136
10 The Resilience of Transboundary Water Governance …
decades by the Water Framework Directive that placed water quality improvement
at the heart of water management all the way through 2027 (see Sect. 8.3.3).
It must also be underlined that the consistent ecological commitment of the EU
and its member states has resulted in some bright examples of freshwater quality
improvement celebrated worldwide (e.g. the return of the salmon to the Rhine
34 ).
These achievements justify the EU’s efforts in this field, even if progress in meeting
the ecological and water quality objectives of the WFD is seriously lagging behind
the statutory schedule in many parts of the bloc (COM 2015a).
10.2.3.1 EU Law
The quality-related and ecological obligations of the EU’s internal water regime
constitute a very high level of policy ambition and regulatory complexity not only in
global comparison, but also vis-à-vis other EU environmental legislation (Reichert
2016). As outlined in Part II, EU law defines a sophisticated set of chemical (and in the
case of surface waters: ecological) objectives under the notion of “good water status”
that are to be achieved through strict pollution prevention and control measures
broken down by pollution sources, activities, pollutants, etc. (see Sect. 8.3.3). The
Water Framework Directive also requires the protection of terrestrial ecosystems
closely linked to water in line with the EU’s internal nature conservation legislation
(Art. 4.1.c)). The regulatory approach of EU water law reflects a number of important
policy innovations vis-à-vis other contemporary international governance regimes.
These include:
– holistic view: the WFD covers all aspects of water quality and riverine ecology. It
goes beyond the traditional chemical pollution-focused regulatory model in so far
as it requires the integrated consideration and comprehensive improvement of the
biological, hydromorphological and physico-chemical conditions that determine
the quality of life in freshwaters (Annex V),
– uniform ecological classification of all freshwater bodies: the WFD contains
precise normative parameters for the ecological classification of rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters. To ensure that the values assigned by member states to
the various ecological class boundaries are consistent and comparable, a so-called
intercalibration exercise had been carried out by the European Commission before
the real implementation of the programmes of measures were to commence (COM
2003). This resulted in a largely comparable water quality snapshot for Europe that
helped member states to introduce homogenous (or at least similar) assessment
levels and protection measures. Ever since the initial characterisation the comparability of water quality and ecological data has been ensured by the uniform
monitoring standards of the WFD,
– integration into a broader environmental policy framework: EU water
law forms part of the Union’s broader environmental policy. Consequently,
34 https://www.iksr.org/en/international-cooperation/rhine-2020/salmon-2020/salmon-2000/
(accessed 12 February 2019).
10 The Resilience of Transboundary Water Governance …
decades by the Water Framework Directive that placed water quality improvement
at the heart of water management all the way through 2027 (see Sect. 8.3.3).
It must also be underlined that the consistent ecological commitment of the EU
and its member states has resulted in some bright examples of freshwater quality
improvement celebrated worldwide (e.g. the return of the salmon to the Rhine
34 ).
These achievements justify the EU’s efforts in this field, even if progress in meeting
the ecological and water quality objectives of the WFD is seriously lagging behind
the statutory schedule in many parts of the bloc (COM 2015a).
10.2.3.1 EU Law
The quality-related and ecological obligations of the EU’s internal water regime
constitute a very high level of policy ambition and regulatory complexity not only in
global comparison, but also vis-à-vis other EU environmental legislation (Reichert
2016). As outlined in Part II, EU law defines a sophisticated set of chemical (and in the
case of surface waters: ecological) objectives under the notion of “good water status”
that are to be achieved through strict pollution prevention and control measures
broken down by pollution sources, activities, pollutants, etc. (see Sect. 8.3.3). The
Water Framework Directive also requires the protection of terrestrial ecosystems
closely linked to water in line with the EU’s internal nature conservation legislation
(Art. 4.1.c)). The regulatory approach of EU water law reflects a number of important
policy innovations vis-à-vis other contemporary international governance regimes.
These include:
– holistic view: the WFD covers all aspects of water quality and riverine ecology. It
goes beyond the traditional chemical pollution-focused regulatory model in so far
as it requires the integrated consideration and comprehensive improvement of the
biological, hydromorphological and physico-chemical conditions that determine
the quality of life in freshwaters (Annex V),
– uniform ecological classification of all freshwater bodies: the WFD contains
precise normative parameters for the ecological classification of rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters. To ensure that the values assigned by member states to
the various ecological class boundaries are consistent and comparable, a so-called
intercalibration exercise had been carried out by the European Commission before
the real implementation of the programmes of measures were to commence (COM
2003). This resulted in a largely comparable water quality snapshot for Europe that
helped member states to introduce homogenous (or at least similar) assessment
levels and protection measures. Ever since the initial characterisation the comparability of water quality and ecological data has been ensured by the uniform
monitoring standards of the WFD,
– integration into a broader environmental policy framework: EU water
law forms part of the Union’s broader environmental policy. Consequently,
34 https://www.iksr.org/en/international-cooperation/rhine-2020/salmon-2020/salmon-2000/
(accessed 12 February 2019).