Water directors to discuss future policy strategy
An informal meeting of water directors from the EU Member States and other European countries will be held in Brno from 28 to 29 May.
The meeting will mainly be concerned with a discussion of the further mandate for the Common Implementation Strategy for water policy in the 2010 – 2012 period.
The term “water director” is often mistakenly interpreted in the Czech Republic as meaning a person responsible for “water mains and sewers”. However, in the EU context, it is a far more extensive term. Water directors stand at the apex of the pyramid called the Common Implementation Strategy, which is based on the Framework Water Directive, issued nine years ago, and a number of supplementary “daughter directives”.
2009 is a very important year from the standpoint of water policy. By the end of the year, all EU countries must publish “river basin management plans” for the first time. These consist in strategic and evaluation documents reflecting current water conditions and proposing individual measures for improvement.
In 2009, the term of this strategy ends with the first stage of the Framework Directive. Work is also continuously progressing throughout this year on the creation of a mandate for the upcoming 2010 – 2012 period. Consequently, the draft mandate will be the most topical theme in Brno. The structure of the meeting will also be different from previous meetings. The water directors will be divided into smaller groups for special discussions on the basis of several criteria (geographic position, year of accession, size of the country etc). This system will allow a particular topic to be discussed in smaller groups of participants defending the various interests of the individual EU countries.
Water is a valuable natural resource that is essential for life on Earth. As such, it is necessary to protect it, not only individually in the different countries, but also comprehensively. Consequently, integrated water management is one of the EU priorities. It is also necessary to include other sectors in the debate, such as farming, industry and energy production. These three topics will be discussed during the meeting and the outputs will be taken into consideration in the final draft of the mandate for 2010 – 2012. This mandate will subsequently be approved at the next meeting of the water directors during the Swedish Presidency.
“Informal meetings of water directors are held regularly twice a year, in the currently presiding Member State,” explains Veronika Jáglová, Director of the Department of Water Protection of the Ministry of the Environment, who will chair the meeting. The Czech Republic chose the city of Brno as the venue for the meeting. This was because of the connection with the currently on-going WATENVI environmental trade fair, which is the largest water management event in the Czech Republic during the year. A traditional component of WATENVI consists in a practical demonstration of flood protection, which will be part of the agenda of the meeting of water directors.
Contact:
- Jakub Kašpar, spokesperson of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
- tel.: +420 267 122 040, mobile: +420 724 175 927; e-mail: jakub.kaspar@mzp.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:20
