Frederiksen, P. & Maenpaa, M. (eds.) 2007. NERI Technical report No. 603. 97 pp.
The report introduces the ecosystem based approach to integrated natural resource management, which is behind the European Water Framework Directive, and how former European legislation on water is integrated into this framework. The approach implies setting objectives for water bodies and the production of management plans related to river basins. The aim is to introduce the legislation, the ways that policy coherence in the area of water management is met through the Framework Directive, the measures that it prescribes, and the possible gaps that may need to be addressed in the future. These possible gaps are related to the actual implementation of the water management plans. A successful implementation implies an incorporation of water goals into sector policies, such that tools and measures to secure the reduction of pressures are available. It is a question if the instruments in the legislation in combination with strategic environmental assessment will secure this integration. Moreover, spatial aspects of river basin management should be considered, by facilitating interaction between physical planning and water plans, and by gearing the institutional set-up in this direction. A survey of the national implementation of the Water Framework Directive in countries around the Baltic Sea considers some of these issues, and examples of possible solutions are given.
Chapter 1 introduces the idea of integrated water management, and the concepts of spatial fit and institutional interplay, which captures some of the dilemmas in modern natural resource management. Spatial fit points to the spatial overlap between resource delimitations (like river basins) and the administrative units. Institutional interplay is about the institutional set-up and how it responds to demand for interaction and co-operation among institutions with different but interacting management tasks. Moreover, the method used for analysis of European legislation is introduced. Three approaches are taken: 1) Analysis of which stage in the DPSIR chain water development the legislation aim to influence, 2) How various directives refer to each other (policy integration), and 3) If spatial approaches are needed in the implementation of legislation.
Chapter 2 is an introduction to the Water Framework Directive. The purpose of the legislation is described as well as its background and procedural elements. The important elements are the identification of pressures, Programme of Measures, River Basin Management Plan and the economic analysis. These are followed by several stages of participatory processes. The chapter additionally describes other legislation – both water related and related to other environmental goals - that is embedded in the approach, and the legislation that will be repealed during the implementation period.
Chapter 3 discusses the relationship between the approach taken in the WFD and the European Spatial Development Perspective, which expresses the European guidelines on spatial integration. Other European policy with implications for land use and spatial development is recorded, and the implications of these policies for the WFD are discussed. This implies a discussion of the integration of water goals into sector policies.
Chapter 4 describe other pieces of EU legislation, which may act as levers for the integration of water management objectives into other EU policy, notably the sector policies. The issues addressed are the policies related to public participation and the Aarhus convention, and the impact assessment policies. The Strategic Environmental Assessment directive is specifically addressed, and the need for more precise interpretations on the application of SEA for River Basin Management Plans and Programs of Measures as well as for sector policies is discussed.
Chapter 5 analyses and synthesizes the various pieces of legislation, introduced in former chapters. The use of management plans, designation of areas and production of management plans accompanied by maps in different legislative texts indicate that spatial integration of management tools and measures need to be integrated. Increasing demand for public participation in new directives and at various stages of the implementation, are elements which could warrant a focus on timing of processes potentials for integration of issues. The potentials for conflicting objectives across directives are looked at, as well as the mutual support that can also be found.
Chapter 6 looks into the national implementation of the WFD in countries around the Baltic Sea. A questionnaire has been sent out to responsible authorities, and questions on the implementation of the WFD have been explored. Additionally, territorial units for physical planning and for river basins management are identified, and the institutional set-up around these issues are described. Based on this survey material a cross-cutting analysis of the national implementation set-up is discussed in the framework of spatial fit and institutional interplay.
Chapter 7 contains a summary of the issues from the report and concludes by highlighting the need for further environmental integration in sector policies as well as integration of water management plans and physical planning, for the benefit of water goals, as well as other environmental and land use management.
Full report in pdf-format (2,720 kB).
