Proceeding with Programme of Measures & River Basin Management Plans

1. How to proceed with the Programme of Measures and the River Basin Management Plans? Pierre Strosser April 2006

2. What is the starting point? • Characterisation of river basins • Pressures & impacts analysis (including identification of heavily modified water bodies) • Economic analysis of water uses (importance of water uses, baseline, cost-recovery) • First risk-assessment • List of protected areas • Some consultation of stakeholders performed • Article 5 reports sent to the European Commission – with highly variable quality • Work on objectives and reference conditions started/under way (e.g. inter-calibration) April 2006

3. What are the next steps (1)? • Updating monitoring for complying with WFD requirements (operational, investigative, surveillance) • Finalising definition of objectives and classification • Identifying significant water management issues • Revising the characterisation and risk-assessment (so it well supports the discussion on measures) April 2006

4. What are the next steps (2)? • Defining the programme of measures: • Basic measures, supplementary measures, measures required for reaching good ecological potential (heavily modified water bodies) • Cost-effectiveness analysis • But also: • Financial analysis (time derogation) • cost-benefit analysis (alternative objective) • Other assessment (social issues, affordability, etc) April 2006

5. What are the next steps (3)? • Building and adopting the river basin management plan (2009) • Ensuring pricing coherent with Article 9 requirements • Implementing the plan • Monitoring, evaluating (revised characterisation and risk-assessment) & updating the plan (second plan)… • Enforcement April 2006

6. What are the next steps (4)? • Within a process ensuring participation of stakeholders and consultation of the public • Working programme • Significant water management issues • Draft river basin management plan • Transboundary river basins! April 2006

7. A risky business? • Doing what we are used to do – a plan that might: • Not tackle priorities & WFD issues • Consider only traditional measures • Be driven by national priorities (transboundary) • Preparing a plan that will never be implemented • No money, no people, no interest… April 2006

8. What will make it successful (1)? • Rapidly clarify/decide on environmental objectives! • Find a emergency route independent of the inter-calibration process • Clarify how « alternative objectives » (derogation) will be decided (scale, issues considered, process) April 2006

9. What will make it successful (2)? • Organise and structure the information base • GIS, databases & metadata, models… • Already initiated during characterisation, but still significant efforts required to update and to integrate measures • A priority today – to facilitate/more effective long-term planning and policy process April 2006

10. What will make it successful (3)? • Strengthen the integration between technical, economic, social experts • In particular for successful cost-effectiveness analysis (considering wide range of measures jointly defined)! • But also for (i) environmental cost issues, (ii) cost-benefit assessments • Communication & information for complex technical issues April 2006

11. What will make it successful (4)? • Integrate in the process and ensure clear tasks/responsibilities for those who • Analyse • Decide • Finance • Implement • Communicate • Enforce • Many of them not necessarily from the water community (see inter-sectoral issues) or from the same country (tranboundary issues) April 2006

12. What will make it successful (5)? • Strengthen participation and consultation (shared ownership as key to successful implementation) • Identifying questions of stakeholders relevant to different WFD that need/can be addressed • Integrating stakeholder knoweldge in assessments • Inform and communicate in a clear and transparent manner • Take stakeholders comments into account – and build mechanisms for adequate reporting April 2006

13. What will make it successful (6)? • Develop efficient inter-sectoral institutional mechanisms • Building consultation mechanisms between ministries • Ensuring river basin management plans and WFD requirements integrated in other plans/planning processes • Integrating WFD priorities into financing mechanisms (e.g. agriculture/cross-compliance) April 2006

14. What will make it successful (7)? • Prepare decisions at the right scale • Water body – local issues with a given economic actor • River basin – interconnected issues • Sector level – e.g. defining financial mechanisms for supporting implementation of given sectors, agreeing on level of effort • National level – economic instruments April 2006

15. What will make it successful (8)? • Ensure that financial issues (sources, allocation…) are well taken care of • Consider diversity of sources of financing (local to national) • Ensure application of Article 9 • Identify new financing mechanisms (e.g. environmental taxes & charges) • Use all opportunities in sector-targeted financing • Do not plan (too much…) out of the scope of financial capability (=> possible time derogation) April 2006

16. What will make it successful (9)? • Strenghten capacity (for all…) • Process management & animation • Economics • Ecology • Database management • Communication & information April 2006

17. What will make it successful (10)? • Build a progressive shift in mentality • Changing culture (wider pool of experts, recognition of new role of administration in water management) • Integrate WFD principles into current decisions & projects • Does it contribute to reaching the objectives of the WFD? (Article 4) • Is it the most cost-effective solution? (Annex III) • Do the benefit outweight the costs? (Article 4.7) • Are we consistent with the polluter-pays & user pay principle? (Article 9) • Have stakeholders been consulted/involved? (Article 14) April 2006

18. In conclusion • The adoption of the WFD in 2000 has given us a great challenge! • The first step is behind us – It has shows willingness but also constraints… • The second step will be more difficult – as decisions in terms of measures, sectors targeted, financing…are at stake! • Time is still short (in particular for transboundary river basins) • But this should not be used as excuse to favour «business as usual» • Let’s use effectively the opportunities offered by the WFD for improving good ecological status! April 2006

19. Thanks for your attention…. April 2006