Water Governance at the European Union

It has been recognized that the current water crisis is a crisis of water governance (Global Water Partnership 2000). Resolving water governance problems will lead to the achievement of sustainable water resources management and development. Water governance refers to the range of political, social, economic, and administrative systems that are in place to regulate the development and management of water resources and provision of water services at different levels of society (Global Water Partnership 2002). Governance issues have important implications for the management of water resources at all administrative levels — global, regional, national and local — and good governance is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), according to the Global Water Partnership (GWP) (2002). Water laws provide the framework for water governance systems and are the pillar for achieving effective governance in a given country. The main principles for effective water governance are: openness and transparency, inclusion and communication, coherence and integration, equity and ethics. At the European Union (EU) level, the Water Framework Directive1 (WFD) provides the basic elements to contribute to effective water governance in European Union member states2. The main objective of this article is to present the water governance system of the European Union, based primarily on the European Community Water Framework Directive. Firstly, it reviews the European Union context, in particular European Community (EC) environmental law and policy. It follows with a brief analysis of the instruments shaping the European Community water law architecture. In particular, it will emphasize the Water Framework Directive that, since its entry into force on December 22, 2000, represents the primary water policy legislation in the European Union. Finally, some conclusions will be provided.