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0.1.     EEA 2012 State of water assessments

2012 will be the European year of water in which The Commission will publish its “Blue-print to safeguard European waters” comprising reviews of the WFD, Water scarcity and drought and vulnerability and adaptation  policies; In addition in March 2012 the 5th World Water Forum will be held in Marseille, France.

To accompany and inform these events and policy processes EEA plans for 2012 a set of reports on the “State of Europe’s water”. The reports will be based on information reported in 2010 via River Basin Management Plans and supplemented with assessments of information from other sources. It will be developed in close cooperation and coordination with the DG Environment’s assessment of the RBMPs and the development of the blueprint (impact assessment, reports; communication, staff working documents).  The format of the EEA 2012 State of Europe’s water assessment is planned to consist of four thematic assessments and an overarching synthesis and integrated report. In terms of communication, the several assessments are planned to be published on several occasions throughout 2012. EEA are currently working on the following thematic assessments with indication of when they are to be published:

1. Efficient Use of Water Resources (World Water Forum, Marseilles, March 2012)
2. Vulnerability (Water scarcity and drought, floods, water quality) – Autumn 2012
3. WFD: Ecological and chemical status and pressures – Autumn 2012
4. WFD: Hydromorphology – Summer 2012

First reporting of the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) was due end 2009. Most Member States (23 out of 27 Member States) have reported their RBMPs and delivered a huge amount of data on status, pressures and measures to the WISE-WFD database. According to Article 18 of the WFD the EU Commission shall publish a report on the implementation of this Directive at the latest 12 years after the date of entry into force of this Directive (two years after the Member States have delivered the RBMPs). The report shall among others include the following:

• a review of progress in the implementation of the Directive;
• a review of the status of surface water and groundwater in the Community undertaken in coordination with the European Environment Agency;