WFD newsletter . September 2003.
Date: 2004-01-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment
Subjects: EU environmental policy, application of EU law, environmental protection, serial publication, water

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NEWSLETTER

Contents:

  1st Edition, September 2003

•  The Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) - Work Programme for 2003/2004
•  The Pilot River Basin Network - An Introduction
•  The Information Board - upcoming events, meetings, information sources

Welcome to Water Framework Directive Newsletter presented by the European Commission’s
Directorate General for the Environment: a newsletter for everyone interested in European water
policy and in particular the process of implementation of the Water Framework Directive, or WFD.

European  Commission

The aim of this newsletter is to bring you up to date with what is being done under the WFD Common Implementation
Strategy, an outstanding joint strategy to improve, protect and enhance the quality of our rivers, lakes, transitional and
coastal waters and groundwaters.  Published several times a year, the WFD Newsletter will bring you news of what
progress has been made and new issues arising from the process.  By reading WFD Newsletter we hope it will not only
inform you of what is going on, but inspire you to get involved and play your part in helping to deliver one of Europe’s most
ambitious pieces of environmental legislation to-date.  WFD Newsletter will be available electronically free-of-charge
through the WFD web-page of the Environment DG (see below).

In this first edition we outline the new organisational working structure under the Common Implementation Strategy (or
CIS), as decided by the Water Directors in November 2002 (page 2).  The Pilot River Basins (PRB) network is
introduced, which will become a regular feature of this newsletter, as we examine the findings from several PRBs per
edition.  A special information sheet providing more information about the history and progress of the Common
Implementation Strategy (CIS) to the end of 2002 is available seperately on the WFD web-page (see below).  Of
course, we also provide you with updates of the key news on the WFD, upcoming events, meetings and workshops, and
details on where to find more information.  We hope you find this newsletter enjoyable and informative; in order for us to
make this newsletter as useful as possible, please send any comments to the WFD Helpdesk.

The Water Framework Directive - What is it?
In simple terms the Water Framework Directive (also known as the WFD or Directive 2000/60/EC) is a legislative framework to protect and
improve the quality of all water resources such as rivers, lakes, groundwater, transitional and coastal water within the European Union.  The
WFD was published and entered into force in December 2000 (Official Journal of the European Communities, L327, 22 December 2000,
pages 1-72).  Member States must incorporate the WFD into national law by the end of 2003.  Once this has taken place, many more steps must
be taken to achieve “good status” of all European waters by 2015.

Some of  the elements of  the new and innovative approach to managing Europe’s water resources in the WFD are:

•  ambitious objectives and clear deadlines,
•  the introduction of River Basin Management on a Europe-wide scale,
•  the requirement for cross border co-operation in water management between countries and all involved parties,
•  pollution prevention and control on the basis of the so called “combined approach”
•  greater public participation in water management, and
•  economic analysis of water use.

More information on the WFD, for example a leaflet and brochure, can be obtained from:
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What is the Common Implementation Strategy?
The Common Implementation Strategy for the Water Framework Directive (known as the CIS) was agreed by the European Commission, Member
States and Norway in May 2001.  The main aim of  the CIS is to provide support in the implementation of  the WFD, by developing a common
understanding and guidance on key elements of  this Directive.  Experts from the above countries and candidate countries as well as stakeholders and
non-governmental organisations are all involved in the CIS to:

•  Raise awareness and exchange information;
•  Develop guidance documents on various technical issues:
•  Carry out integrated testing in pilot river basins: and
•  Develop a European information management system

A series of  working groups and joint activities help carry out the initiatives listed above.  A Strategic Co-ordination Group (or SCG) oversees
these working groups and reports directly to the Water Directors of  the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, the Candidate Countries and
Commissions, the “driving force” of  the CIS.

For more information:
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Feature: The Common Implementation Strategy

Work Programme for 2003/04

Following an intensive work programme in 2001/2002, the list of results to date is impressive.  Eleven guidance documents and four technical reports
have been finalised to date.  In addition, a pilot river basin network was established including 15 river basins involving 18 countries (see also next page).
This marked the end of Phase 1 of the CIS’ work.  Since this is the first edition of WFD Newsletter, a special information sheet has been provided which
provides more details on the “story so far”, including details of the preview CIS structure and outputs from the Working Groups (see internet address
above).

