THE CHALLENGES OF EUROPEAN NETWORK ON WATER LAW
Considering the experience of the International Center for Comparative Environmental Law (CIDCE), an INGO specialized in comparative, international and Community environment law, accredited as a special consultative status by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations and by the UNESCO, based on the publication of the European Journal of Environmental Law and the experience of its animation of the “Natura 2000” and “Landscape” European networks, the creation of a European network the field of water policy shall promote knowledge, readability and monitoring the implementation of the law.
Network objective:
For many years, the issue of water has been a major concern for the EU and for each its member States, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The events which occurred in the summer of 2005 are only one more episode about the extent of this phenomenon. Thus we have noted:
– the increasingly accurate identification of the pollution of surface, groundwater and coastal water. This now affects all ecosystems in all countries of the European Union and all activities,
– increased areas of drought, affecting southern Europe and now the center. Furthermore, the extent of its effect on ecosystems, leads to many activities, such as agriculture and tourism. The allocation of water is among the basic needs for humans, ecosystems and human activities. It becomes increasingly problematic.
– recurring floods generating increasingly significant damage is the latest example of problems posed.
Faced with these major problems, the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament have reinforced the terms of administration and management of water in Europe. The Framework Directive published in December 2000 is the beginning of a true coordinated European policy in this area, with specific requirements in terms of management means and objectives. This Directive complements a set of already existing texts (urban waste water, nitrate pollution, bathing water, water intended for human consumption, etc. ..). The ongoing reforms of the Directive on bathing water as that concerning pollution of groundwater, demonstrate consistent regulatory dynamics to meet the challenges.
Each country of the EU is now committed to implement this device. One of the major issues of Community law water is today its effective implementation and enforcement. From this perspective, the Commission noted repeatedly that many states were slow to transpose the text and to implement them, the Court of Justice of the European Communities has given numerous convictions for failure.
Environmental Lawyers following with interest the developments in the matter. The CIDCE contributed to the organization of conferences dedicated to water issues (sustainable river management, the implementation of European directives, including directives on water). The creation of a Legal Observatory of the implementation of the water law in Europe is therefore a necessity. Its missions will:
1 – legal monitoring and processing of information, including the collection and by maintaining information on the implementation of directives in the field of water, in particular the Framework Directive 2000 / 60. This is both to identify the contents and objectives of the various texts and their transposition by Member States of the European Union,
2 – dissemination of the information collected, by providing accurate legal information to actors framework Directive “water” and directives they did not repeal,
3 – research monitoring and evaluation, identifying the various phases of the framework Directive in time and space, and raising the legal difficulties arising from its implementation,
4 – examining legal issues raised by the various actors involved in the transposition, application texts and litigation,
5 – publication research results, especially in the form of reports and books, to monitor the implementation of the framework directivegeographical.
The Network fields
– 25 Member States of the Union, France’s partners . In a first approach, 15 states will be targetedequipment.
– This is to emphasize the Framework Directive, while integrating other directives to which it refers
Working Methods
The CIDCE proceed in 4 phases:
1 – selection of corresponding academic lawyers , researchers and / or practitioners, relying on networks of CRIDEAU and existing CIDCE, particularly in the context of ongoing work (networks Habitat and Landscape), but also:
– the European Council of environmental law
– the European Association of environmental law
-the European journal of environmental law
– developing a questionnaire in French and English for each of the identified corresponding to take stock of bibliographic places, texts force. After a general survey, there will be special questionnaires relating to the themes and major objectives of the Framework Directive,
2 – Processing and monitoring of the ECJ case law and the trial court, with reattachment of the comments made in the various country
3 – Counting the answers, then, from the general work and thematic work, there will be:
– a common analysis of the results
– possibly a supplementary request for information
– a synthesis of the results,
4 – drafting of synthesis work
the analysis and synthesis work will lead to:
– the drafting of draft reports
– to organize regular seminars (one to two per year) with more experienced partners (10/12 States )
– in the drafting of summary reports, as and measurement of advanced analytical work.
