COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER Accompanying document to the Third Follow up Report to the Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts in the European Union COM (2007) 414 final  COM(2011) 133
Date: 2011-03-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU waters, conservation of resources, drought, environmental protection, environmental research, fixing of prices, information system, use of water

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION  

Brussels, 21.3.2011 
SEC(2010) 338 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER 

Accompanying document to 
the Third Follow up Report to the Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts in 
the European Union COM (2007) 414 final 

COM(2011) 133 

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Follow up of the work of the Member States with respect to the implementation of the 
measures in the Communication on water scarcity and droughts 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

As announced in the first follow-up report to the Communication1 the Commission assesses 
on an annual basis the progress towards implementation of the set policy options at both EU 
and national levels. The first report was accompanied by a work programme that was also to 
be monitored regularly. The annex to the third follow-up report presents the progress made by 
Member States based on the reports they have submitted to the Commission2 during the last 
reporting  period  (May  2009  to  May  2010).  The  sections  below  follow  the  structure  of  the 
work programme.  

2. 

INTRODUCTION: /WATER SCARCITY AND DROUGHT IN THE RECENT 
PAST 

Over  the  last  reporting  period,  several  Member  States  reported  that  they  faced  mild  or 
relatively strong droughts (ES, FR, PT, HU, UK) and water scarcity situations (ES, FR, RO, 
SE and NL) although these were sometimes limited to local areas and sometimes had a short 
duration.  

In  several  countries  restrictions  were  applied  in  order  to  limit  various  water  uses  (FR), 
irrigation (ES, RO, SE, CY, HU) and shipping (NL). Others reported that had not taken any 
measures to mitigate the impact, since the duration of the event was limited (PT) or continued 
the mitigation actions that had started the year before (IT). 

In  countries  continuously  faced  with  water  scarcity  (CZ,  CY,  MT),  water  conservation 
measures  are  a  national  priority  and  restrictions  (e.g.  in  irrigation  or  household  uses)  were 
applied in the affected sectors during the past year.  

Mediterranean  countries  were  not  the  only  ones  affected,  as  water  scarcity  situations  were 
also  reported  in  central  Europe  (CZ,  HU)  and  in  the  context  of  over-exploited  aquifers  in 
more northern parts of Europe (BE).  

3. 

PUTTING THE RIGHT PRICE TAG ON WATER 

In most of Member States water tariffs have been applied in order to ensure the cost recovery 
of  water  services.  Such  tariffs  are  already  in  place  (AT,  BG,  BE,  EE,  ES,  NL,  SE,  UK)  or 
their  introduction  is  ongoing  (CY,  CZ,  IE,  RO,  SK).  Prices  are  established  taking  into 
consideration volumetric consumption (AT, HU, LU, MT, RO for domestic users, IE for non-
domestic  users,  ES  for  irrigation  uses)  and  environmental  costs  (BG,  BE,  EE,  RO,  SK).  In 
CH, it was reported that water is not priced, only the service related to its supply. 

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COM(2008) 875 final, 19.12.2008 
21 countries (AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DK, EE, ES, FR, HU, IE, IT, LU, MT, NL, PT, RO, SE, SK 
and UK) replied to the questionnaire for the annual report (sent to the 27 Member State and Norway 
and  Switzerland).  The  list  of  MS  in  brackets  within  the  text  of  the  annex  are  examples  and  not  an 
exhaustive list.  

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In some countries groundwater taxes have been updated according to the quantitative status of 
the  groundwater  bodies  (BE).  These  taxes  are  higher  for  groundwater  bodies  in  a  poor 
quantitative status, and will increase in the coming years. 

In  the  same  context,  regarding  the  regulation  of  water  taxes,  PT  promotes  a  water  resource 
levy with different components. One of the components depends not only on the volume of 
abstracted water but also on the scarcity coefficient associated with the river in question. This 
will be applied from 2010 on and is collected by the recently created River Basin Authorities.  

IT  reported  a  local  incentive  for  the  use  of  storm-water  for  toilet  flushing  and  washing 
clothes.  Citizens  don’t  have  to  pay  tax  for  wastewater  derived  from  reusing  storm-water 
instead of drinking water for toilet flushing or washing clothes. 

