At their 30 October meeting in Luxembourg, the ministers acknowledged that water scarcity and droughts have a direct impact on citizens and the economy, and affect the environment as a whole - not only in Europe.
According to the Commission, several member states - mainly in the south and representing almost 20% of the EU population and at least 12% of EU territory - are affected by water scarcity.
The ministers reiterated the importance of better implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the EU's "flagship directive" on water policy, and welcomed the most recent Commission communication on water scarcity and droughts, adopted on 18 July as a "fundamental and well-developed first set of policy options for future actions".
The ministers asked the Commission to present a follow-up report in 2008, including deadlines for the implementation of the measures identified in the communication, and to review and further develop the evolving EU strategy for water scarcity and droughts by 2012.
The ministers also highlighted the fundamental problem of ineffective water management, which influences water scarcity and can induce additional impacts when a drought occurs. In this context, the Council called for a more common approach to drought risk assessment and drought management planning. This must be consistent with the WFD and shall be jointly developed by the Commission and the member states in the near future, according to the ministers.
The proportion of both the EU territory and EU population affected by drought has increased from 6% to 13% since 1990, according to Commission's assessment. EU estimates put the overall economic impact of droughts in the past 30 years at €100 billion, even without including the social and environmental costs.
The EU's thirst for water is expected to grow 16% by 2030, but this demand can be met more than twice through water-saving measures, according to the Commission communication.