Following the achievements of the 2001/2002 Work Programme, it was necessary to review the priorities and organisational structure of the CIS to
ensure that work could continue successfully.  Consequently, the Water Directors agreed in their meeting on 21/22 November 2002 in Copenhagen, to
set out a clear list of priority tasks and to re-organise the Working Groups to complete these tasks in the most effective way.  The following priorities are
identified in the 2003/2004 Work Programme:

•  Integrated testing in pilot river basins;
•  Further development of the intercalibration exercise;
•  Development of additional guidance documents on specific issues (e.g. wetlands, classification and economic aspects);
•  Maintaining and extending the network of experts and increasing information exchange and raising awareness.

The new focus has led to the review and a reduction of the number of working groups into four new key groups:

•  ‘Ecological Status’ (Working Group 2.A or ECOSTAT)
•  ‘Integrated River Basin Management’ (Working Group 2.B or IRBM)
•  ‘Groundwater’ (Working Group 2.C)
•  ‘Reporting’ (Working Group 2.D)

In addition, the work of the Expert Advisory Forum (EAF) on Priority Substances will continue and the Committee required by Article 21 of the
Directive will be established.  The EAF on Groundwater will terminate its work after the finalisation of the Commission proposal for a Groundwater
Directive.  The new Working Group 2.C will continue work from the Autumn of 2003 by starting with a workshop on groundwater characterisation.
The EAF on Reporting has been transformed into the Working Group 2.D.

The details of the new work programme and organisation were agreed by the Water Directors on 17 June 2003 in Athens. Some amendments to the
Work Programme and mandates for the Working Groups were agreed. Once these have been incorporated, the documents will be made available on
the public area of WFD CIRCA (see last page for more information).

water

The Pilot River Basin Network: An Introduction

The main output of the 2001/2002 CIS Work Programme was a series of guidance documents for the implementation of the WFD.  In order to test and cross
validate  these  guidance  documents,  a  network  of  pilot  river  basins  has  been  established.    Several  countries  have  proposed  river  basins  within  their  territory  of
transboundary river basins to participate in this voluntary exercise.

Pilot river basins and associated coastal zones representative of the ranges of climatic, technical and political conditions have been proposed by Member States.
Participants in the network include the lead countries for the different guidance documents and participants from the local and regional water management adminis-
trations in the pilot river basins, including NGOs and stakeholders.

The pilot river testing begins in 2003 and should be finalised by the end of 2004.  In addition, separate initiatives, activities or events (such as workshops) will take
place involving the leaders and participants of the pilot river basins.  Feedback from the network will be used to improve guidance, and to produce a manual for the
practical implementation of the WFD.

The Strategic Co-ordination Group will lead the Pilot River Basins jointly with the Member States and Institutions in the selected pilot river basins.  The Institute
for Environment and Sustainability at the Joint Research Centre (JRC-IES) will act as the technical Secretariat to ensure: (i) the practical day to day functioning
of the project, information exchange, and support activities, (ii) that identified tasks carried out by the different groups involved are feasible and coherent with the
objectives of the project, (iii) that the selected pilot river basins have comparable technical support to carry out their duties, and (iv) to assure that efficient inter-
comparison analysis between those studies is carried out.  JRC will also report progress to the new Working Group 2.B for Integrated River Basin Management.

For more information see:
http://viso.ei.jrc.it/wfd_prb/index.html

Fifteen Pilot River Basins have been proposed to date:

Scheldt transboundary river basin

(Belgium, France, The Netherlands)

Ordense river basin

Oulujoki river basin

(Denmark)

(Finland)

Moselle-Sarre transboundary river basin

(France, Germany, Luxembourg)

Marne river basin

(France)

Neisse transboundary river basin

(Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic)

Pinlos river basin

Shannon river basin

Ribble river basin

Cecina and Tevere river basin

Sulda lsvassdraget river basin

Guadiana river basin (Portuguese part)

(Greece)

(Ireland)

(UK, England)

(Italy)

(Norway)

(Portugal)

Samos transboundary river basin

(Romania, Hungary)

Júcar river basin

(Spain)

In future editions of the WFD Newsletter the pilot river basins will be presented in more detail.  We will start by introducing the Odense and the Moselle-Sarre.

Latest news in related policy areas - Proposal for Groundwater Directive

The European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Directive to protect groundwater from pollution on the 19 September 2003 (COM(2003)550 final). The proposed

Directive ensures a common approach in the European Union to assessing the chemical status of  groundwater and to identifying and reversing upward trends in groundwater
pollution. It fulfils an obligation placed on the Commission under Article 17 of  the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), which aims to ensure good status of  all waters

in the EU and asked for groundwater to be separately tackled in a Daughter Directive.