Regarding the efforts to improve the spread of metering programmes in the water sector, in 
some  Member  States  practices  and  measures  have  been  recently  included  in  water 
management acts (BE, BG, ES, HU, IR, MT) or water resource management plans (UK) or 
the  introduction  of  new  measures  is  ongoing  (CY).  PT  reported  that  no  significant progress 
has been made since last year. In CH the introduction of metering (only for drinking water) is 
the responsibility of the water supply companies.  

Control of surface water (BG, EE, IT, NL) and groundwater (BE, BG, IT, LU) abstractions is 
reported  to  be  enforced  in  many  countries.  Regulatory  measures  have  been  included  in  the 
programme of measures of RMBPs (BG, CY, IT, RO) and specific acts (IE, SK), although in 
some local areas these are not fully implemented (CY). 

4. 

ALLOCATING  WATER  AND  WATER-RELATED  FUNDING  MORE 
EFFICIENTLY 

4.1. 

Improving land-use planning 

Attempts have been made to integrate water scarcity and droughts into sectoral policies. The 
issue of sustainable water use was addressed in many Member States (AT, BG, BE, CY, CZ, 
ES,  FR,  HU,  IT,  MT,  RO,  SK,  NL,  LU,  PT,  RO).  Most  of  Member  States  integrate  water 
scarcity and drought issues into RBMPs (BE, CY, ES, HU, IT, MT, RO, SK, NL) and specific 
national  programmes  (BG,  LU,  UK,  PT)  concerning  several  sectors  such  as  industry, 
agriculture (LU, RO) and households. Consultation with sectors was carried out, e.g. for the 
implementation of water audits 3(BE). 

PT  issued  a  national  programme  with  a  specific  focus  on  water  efficiency  and  minimizing 
water scarcity risks with measures destined for urban, industry and agricultural sectors. Two 
MS reported that integration of water scarcity and drought into sectoral policies is an issue to 
be implemented in the future (AT, CZ). CH has several programmes preparing the integration 
of WS&D into sectoral policies. EE and IE reported not having taken any measures regarding 
this  issue,  as  there  have  been  no  drought  occurrences  or  water  scarcity  situations  in  the 
country. 

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A water audit is a key tool to assess the breakdown of water losses and to develop a program for water 
losses reduction. 

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As  far  as  Strategic  Environmental  Assessment  (SEA)  is  concerned,  the  procedure  was 
reported as having already been implemented in most Member States. In most MSs the SEA 
is applied at national level (AT, CY, CZ, EE, ES, HU, IE, IT, MT, PT, NL) and several MS 
reported  that  RBMPs  were  subject  to  SEA  (AT,  CY,  HU,  IT,  MT,  PT).  The  SEA  was  also 
applied  to  new  water  infrastructures  (UK),  hydroelectric  dams  (PT)  and  desalination  plants 
(CY).  One  Member  State  reported  that  the  incorporation  of  the  SEA  into  legislation  is 
ongoing  (RO).  In  other  Member  States  the  strengthening  of  SEA  implementation  has  not 
taken place yet (BE, BG, LU, SK, SW). 

Regarding biofuel development and its potential impact on water availability, three Member 
States  reported  that  this  was  not  an  issue  (PT,  RO,  EE),  seven  Member  States  have  not 
investigated potential interlinkages (BE, BG, CZ, HU, LU, MT, SE) and two Member States 
considered  no  key  developments  since  last  year’s  report  (UK,  AT).  IT  reported  that  it  has 
identified  an  impact,  which  needs  to  be  taken  into  account  in  planning  water  resources 
management and ES adopted technical guidance on net water allocations for crop groups in 
each  river  basin  district,  which  includes  water  intake  estimations  for  biomass.  Further 
research and assessment on the issue is ongoing in CY and FR. 

