Het creëren van een EU Blue Deal met oog op rurale ontwikkeling en landbouw in de Europese regio’s
Opinion factsheet
Op deze pagina
- Landbouw, maritiem beleid en consumentenbeleid
- Landbouw
- Rampenpreventie
- Plattelandsontwikkeling
- Cohesiebeleid
- Grensoverschrijdende en territoriale samenwerking
- Milieu
- Waterbeleid
Opinion number:
CDR-5513-2023
Status:
Goedgekeurd
Objective
Given the great disparities between European regions in terms of drought and floods, it is important that the EU evolve towards a horizontal but also systematic approach that protects all EU territories evenly in relation to the potential risks.
The aim is twofold:
To contribute to the development of an EU Blue Deal that identifies the current drought and flood challenges with a particular focus on water quality, in cooperation with national, regional and local authorities, within the current EU directives. This Blue Deal should also outline long-term solutions to coordinate water policies across borders through structural contacts between local authorities in the same river basin. One of these solutions is a framework that in the long term finances water policy measures and investments with a focus on supporting rural areas and farmers.
To make policy proposals to:
a. Increase the involvement of local and regional authorities in water policy. Public administrations need to work together on agriculture and nature to minimise water shortages and floods;
b. Increase resilience against water shortages and floods by focusing on circular water use and water retention in soil. Resilience must go hand in hand with increased security of supply;
c. Invest in innovation to make our European water system smarter, and more robust and sustainable.
The aim is twofold:
To contribute to the development of an EU Blue Deal that identifies the current drought and flood challenges with a particular focus on water quality, in cooperation with national, regional and local authorities, within the current EU directives. This Blue Deal should also outline long-term solutions to coordinate water policies across borders through structural contacts between local authorities in the same river basin. One of these solutions is a framework that in the long term finances water policy measures and investments with a focus on supporting rural areas and farmers.
To make policy proposals to:
a. Increase the involvement of local and regional authorities in water policy. Public administrations need to work together on agriculture and nature to minimise water shortages and floods;
b. Increase resilience against water shortages and floods by focusing on circular water use and water retention in soil. Resilience must go hand in hand with increased security of supply;
c. Invest in innovation to make our European water system smarter, and more robust and sustainable.
Impact
European Commission provided its follow-up on 8 October 2024. The Commission underlines that it can only indicate how elements of the opinion are considered under the current mandate without giving more specific indications as to the priorities set by the new Commission.
In its follow-up, the Commission takes note of the call for a long-term water resilience strategy, shares the objective of policy coherence across sectors on water management, climate change adaptation, restoration of natural water cycles and reducing the risk of (water-related) disasters management plans and suggests that the issue will contribute to map water issues in the EU and inform potential action by the next Commission, and acknowledges that local and regional conditions and characteristics should be taken into account and that local and regional authorities should be engaged in water management.
The Commission agrees with the CoR opinion on various issues, such as:
• the importance of water savings, efficiency and reuse in various sectors
• the central importance of water availability for agriculture and food security highlighting that the Common Agricultural Policy is already supporting a transition to a more water-smart and resilient agriculture
• the importance to tackle pollution at source, and it has taken a range of measures under the European Green Deal. Nevertheless, the Commission also admits that some action remains to be taken by Member States to better implement the existing EU acquis, particularly the Water Framework Directive, etc.
• protecting and restoring the water cycle is a key priority to improve water resilience
• the importance to close the significant investment gap to achieve the objectives of the water acquis which is estimated at around EUR 25 billion/year at EU level but it also emphasises that closing the investments gaps requires a higher mobilisation of both private and public funding
• digital means should be used to their fullest extent inter alia to improve management of drinking water sources, treatment and supply
• the importance of a holistic and integrated approach to water management involving all water using sectors including also non-consumptive user of water
• to make areas more resilient to present and future water-related climate threats like fluvial and pluvial floods and prolonged droughts, it is important to restore lost flood plains adjacent to streams and rivers
In its follow-up, the Commission takes note of the call for a long-term water resilience strategy, shares the objective of policy coherence across sectors on water management, climate change adaptation, restoration of natural water cycles and reducing the risk of (water-related) disasters management plans and suggests that the issue will contribute to map water issues in the EU and inform potential action by the next Commission, and acknowledges that local and regional conditions and characteristics should be taken into account and that local and regional authorities should be engaged in water management.
The Commission agrees with the CoR opinion on various issues, such as:
• the importance of water savings, efficiency and reuse in various sectors
• the central importance of water availability for agriculture and food security highlighting that the Common Agricultural Policy is already supporting a transition to a more water-smart and resilient agriculture
• the importance to tackle pollution at source, and it has taken a range of measures under the European Green Deal. Nevertheless, the Commission also admits that some action remains to be taken by Member States to better implement the existing EU acquis, particularly the Water Framework Directive, etc.
• protecting and restoring the water cycle is a key priority to improve water resilience
• the importance to close the significant investment gap to achieve the objectives of the water acquis which is estimated at around EUR 25 billion/year at EU level but it also emphasises that closing the investments gaps requires a higher mobilisation of both private and public funding
• digital means should be used to their fullest extent inter alia to improve management of drinking water sources, treatment and supply
• the importance of a holistic and integrated approach to water management involving all water using sectors including also non-consumptive user of water
• to make areas more resilient to present and future water-related climate threats like fluvial and pluvial floods and prolonged droughts, it is important to restore lost flood plains adjacent to streams and rivers
Essential points
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
calls for the creation of an EU Blue Deal and believes that water should be recognised as a strategic priority in the Multiannual Financial Programme 2028-2034;
believes that a long-term water resilience strategy is necessary to tackle water pollution, water scarcity, floods and biodiversity loss, paying attention to each Member State’s local and regional characteristics. To manage water-related risks, there is a need for policy coherence across sectors on water management, climate change adaptation, restoration of natural water cycles and reducing the risk of (water related) disasters;
emphasises that the lack of management and targeted coordination of water policies delays the creation of water infrastructure. Respecting the subsidiarity principle, local and regional conditions and characteristics should be taken into account when setting water-related objectives and priorities;
calls upon the European Commission 2024-2029 to come forward with a comprehensive and ambitious Water-Smart Strategy, and a European platform on water where local and regional authorities and services within the same river basin can work together on water policy;
draws attention to the potential of innovation and research on making water use more efficient and sustainable. Through an innovative European platform on water technology and efficient use of European funds, essential investments can be made to play a prominent role in innovation;
suggests that all common agricultural policy (CAP) plans should enhance sustainable and efficient water management. The CAP budgets should continue to allocate funds for water infrastructure and management to provide adequate compensation for farmers who actively support the development of green-blue infrastructure, and to support a transition to more water-efficient farming techniques;
stresses that civil protection should become a horizontal part of water management. Investments in resilience to water-related play a key role in mitigating and minimising the extreme effects of droughts and floods.