State of play of international cooperation First analysis on the basis of article 3 and 5

1. CIS workshop on River Basin Management Plans 8 and 9 May 2006 Session 3: Drawing up an international RBMP State of play of international cooperation First analysis on the basis of article 3 and 5 Marieke van Nood

2. Without Greece and Italy: • 27 IRBDs (69 national RBDs) • 65% of EU surface is part of IRBD

3. 29 14 Danube Rhine

4. Contents • Article 3 reports • Assignment to IRBD • Competent authorities • Cooperation agreements • Article 5 reports • National reports • Roof reports • Conclusions • Recommendations

5. Article 3 WFD Assignment to international river basin districts Most international river basins have been properly assigned to the relevant IRBD’s. Sometimes not properly assigned if: -shared with non EU country -small areas are located outside territory

6. Article 3 WFD Competent authorities No international body assigned as competent authority in an IRBD => All reporting and compliance checking via MS International art. 3.8 reports Danube Odra

7. Article 3 WFD Cooperation agreements • Most MS have arrangements in place to facilitate a coordinated WFD implementation across the IRBD. • Sometimes, arrangements were not reported, even if a transboundary agreement is known to be in place. • Agreements with non EU-MS at north-eastern fringe and south-eastern fringe are not yet finalised, non-existing or non-functioning.

8. Article 5 WFD National reports: only 13 MS assessed so far Characterisation of surface water bodies For most IRBDs inside EU coordination took place of the approaches used to characterise surface water bodies, but no insight yet in what ‘coordination’ exactly is. For IRBDs partly outside EU, coordination not always in place and not always indicated if this will be achieved before 2009.

9. Article 5 WFD National reports Characterisation of groundwater bodies Out of 11 MS with international river basins assessed so far, 5 % of groundwater bodies is transboundary

10. Article 5 WFD International art. 5 reports (‘roof reports’) Danube Rhine Elbe Odra Scheldt Meuse Ems

11. Article 5 WFD International art. 5 reports (‘roof reports’) Assessment criteria • Characterisation surface waterbodies comparable • Characterisation groundwater bodies comparable • Method risk assessment comparable • Economic analysis comparable • Public consultation • Transparency (level of information, background docs) • Approach A and B reports (top down/bottom up)

12. Article 5 WFD ‘roof reports’- surface water characterisation

13. Article 5 WFD ‘roof reports’ - groundwater bodies -In Danube, Rhine transboundary groundwaterbodies are designated. -In Elbe, Odra, Scheldt, Meuse and Ems no transboundary groundwaterbodies, although transboundary aquifers exist.

14. Article 5 WFD roof reports - risk assessment

15. Article 5 WFD Conclusions • From national reports: methodologies very diverse across Europe and rarely harmonised within int. RBD • Only 7 roof characterisation reports out of 27 IRBDs • Roof Reports coordinated internationally through an appropriate mechanism provide considerable added value: • Results are agreed on by MS concerned • First step to IRBMP is made • For international aspects much more transparent than various national/regional reports • Difficult to find benchmarks for good international cooperation

16. Recommendations • Compliance in international river basin districts is about comparability, not about details and accuracy. • Optimise coordination between international, national (and regional) RBMPs by every planning cycle. • Roof Reports should be reported separately in an appropriate format.

17. More info All articles 3+ 5 reports are available at http: //forum.europa.eu.int/Public/ irc/env/wfd/library Draft maps are available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/water/ water-framework/transposition.html