Regarding  water  abstractions,  the  authorization  procedure  is  a  widespread  practice  among 
Member  States. When  abstracting over a  specified water volume, water users have to apply 
for a permit in order to be allowed to withdraw water (AT, BE, CZ, ES, FR, IT, LU, PT, RO, 
SE, UK, NL, EE). Water authorities are responsible for carrying out the compliance check of 
water  using  facilities  in  most  cases.  Restrictions  on  water  use  can  also  have  a  preventive 
effect (AT): in case of obvious loss of water from irrigation, the quantity of water permitted 
for use is reduced by the water authority. 

In some Member States (MT, IE), within the framework of new Water Framework Directive 
(WFD)  compliant  legislation  that  includes  a  modernised  system  of  registration,  prior 
authorization  requests  and  tackling  unauthorized  abstractions  are  being  considered.  Several 
countries adopted prosecution procedures addressing illegal abstractions (PT, AT, RO), others 
reported that a strategy to enhance controls is still needed (BE).  

Strategies to address the  impacts of  climate change  were reported either  as  having already 
been included in RBMPs (AT, BG, ES, IT, UK) and specific national programmes (SK, PT) 
or are having been planned to be part of national strategy in future programmes (CZ, BE, FR, 
IE, NL, RO). CH reported that it will address these issues in a National Adaptation Strategy 
which  will  be  finalized  by  2011.  Measures  to  cope  with  climate  change  include  alternative 
water  supply  options  such  as  wastewater  re-use  and  desalination  (CY,  FR,  HU,  IT,  PT).  In 
some  countries  water  re-use  aims  at  generating  water  to  cover  agricultural  and  industrial 
demand (IT, CY) as well as groundwater recharge (CY).  

4.2. 

Financing water efficiency 

In  general,  national  budgets  (BG,  EE,  ES,  FR,  LU,  MT,  PT,  SK),  EU  funds  (CY,  CZ,  HU, 
MT, SK) and private funds (IT, PT) were used to implement water cycle integration, domestic 
rainwater management, agricultural sector development, control of water losses, protection of 
surface and ground water bodies, water supply network and sanitation.  

Fiscal  incentives  with  the  aim  of  encouraging  the  use  of  water-saving  devices  will  be 
introduced  in  some  Member  States  in  the  near  future  (CZ,  EE,  MT,  UK).  Examples  of 

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possible incentives are the reduction of water tariffs for companies introducing water savings 
devices and practices (BG, ES), and the use of eco-cheques for buying water saving devices 
(BE). Subsidies for collecting rain water (in households) were reported as being granted in BE 
and  FR,  and  in  CY  the  installation  of  greywater  treatment  and  re-use  systems  in  houses, 
public  buildings,  playgrounds,  army  camps  were  financed  from  a  national  fund  for  water 
resources. 

5. 

IMPROVING DROUGHT RISK MANAGEMENT 

5.1. 

Developing drought risk management plans 

At  the  European  level,  as  well  as  in  CH,  restrictions  on  water  use  were  reported  as  having 
been applied to preserve aquatic life and the ecological status of water bodies (AT, CY, CZ, 
ES, FR, HU, IT, NL, PT, RO, SK, SE, UK). In CY an index of pressures on river ecosystems 
is  calculated  in  order  to  monitor  the  effects  of  droughts  on  the  environment.  Only  few 
Member  States  reported  that  the  minimum  water  flow  and  groundwater  level  conservation 
have not been taken into account yet (EE, IE, LU, MT) or are planned but not implemented 
yet (BE, BG). 

With  respect  to  specific  drought  management  plans,  several  Member  States  reported  not  to 
have separate plans. These are in most cases considered as part of RBMPs or regional plans 
(AT, BE, HU, NL, RO, SK), emergency management (LU) or specific early warning systems 
(PT).  Three  Member  States  reported  that  their  drafting  process  for  these  plans  is  ongoing 
(MT, CZ, CY), and in others the need for such a plan is under discussion (EE), or they have 
regional plans (IT) or do not have such a plan at all (IE, SE, BG). FR, ES and UK are the only 
Member States who reported that separate drought management plans are already in place.  

5.2. 

