{"id":2563,"date":"2020-06-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/news\/revision-of-the-eu-policy-instruments-related-to-drought-and-water-scarcity-mitigation\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T08:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:13:13","slug":"revision-of-the-eu-policy-instruments-related-to-drought-and-water-scarcity-mitigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/archive\/revision-of-the-eu-policy-instruments-related-to-drought-and-water-scarcity-mitigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Revision of the EU policy instruments, related to drought and water scarcity mitigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Th<\/span><\/span>e revision of the policy instruments<\/span><\/span><\/a> was done as<\/span> <\/span><\/span>one of the<\/span> follow up step<\/span>s<\/span> of the <\/span>Guidelines for preparation of the Drought Management Plans<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/a>which introduced a seven-step approach to develop a plan in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive.<\/span> It aims to identify other selected <\/span>EU <\/span>policies in various fields<\/span> that might support management <\/span>of droughts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Missing <\/span>drought policies<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Droughts are always <\/span>a <\/span>context natural phenomenon and the response to drought needs to reflect specific circumstances. Severity and frequency of <\/span>drought<\/span>s<\/span> can lead to water scarcity situation, while overexploitation of available water resources to meet various water needs can exacerbate the consequences of <\/span>drought<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span> Despite extensive damages in the last decades, <\/span>drought<\/span>s<\/span> ha<\/span>ve<\/span> <\/span><\/span>been traditionally managed only as crisis <\/span>situation<\/span>s<\/span>, by implementing emergency procedures and urgent measures<\/span>. <\/span>M<\/span>ost countries in the region do not have an <\/span>\u201c<\/span>umbrella document<\/span>\u201d<\/span> in place that would directly address the overall drought management. <\/span>Drought<\/span>s<\/span> and <\/span>their<\/span> management are only partially and insufficiently considered in various strategic documents, laws, regulations, and programs, mostly only in connection with emergency situations and natural disasters. In addition, terms like dryness, dry periods, heat waves, water scarcity and drought seem in these documents to be used interchangeably. There is also an evident lack of operational national drought management plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he need for action<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

T<\/span>here is <\/span>currently <\/span>no EU directive or policy especially dedicated to drought<\/span> <\/span><\/span>but <\/span>current legislation<\/span>,<\/span> sectoral policies<\/span>,<\/span> and instruments \u2013 binding or not \u2013 in the fields of water, agriculture, climate change, energy, industry, transport, nature protection, <\/span>and<\/span> biodiversity <\/span>are partially or at least marginally related to drought management and can <\/span>therefore <\/span>support drought management policies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

In this <\/span>r<\/span>evision<\/span>,<\/span> EU policies<\/span>,<\/span> related to <\/span>water, agriculture, climate change, energy, industry, transport, nature protection, <\/span>and <\/span>biodiversity<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span><\/span>have been <\/span>analyzed<\/span> by experts on the basis of five criteria<\/span>: 1) <\/span>monitoring; <\/span>2) <\/span>incentives to water efficiency and circular economy; <\/span>3) <\/span>knowledge and research; <\/span>4) <\/span>measures to improve drought management and to develop drought management plans; <\/span>5) <\/span>financial instruments. <\/span><\/p>\n

