Understanding EU Water Directives



Summary: The EU Water Directives offer frameworks within which European Union Member States can act. They are the Water Framework Directive and the Floods Directive. This page looks at their aims and implementation.

In early November 2009, we attended the 5th Annual Conference of the European Water Association in Brussels, Belgium. The main topic of discussion at the conference was the European Union's Floods Directive.

Fortunately, we were able to speak to Maria Brattemark from the European Commission (Desk Officer for the Protection of Water and Marine Environment for DG Environment) about both EU Water Directives and their implementation. In the following interview she explains the roles of the Directives very clearly.



To find out more about government water policies, please follow these links:

Water Policy

Water And Climate Change

Ensuring drinking water quality standards: From source to the tap

Bottled water quality: bottled water vs tap water

Can desalination technology solve the coming water crisis?

Water quality and availability concerns require demand management

Deforestation and water quality are inextricably linked

Water quality studies: monitoring our freshwater sources

Harnessing water's potential: What is hydropower?

Water Filter Reviews