Developing an observatory and an early warning system on droughts 

Concerning  the  identification  of  areas  of  water  scarcity  and  drought  over  the  country, 
almost all Member States reported that the assessment has been carried out (AT, BE, BG, CY, 
CZ,  EE,  ES,  FR,  UK,  NL,  IT,  RO,  SK)  or  is  ongoing  (PT).  As  a  result  of  this  assessment, 
some Member States reported that there are no permanent or quasi permanent water scarcity 
situations in the country (AT, EE, IE, and NL). CY and MT identified the whole country as an 
area at risk from water scarcity. In RO a high percentage (40%) of all river basins are affected 
by water scarcity, while UK and BG identified only local areas being at risk.  

Legislative and other measures to tackle poor status of water bodies and to restore sustainable 
balance in water basins are included in land use planning and restoration programmes (such as 
adaptation of current permitting system, groundwater taxes, implementation of water audits, 
incentivizing rational water use, regulating water intakes, or, like in CY, the development of a 
national  drought  observatory  and  a  drought  index  system  as  well  as  establishing  minimum 
ecological flow establishment, incentives to reduce irrigation water use, identification of non-
authorised  abstractions  and  threshold  values  of  permitted  water  abstractions).  CH  reported 
that the political will to introduce legal measures for the appropriate distribution of water is 
now in place. 

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5.3. 

Further optimising the use of the EU Solidarity Fund 

There  have  been  no  changes  in  the  applications  for  aid  from  the  EU  Solidarity  Fund  for 
drought impacts under the current regulation. The difficulty in applying for funding lies in the 
10 week deadline for presenting the application following the first damage and the limitation 
of eligible operations. The other issues it that in the agricultural sector droughts cause mostly 
damage to private property and, as private damage is not covered by the fund, the EUSF may 
not  compensate  the  damage.  A  Communication  on  the  future  of  the  EU  Solidarity  Fund  is 
expected  to  come  out  in  the  first  half  of  2011.  It  will  also  address  the  issue  of  slowly 
unfolding disasters.  

6. 

CONSIDERING ADDITIONAL WATER SUPPLY INFRASTRUCTURES 

The planning and construction of new water supply networks or reservoirs were considered in 
several  Member  States  (BG,  CZ,  EE,  IE,  MT,  RO,  SE,  SK).  In  ES  four  new  desalination 
plants have been built. In CY an additional mobile desalination plant has been completed and 
two additional permanent desalination plants are in construction or planning phase, in addition 
to the construction of an off-stream dam. The UK opened a desalination plant in June 2010 
and  FR  will  assess  the  need  of  new  infrastructures  requested  by  some  economic  actors.  PT 
reported  only  the  planned  construction  of  hydroelectric  dams.  All  these  infrastructure 
developments  were  reported  to  have  undergone  a  SEA  or/and  are  regulated  by  national 
environmental legislation. 

7. 

FOSTERING WATER-EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES 

Many Member States reported not having introduced legislation in terms of water efficiency 
in buildings (BE, ES, HU, LU, PT, RO, SE) and/or water using devices (BE, EE, ES, HU, 
LU, MT, PT, RO, SE, NL).  

CY reported having introduced general measures on buildings' water performance included in 
the  RBMPs,  and  FR  reported  to  have  adopted  of  new  national  measures.  In  other  cases 
national legislation exists (IE, NL, CZ and SK) and adopted standards are mostly EU ones.  

Measures  regarding  water  saving  devices  were  reported  to  be  in  place  in  several  Member 
States (BG, IE, SK, CY) and to have been included in RBMPs.  

UK  introduced  new  water  efficiency  targets  on  water  companies  and  a  new  building 
performance standard of 125 litres per person per day for new homes. A detailed calculator 
provides  the  means  to  estimate  consumption  based  on  the  efficiency  of  water  fittings  and 
average assumptions of duration and frequency of use.  

