Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Nick Voulvoulis

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Centre for Environmental Policy

Professor of Environmental Technology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7459n.voulvoulis Website

 
 
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Location

 

103Weeks BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Voulvoulis:2017:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.228,
author = {Voulvoulis, N and Arpon, KD and Giakoumis, T},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.228},
journal = {Science of the Total Environment},
pages = {358--366},
title = {The EU Water Framework Directive: From great expectations to problems with implementation},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.228},
volume = {575},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) is widely accepted as the most substantial and ambitious piece of European environmental legislation to date. It has been referred to as a once in a generation opportunity to restore Europe's waters and a potential template for future environmental regulations. However, fifteen years since it was adopted, and with many problems and delays in its implementation, the WFD has not delivered its main objectives of non-deterioration of water status and the achievement of good status for all EU waters. Putting aside the daunting technical and organisational challenges of its implementation, this paper aims to shed light on why the great expectations that came with the WFD have not yet been fully realised. It reviews how the Directive has been interpreted, focusing on its intentions and how they were applied. The findings reveal the absence of the paradigm shift towards the systems (integrated) thinking that the WFD was grounded on, as a fundamental problem with its implementation. This is also evident in cases where the Directive has been criticised as a policy tool or when implementation efforts were reviewed, indicating misunderstandings even of its core principles. This inherent departure from the Directive's systemic intention and methodological approach needs further investigation, as it could be the reason behind many of its problems and delays. Unless current implementation efforts are reviewed or revised in light of this, enabling the paradigm shift required to ensure a more sustainable and holistic approach to water management, the fading aspirations of the initial great expectations that came with the Directive could disappear for good.
AU  - Voulvoulis,N
AU  - Arpon,KD
AU  - Giakoumis,T
DO  - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.228
EP  - 366
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 0048-9697
SP  - 358
TI  - The EU Water Framework Directive: From great expectations to problems with implementation
T2  - Science of the Total Environment
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.228
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971632157X?via%3Dihub
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/42413
VL  - 575
ER  -
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