Margot Wallström, the Commissioner for the Environment, said: “Groundwater is a very important natural resource on which we greatly depend and which we must safeguard.
The proposed Directive will help us find out more and make sure that our groundwater is not being polluted. It will ensure a high level of  protection based on a common approach,

while still leaving a considerable degree of  flexibility to the Member States on how to achieve the environmental objectives.”

The proposal will now be discussed in the European Parliament and the Council of  Ministers before it is finally adopted. It is estimated that this process of
co-decision will be concluded in late 2004 or the beginning of  2005.

The Commission proposal can be found on the EUR-Lex homepage under: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex

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Upcoming meetings
(PRB: pilot river basins, EAF: Expert Advisory Forum)

PRB  Workshop on Surface Water Bodies

EAF Priority Substances

PRB Workshop on Economics

PRB Workshop on Groundwater

Working Group 2D Reporting

Working Group 2A Ecological Status

Strategic Co-ordination Group

* Unless otherwise indicated, all meetings are by invitation only

Frequently Asked Questions:

25-26 September2003

17-18 November 2003

9-10 October 2003

13 October 2003

15 October 2003

16-17 October 2003

27-28 October 2003

Brussels

Brussels

Paris

Brussels

Brussels

Ispra

Brussels

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What is WFD CIRCA?
CIRCA stands for “Communication Information Resource Centre Administrator” and it is a software tool, developed under the European
Commission IDA programme, which is tuned towards Public Administrations’ needs.  The WFD CIRCA Interest Group “Implementing
the Water Framework Directive” is the main tool for exchanging information under the Common Implementation Strategy of the Water
Framework Directive.  Initially, it was set up to facilitate the work of the different groups under the strategy.  However, due to the increasing
interest in the work, it was decided to open the WFD CIRCA to wider access.

For further information please see: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/water/water-framework/information.html

Currently, there are over 750 members of the WFD CIRCA but there is also a part that is accessible without a password.  In this public part
you will find a library of useful documents, including the final guidance documents and technical reports.
The public library is directly accessible through: http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/env/wfd.library
In case you have any questions or problems using WFD CIRCA, please contact the Helpdesk under: env-wfd-circa@cec.eu.int

Where can I find out more information?
A number of websites provide further information:

The DG Environment’s WFD pages:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html

The Joint Research Centre:
Intercalibration: http://ies.jrc.cec.eu.int/eewai/
Pilot river basin: http://viso.ei.jrc.it/wfd_prb/index.html

The CIRCA WFD library: http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/env/wfd/library

Key people in the WFD: the DG Environment WFD Team

This  section  will  present  some  people  or  groups  working  on  the  EU
Common Implementation Strategy for the Water Framework Directive.
In this first edition of  the WFD Newsletter, we introduce the WFD
Team of  the European Commission. In future editions, we will present
the team working in the Joint Research Centre, the Water Directors, the
Strategic Co-ordination Group and the different Working Groups in the
CIS process.

The WFD team is the staff  within the DG Environment’s Water Unit
of  the European Commission who are dealing with the implementation of
this Directive.  Their remit is to ensure that the CIS Work Programme is
completed satisfactorily and that the requirements of  the WFD are being
met.    The  team  prepares  future  legislation  such  as  for  groundwater  and
priority substances, organises the Article 21 Committee, the SCG and the
Water Directors’ meetings and participates in the various working groups.

The  WFD  team  consists  of   (from  left  to  right  on  the  picture)  Maria
Brättemark, Ingrid Pesce, Marta Moren Abat,  Joachim D’Eugenio, Michel
Boucneau (who left in July 2003), Philippe Quevauviller and Thierry Davy
(missing on the picture).  In addition, there are several other colleagues who
support the WFD Team on specific issues.

You can contact the WFD Team by e-mailing the WFD helpdesk (env-wfd-circa@cec.eu.int).

European Commission

Copies of this publication are available free-of-charge while stocks last from:

European Commission
Environment Directorate-General
Information Centre (BU-9 0/11)
B-1049 Brussels
E-mail: ENV-PUBS@cec.eu.int

For more information:
 http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/water/
E-mail: env-water@cec.eu.int

A great deal of information on the European Union is available on the Internet.

It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003

© European Communities, 2003
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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