– publication of the work
LIST OF tHE EUROPEAN NETWORK OF WATER RIGHT
COUNTRY – NAME – EMAIL
GERMANY : Caroline von KRIES – caroline.v.kries@gmx.de
AUSTRIA : Otto DIETRICH – otto.dietrich@kwr.at
BELGIUM : Charles-Hubert BORN – charles-hubert.born@publ.ucl.ac.be / charles-hubert.born@uclouvain.be ; Laurence LEROY – l.renoy@skynet.be ; Sylviane LEPRINCE – Sylviane.Leprince@ulg.qe.be ; Etienne ORBAN de XIVRY – e.orban.de.xivry@avocat.be ; Francis HAUMONT – Francis.haumont@hsp.be ; Michel PAQUES – michel.paques@ulg.ac.be
DENMARK : Peter PAGH – peter.pagh@jur.ku.dk
SPAIN : Fernando LOPEZ RAMON – flopez@posta.unizar.es ; José Luis BERMEJO LATRE – berlatre@posta.unizar.es
FINLAND : Erkki HOLLO – erkki.hollo@kolumbus.fi ; Antti BELINSKIJ – antti.belinskij@helsinki.fi
FRANCE : Bernard DROBENKO – bernard.drobenko@unilim.fr ; Michel DUROUSSEAU – micheldurousseau@free.fr ; Eva GUYARD – evaguyard@univ-nantes.fr ; Céline RANDIER – randier_celine@yahoo.fr ; Marie-Pierre DUFFRENE-CAMPROUX – duffrene.camproux@free.fr ; Michel PRIEUR – michel.prieur@unilim.fr ; Eva GUYARD – evaguyard@yahoo.fr ; Eve TRUILHE-MARENGO – eve.truilhe@gmail.com ; Pascale STEICHEN – pascale.steichen@wanadoo.fr
GREECE: Marios HAIDARLIS – margeorg@hol.gr / margeorg@hol.gr ; Mihalis KRITICOS – m.kritikos@lsc.ac.uk ; Antonios SIFAKIS – asifakis@gmail.com
IRLAND : Oran DOYLE – ojdoyle@tcd.ie
ITALY : Domenico AMIRANTE – do.amirante@gmail.com ; Luigi COLLELA – devil1980@libero.it
LUXEMBOURG : Edgar ARENDT – edgard.arendt@tango.lu ; Fabienne ROSEN – fabienne.rosen@eau.etat.lu
THE NETHERLANDS : Marjan PEETERS – marjan.peeters@pubr.unimaas.nl ; Jacqueline ZIJLMANS – J.M.I.J.Zijlmans@dlb.rws.minvenw.nl / jacqueline.zijlmans@rws.nl ; Marleen van RIJSWCK – H.vanRijswick@uu.nl ; Andréa KEESSEN – a.keessen@uu.nl
POLAND : Konrad NOWACKI – konis@prawo.uni.wroc.pl ; Kazimir ROWNY – krowny@wp.pl ; Jan JERZMANSKI – jjb@jjb.com.pl ; Ewa KATARZYNA CZECH – dom445@wp.pl
PORTUGAL : Maria Alexandra ARAGÃO – aaragao@ci.uc.pt ; Joana MENDES – Joana.mendes@EUI.eu ; Marcio Albuquerque NOBRE – malnobre@hotmail.com
ROMANIA : Mircea DUTU – mircea_dutu@yahoo.com ; Victor MARCUSOHN – victor_marcusohn@yahoo.com
UNITED KINGDOM: Morgan BRONWEN – B.Morgan@bristol.ac.uk ; Catrin EGERTON – catrin.egerton@gmail.com ; Garcia QUESADA – M.GarciaQuesada@dundee.ac.uk
SWEDEN : Jan DARPÖ – jan.darpo@jur.uu.se
LIST OF MEETINGS
Limoges (France), 8 février 2007
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Paestum (Italie), 18-19 avril 2008
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Bucarest (Roumaie), 9-12 septembre 2009
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Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgique), 1er avril 2011
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