As  far  as  reduction  of  leakages  is  concerned  significant  steps  ahead  have  been  taken.  AT 
reported that a low level of leakages is ensured by periodical maintenance works, and that the 
guideline for detection, quantification, and reduction measures for leakages in drinking water 
supply systems was updated. FR introduced new legislation promoting action plans and multi-
annual work programmes to improve the network where leakages exceed a fixed percentage. 
Other  Member  States  (BG,  CY,  ES,  IE,  IT,  PT,  RO,  SK,  UK)  have  integrated  measures  to 
restore  water  networks  in  RBMPs  and  National  Programmes.  In  one  MS  water  supply 
companies  are  directly  responsible  for  monitoring,  improving  and  restoring  obsolete 

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infrastructure  (CZ).  In  some  Member  States,  network  renewals  are  ongoing  (BE,  SE,  MT) 
while in others the planning has not started yet (CZ, EE, HU, LU). NL stated that the leakage 
in  the  water  supply  network  for  drinking  water  is  low  (<5%)  thus  no  measures  to  reduce 
leakages are necessary.  

Most  of  Member  States  did  not  initiate  voluntary  agreements  in  terms  of  efficient  use  of 
water (AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, EE, HU, IE, MT, RO, SE, NL). However, many Member States 
reported that they consider such initiatives useful (CZ, EE, FR, IT, PT, RO, RO, NL, UK). IT 
reported  the  implementation  of  regional  measures  to  restore  a  sustainable  balance  and  LU 
reported that it had concluded voluntary agreements with agricultural sector.  

Regarding  water  markets,  the  vast  majority  of  Member  States  stated  that  they  have  not 
envisaged setting up such markets. During episodes of water scarcity, Member States focused 
on restrictions on water use rather than on sharing the resource. In ES a decree allows dealers 
or owners of a water right to temporarily transfer it to another dealer or holder of such a right. 
UK reported that will consider the creation of water markets for England and Wales. 

8. 

FOSTERING  THE  EMERGENCE  OF  A  WATER-SAVING  CULTURE  IN 
EUROPE 

Educational  programmes  and  awareness-raising  campaigns  were  reported  to  have  been 
initiated across the EU. These covered online information about current status of water bodies 
and water resources (AT, BG, RO, CZ, EE, IT), special communication platforms addressed 
mostly to young citizens (AT, CY, CZ, ES, IT), educational programmes focused on schools 
at various levels (primary and high school, university) (CY, LU, SK, UK, NL) as well as other 
dissemination  tools  such  as  press,  “blue  phones”,  columns,  water  audits,  reports,  projects, 
consultation campaigns or initiatives by NGOs.  

9. 

IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE AND DATA COLLECTION 

9.1.  Water scarcity and drought information system throughout Europe.  

The  majority  of  Member  States  reported  that  they  have  not  performed  forecasts  of  water 
scarcity  and  drought  events  for  the  following  year.  However,  indirect  previsions  have  been 
performed on the basis of monitored precipitation events, which can lead to an estimation of 
the current water storage and availability.  

Many Member States reported that they are not expecting significant water scarcity situations 
or drought occurrences until next autumn (AT, EE, FR, IE, IT, NL, PT, UK, RO), while other 
Member  States  are  aware  that  a  water  scarcity  problem  is  possible  occurrence  during  the 
2010-2011 period (ES, SK) although, as SE as well as CH reported, this might only be limited 
to  small  areas.  This  information  reported  by  the  MS  should  be  seen  in  relation  to  the  2010 
State of the Environment report from the EEA4 which states, that "Except in some northern 
and  sparsely-populated  countries  that  possess abundant  resources,  water  scarcity  occurs  in 
many areas of Europe, particularly in the south, confronted with a crucial combination of a 
severe lack of and high demand for water". 

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A  drought  early  warning  system  aiming  to  improve  preparedness  and  response  to  drought 
situations  has  been  created  in  PT,  and  IT  reported  the  elaboration  of  a  regional  model  for 
forecasting. FR is setting up a national database of all water abstractions. 

9.2. 

Research and technological development opportunities  

Research on best practices and programmes for sustainable water management are ongoing in 
many Member States (BE, BG, CY, CZ, ES, HU, IT, LU, MT, NL, RO). Most Member States 
are enhancing this research through research on adaptation strategies to climate change (BE, 
AT;  CZ,  UK).  CH  has  several  activities  and  programmes  for  enhancing  research  (NFP61, 
CCHydro  and  Water  Supply  2025).  The  participation  in  EU  financed  projects  (i.e. 
INTERREG, FPs) is one of the tools to enhance these activities. 

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