The WFD lays down strict
deadlines for the preparation of the management plans and for compliance with the
environmental objectives. As a general rule, all water bodies in the EU had to reach
good status by the end of 2015. If, objectively, that was not possible and was clearly
justified under any of the several statutory exemptions specified under the Directive
(Art. 4.4.–4.7.), good water status will have to be ensured by the end of the following
planning cycle of 2021, or ultimately, by the final compliance deadline specified by
the WFD, that is 2027. It must be underlined that these deadlines are not merely
“management-planning objectives”, but as the European Court of Justice underlined
in a landmark judgement in 2015, legally binding obligations for which member
states hold full responsibility under EU law.
46
The WFD, as its name suggests, provides only a framework for water policy.
There exists a range of additional EU legal acts addressing various specific waterrelated issues. The first group of such measures is concerned with various sources
of pollution or the chemical status of water. The most important such legislation
is the urban waste water directive,
47 the single most costly piece of environmental
legislation ever to be implemented in EU history. It obliges EU member states to
collect and subject to appropriate (i.e. at least biological) treatment all urban waste
waters above 2000 population equivalent and the waste water of certain industrial
sectors. Another important source of nutrient input: nitrates pollution from agricultural sources is regulated by the so-called nitrates directive.
48 It aims to prevent the
pollution of groundwater and surface waters from agricultural sources through the
promotion of good farming practices. Discharges into surface waters of the most
prominent hazardous substances are governed by the environmental quality standards directive (or priority substances directive)
49 that sets limit values for 33 priority
46 C-461/13, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. v. Federal Republic of Germany,
ECLI:EU:C:2015:433.
47 Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment.
48 Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against
pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.
49 Directive 2008/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on
environmental quality standards in the field of water policy.