The WFD Implementation in the European Member States

The Water Framework Directive (WFD), one of the most influential pieces of European water legislation, presents a general framework for integrated river basin management in Europe to meet the environmental objectives. More than 16 years after the WFD adoption and after the end of the first management cycle (in 2015), it is time for a screening assessment of the implementation of the WFD in the different Member States (MSs). This article provides a global overview about the evolution of WFD implementation in MSs, highlighting the progression of the European water bodies status, as well as, some of the main challenges of WFD implementation: ecological flows, pricing policies/economic analysis, climate change, exemptions, public participation and transboundary issues. The paper examines these different topic, drawing up their situation in different MSs. For that purpose, not only the foreseen second cycle of the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) is analysed as also, at a larger scale, the expectations and challenges for the future set by the WFD are examined.