efforts remain challenging, for example in Central Asia and South Eastern Europe. Combined with greater access of civil society to policy-making and implementation processes, better monitoring and data exchange systems are also crucial for improving local-to-national level water policies, and improving coordination among policy-making at different levels, from the local to the pan-European.


The transboundary Rhine River crosses Belgium, France, Germany,


the Netherlands, and Switzerland Credit: Shutterstock/Yurchyks


1996 Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control Directive addressing pollution from large industrial installations, and the 2007 Floods Directive. The Water Framework Directive places great emphasis on the concept of integrated water resources management at the catchment scale, and thus promotes stronger institutionalization of environmental management efforts similar to what has emerged in the Rhine River basin since the 1970s. In addition to UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Programme, the Water Framework Directive and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EEA’s EIONET) in particular provide the most elaborate and coherent framework for monitoring freshwater systems at a transboundary scale.


Thirdly, several MEAs at the global level and the WFD define basic principles for international freshwater management. One example of a global MEA is the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. These global MEAs essentially codify practices that have existed in Western European river basins for the past few decades, such as setting up monitoring systems at the river basin scale and exchanging data in a transparent and reliable manner. These practices have helped considerably in resolving transboundary water allocation and pollution issues. They also provide useful points of reference, particularly for parts of the pan- European region where international freshwater catchment institutions have only emerged recently and where such


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In areas of the pan-European region where basin-scale governance systems are weak, for example in Central Asia, global-level MEAs provide elements for resolving transboundary water allocation and pollution problems. Cases such as the Syr Darya and Amu Darya or the Euphrates and Tigris basins also show, however, that these global principles provide only limited leverage when political conflicts over water among riparian countries emerge. In most cases, riparian countries need to resolve such problems on their own, sometimes with technical and financial support from other countries and international institutions, for example, the UNECE Water Convention, the OECD, the OSCE, the World Bank or the EU.


Better data and greater transparency are also essential prerequisites for meaningful use of market instruments and for enhancing domestic and transboundary liability schemes. They are also important first steps in trying to resolve transboundary water allocation and pollution challenges associated with consumptive and non-consumptive water uses, as well as pollution from industry, agriculture and mining. Continuing development of the pan-European water governance framework and monitoring system, using the UNECE Water Convention and its Protocol on Water and Health, the EU’s Water Framework Directive, the EEA’s EIONET and UNEP’s GEMS-Water could help to reduce the differences in basin management in the region.


Going forward, Rio+20 placed water at the core of sustainable development and highlighted the need to reduce water pollution, improve water quality and reduce water loss. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has a specific water-related goal encompassing water management, water supply and sanitation as well as water quality (UN 2015b) (More...101).


GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European Region


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