Chapter 2
European Drought and Water Scarcity
Policies
Ulf Stein, Gül Özerol, Jenny Tröltzsch, Ruta Landgrebe,
Anna Szendrenyi and Rodrigo Vidaurre
2.1 Introduction: Drought Events and the Importance
of Policy Responses on the European Level
Over the last decade, Europe’s drought management and policy has been characterized by a predominantly crisis-oriented approach. However, the widening gap
between the impacts of drought episodes and the ability to prepare, manage and
mitigate such droughts has motivated the European Union (EU) to make significant
improvements that address drought management using a preventative approach
(Kampragou et al. 2011). Not surprisingly, disaster response and recovery policy,
disaster prevention, and mitigation and preparedness approaches have become
increasingly more widespread.
That said, in order to tackle drought risk and its impacts, an integrated approach to
water governance is needed, one that considers multiple dimensions of water management (Bressers et al. 2013). Such an increased demand for more sustainable and
proactive policies must stem from all sectors, including agriculture, urban development, energy, nature conservation, and recreation. To create a drought-resilient society,
equipped with the appropriate tools and abilities to respond and cope with the impacts
of extreme events such as droughts, requires development of long-term strategies and
processes to address and reduce the risks of drought (Kampragou et al. 2011).
This chapter focuses on the main EU policies related to drought and water scarcity
and highlights recent policy developments in all relevant sectors. Additionally, it
provides an overview of those European policies that impact drought and
U. Stein (&) Á J. Tröltzsch Á R. Landgrebe Á A. Szendrenyi Á R. Vidaurre
Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: ulf.stein@ecologic.eu
G. Özerol
CSTM - Department of Technology and Governance for Sustainability, University of Twente,
217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
e-mail: g.ozerol@utwente.nl
© The Author(s) 2016
H. Bressers et al. (eds.), Governance for Drought Resilience,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29671-5_2
17
European Drought and Water Scarcity
Policies
Ulf Stein, Gül Özerol, Jenny Tröltzsch, Ruta Landgrebe,
Anna Szendrenyi and Rodrigo Vidaurre
2.1 Introduction: Drought Events and the Importance
of Policy Responses on the European Level
Over the last decade, Europe’s drought management and policy has been characterized by a predominantly crisis-oriented approach. However, the widening gap
between the impacts of drought episodes and the ability to prepare, manage and
mitigate such droughts has motivated the European Union (EU) to make significant
improvements that address drought management using a preventative approach
(Kampragou et al. 2011). Not surprisingly, disaster response and recovery policy,
disaster prevention, and mitigation and preparedness approaches have become
increasingly more widespread.
That said, in order to tackle drought risk and its impacts, an integrated approach to
water governance is needed, one that considers multiple dimensions of water management (Bressers et al. 2013). Such an increased demand for more sustainable and
proactive policies must stem from all sectors, including agriculture, urban development, energy, nature conservation, and recreation. To create a drought-resilient society,
equipped with the appropriate tools and abilities to respond and cope with the impacts
of extreme events such as droughts, requires development of long-term strategies and
processes to address and reduce the risks of drought (Kampragou et al. 2011).
This chapter focuses on the main EU policies related to drought and water scarcity
and highlights recent policy developments in all relevant sectors. Additionally, it
provides an overview of those European policies that impact drought and
U. Stein (&) Á J. Tröltzsch Á R. Landgrebe Á A. Szendrenyi Á R. Vidaurre
Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: ulf.stein@ecologic.eu
G. Özerol
CSTM - Department of Technology and Governance for Sustainability, University of Twente,
217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
e-mail: g.ozerol@utwente.nl
© The Author(s) 2016
H. Bressers et al. (eds.), Governance for Drought Resilience,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29671-5_2
17