"For facilitating the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive"- 12 - 15 November 2014 - Bucharest - Romania
Mis à jour : 19/03/2015
The participants underlined the importance of consistency between the measures taken to achieve environmental objectives and the policies and practices of the agricultural sector.
The ongoing preparation of the Rural Development Plans is an opportunity for taking river hydromorphology into account. The participants asked the water managers to be closer to their colleagues of the agricultural sector to include measures for reducing agricultural pressures and pollution and to limit financing for practices having strong negative effects on the quality of Water Bodies.
The next Basin Management Plans should be based on a more exhaustive economic analysis of pressures and on quantification of costs and impacts of the measures needed to comply with the objectives of the WFD.
For this purpose, it is necessary to establish clear and transparent methodologies, improve common knowledge, but also, if needed, to agree on a practical guide under the CIS to complete and update the WATECO guidance document.
The participants took note of the entry into force on 17 August 2014 of the UN Convention of 1997 on the law relating to the use of international watercourses for purposes other than navigation.
This convention as well as the UNECE Water Convention of 1992 are a solid basis for international cooperation in transboundary basins.
Whatever the scale, good knowledge and easy access to data and information on the status and evolution of water resources and of their use is a key to a successful water policy.
For better communicating with the decision makers and the general public, the members of ”EUROPE-INBO” group insisted on the need for developing tools for data interpretation.
The participants recommended increasing the exchange of experience on the ways of producing and sharing comparable data among stakeholders, as well as on the tools and methods used for the analysis and interpretation of data and the dissemination of knowledge to decision makers and the general public.
With regard to the Flood Directive, it was reminded that Flood Risk Management Plans should be developed in each basin.
The participants also reminded the importance of involving field stakeholders and the public. Appropriation by all users of water policies and of the resulting measures is essential to advance and increase efficiency.
The Monitoring Program could be a good communication tool if based on standardized methods improving the understanding, comparison and use of information.
The participants also stressed that the indicators used to characterize the status of water bodies are too general. They do not reflect the effectiveness of the actions undertaken during the program cycle. Less aggregated indicators, used at local and national level, would allow a better understanding of the results of the efforts made.
The ”EUROPE-INBO 2014” conference is a new important step for assessing implementation and for formulating sound proposals to improve WFD implementation in the next cycles, especially for the 2016-2021 period.
Ms. Daniela RADULESCU (Romania), was elected President of the EUROPEINBO Group for the year to come, until the next conference in 2015.
The delegates decided to hold next ”EUROPE-INBO” conferences in 2015, in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2016 in Lourdes, France and in 2017 in Dublin, Ireland.
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