1       Introduction

Water is an essential resource for human health, agriculture, energy production, transport and nature. Securing sustainable management of water and of aquatic and water-dependent ecosystems and ensuring that enough high-quality water is available for all purposes, remains one of the key challenges of our time in Europe and is the main aim of EU water policy.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD), which came into force in 2000, established a framework for the assessment, management, protection and improvement of the quality of water resources across the EU. According to the WFD, EU Member States should achieve good status of all bodies of surface water and groundwater by 2015, unless there were reasons for exemptions. In 2009, EU Member States published the first and, in 2015, the second river basin management plans (RBMPs) for achieving the environmental objectives of the WFD. At present, EU Member States are finalising the third RBMPs to be published in 2021 that will frame the management of water resources in the third WFD planning cycle, covering the period up to the end of 2027.

This report builds on the EEA assessment of status and pressures of European waters in the second RBMPs (EEA, 2018)^[1]. In its 2018 assessment, the EEA concluded that limited progress was noted in improving water status from the first to the second RBMP cycle and European waters remained under significant pressures linked to changes in their hydromorphology, pressures from diffuse and point sources of pollution and water abstraction. These pressures often act at the same time and affect the good functioning of ecosystems, contribute to biodiversity loss and threaten the valuable benefits that water brings to society and the economy. [1] EEA, 2018, European waters – assessment of status and pressures 2018.

The starting point of the 2018 EEA assessment was to present an overview of the status of European waters, a summary of the pressures causing failure to achieve good status and to indicate the main elements of progress that were achieved during the first RBMP cycle in terms of status improvement (2010-2015). However, no detailed presentation of the main drivers and pressures causing less than good status of EU water bodies was made. The present report takes the 2018 EEA assessment one step further and aims at giving a European overview of the main pressures and drivers, by illustrating a selection of significant water management issues at European level.

More information on the implementation of WFD and assessments of the 2^nd RBMPs are available in EU Commissions 5^th WFD implementation report published in 2019[1]. Commissions reports evaluates the Programme of Measures foreseen to be implemented during the 2^nd RBMP period (2016-2021) both at European and national level. EU Member States have in December 2018 reported the progress in implementing measures and Commission evaluation of the progress will be published within the next year.

[1] European Commissions 5^th Water Framework Directive implementation report https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/impl_reports.htm

Further, the report discusses cross-cutting challenges of EU-wide relevance to measures implementation for addressing European significant water management issues. These cross-cutting challenges are discussed with emphasis on their role in improving and accelerating the implementation of measures to achieve WFD objectives. The European Commission published in 2019 the evaluation of water legislation – the fitness check and this provides the main directions for revisions and future water policies[1].  

[1]  European Commissions, EU Water Legislation - Fitness Check https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/fitness_check_of_the_eu_water_legislation/index_en.htm