Revision of the policy instruments<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span>will serve countries as background for the integration of drought management into most relevant existing policies. Additionally, it will support a development of a separate (new) drought policy with reference to existing legal frameworks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Key <\/span>points <\/span>of<\/span> the revision<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Water Framework Directive<\/span><\/span> contains several provisions dealing with quantitative aspects which <\/span>connect with<\/span> water scarcity problems. The joint <\/span>Integrated Drought Management <\/span>Programme<\/span><\/span> of WMO and GWP CEE addressed this and developed special <\/span>Guidelines for the development of the Drought Management Plan<\/span> as part of the RBMP. The links between the preparation of drought management plans and river basin management plans may have a <\/span>synergi<\/span>c<\/span> effect in achieving environmental objectives. A direct connection with EU water policy can facilitate the development of national drought policy based on the principles of risk reduction and the improved implementation of the Water Framework Directive.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Agriculture is one of the largest water<\/span>–<\/span>demanding sectors. The <\/span>European Common Agricultural Policy<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>(CAP) focuses<\/span> <\/span><\/span>primarily on the agricultural perspective <\/span>of<\/span> water scarcity and drought, though it also has<\/span> <\/span><\/span>implications within the<\/span> <\/span><\/span>water management perspective as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>EU Climate Change Adaptation Strategy<\/span><\/span>, aiming to make Europe more climate-resilient, <\/span>strives to build a<\/span> <\/span><\/span>response capacity, prevention and limit the damage as it occurs. By taking a coherent<\/span> <\/span><\/span>approach and<\/span> <\/span><\/span>providing for improved coordination, it will enhance the preparedness and capacity of all<\/span> <\/span><\/span>governance levels to<\/span> <\/span><\/span>respond to the impacts of climate change<\/span> (especially drought impacts)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Natura 2000<\/span><\/span> network may contribute to the regulation of water extremities, and as such, it may play a role in mitigating droughts. The <\/span>Biodiversity strategy<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>for 2030 <\/span>provides a vision that has elements related to drought management. By consciously integrating green infrastructure concepts into spatial planning and territorial development, the environment becomes more \u201crobust\u201d, also in terms of drought resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo: Part of the evaluation chart.<\/em><\/p>\n

In conclusion<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Integrated Drought Management <\/span><\/span>Programme<\/span><\/span> in CEE<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span>and the <\/span>objectives of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region Priority Area 5 (environmental risks)<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span>are<\/span> <\/span><\/span>emphasizing<\/span> <\/span><\/span>on the improvement of drought risk preparedness, proactive management and enhanced cooperation of key national and regional level actors<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>All<\/span> to ensure the application of drought management in an integrated way.\u202f<\/span>With this revision<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span><\/span>there is a<\/span> hope to spark <\/span>multi-party conversation among public and private hydrological and climate change experts, water managers, those responsible for agricultural policy and major water users such as irrigators and urban water suppliers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent developments, like the presentation of the <\/span>European Green Deal<\/span><\/span><\/a> by the European<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Commission<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Public   consultation   on   the   New   EU   Climate  Adaptation  Strategy<\/span><\/span><\/a> and<\/span> <\/span><\/span>the adoption of the effects of climate change<\/span>,<\/span> including drought and water scarcity as<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Significant Water<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Management Issue by the <\/span>ICPDR<\/span><\/span><\/a>, might give further <\/span>momentum <\/span>to combat drought and<\/span> <\/span><\/span>water scarcity.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revision of the EU policy instruments and their potential to contribute to EU droughts and water scarcity policies prepared as a collaboration of Integrated Drought Management Programme in CEE and EU Strategy for the Danube Region (Priority Area Environmental Risks) experts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-2563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","tag-central-and-eastern-europe"],"acf":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_sidebar_content":["field_69d4d421acab1"],"sidebar_content":[""],"_old_url":["field_69d4d472acab2"],"old_url":["https:\/\/www.gwp.org\/en\/GWP-CEE\/WE-ACT\/news\/2020\/revision-of-the-eu-policy-instruments-related-to-drought-and-water-scarcity-mitigation\/"],"_last_date":["field_69d4d498acab3"],"last_date":["6\/17\/2020"],"_event_start":["field_69d4d4c4acab4"],"event_start":[""],"_event_end":["field_69d4d4dcacab5"],"event_end":[""],"_scrape_id":["field_69d4d4ebacab6"],"scrape_id":["01-GWP-English"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_thumbnail_id":["3354"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image.png",640,332,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image-300x156.png",300,156,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image.png",640,332,false],"large":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image.png",640,332,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image.png",640,332,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/04\/policy-revision-promo-image.png",640,332,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"satsiriwinberg@gmail.com","author_link":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/author\/satsiriwinberggmail-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Revision of the EU policy instruments and their potential to contribute to EU droughts and water scarcity policies prepared as a collaboration of Integrated Drought Management Programme in CEE and EU Strategy for the Danube Region (Priority Area Environmental Risks) experts.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2563"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2920,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563\/revisions\/2920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/cee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}