Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Report on the review of the European water scarcity and droughts policy

Over the past decade, the concerns about drought events and water scarcity have grown within the EU, especially with regard to long-term imbalances of water demand and water availability in Europe. Following one of the most widespread droughts in 2003 affecting over 100 million people, a third of the EU territory, with a cost of at least €8.7 billion, the EU Council of Ministers asked the European Commission to address the challenges of water scarcity and droughts (WS&D) in the EU.

The Commission responded to this call in the Communication on water scarcity & droughts in the European Union, which laid down a water hierarchy under which water demand management should come first, and alternative supply options only once the potential for water efficiency has been exhausted. The Communication identified seven main policy options to address the WS&D challenges.

The Commission has assessed progress in implementing these policy options in annual follow-up reports in 2008, 2009 and 2010. This report responds to the 2007 Council request to review by 2012 whether the policy on water scarcity and droughts has achieved its objectives of reducing water scarcity and vulnerability to droughts. It also looks into whether action taken in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has contributed to addressing WS&D.

This assessment is based on a number of studies launched by the European Commission and on the assessment of the Member States river basin management plans (RBMPs). It is one of the pillars supporting the development of the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources. Further details can be found in the annexed Commission Staff Working Document.

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)672: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:672:FIN

European Commission: SWD(2012)380: Commission staff working document http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2012:0380:FIN:EN:PDF

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