EWA Newsletter

23 December 2008 – Issue n°3

 

 
 
 
 


 Editorial – Overview of Year 2008
 
 
Dear readers,
 
Whilst the December newsletter includes the latest information on EWA’s activities, we would like to take this opportunity to give a brief overview of the year 2008.
 
Indeed, this year has been very eventful for the European Water Association. For another year the EWA organised its annual meeting of the Executive Directors of the national member associations. The meeting took place in Brussels in February 2008. The experience exchange amongst the Executive Directors was briskly discussed.
 
In April 2008 EWA with the cooperation of CIWEM and UK Sustainable Organic Resources Partnership organised a Workshop on Knowledge and Practices of Using Treated Sewage Sludge on Land. The event welcomed more than 75 delegates from 14 countries. The conclusions of the Workshop were summarised in a Final Report and also sent to the DG Environment.
 
During IFAT 2008, which took place in Munich in May, the EWA organised its 3rd Joint Specialty Conference "Sustainable Water Management in Response to 21st Century Pressures". The conference was the third of a series of events organised in cooperation with the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Japan Sewage Works Association (JSWA). The conference was attended by more than 300 participants and the sessions included presentations from Europe, USA and Japan. EWA organised during the week of the conference the annual Council Meeting and the Management Committee meeting.
 
In September 2008 EWA established its new office in Brussels. The Head of External Affairs Mr Frédéric de Hemptinne will represent the association within the Brussels Institutions and amongst the Water actors. The official opening of the office took place on the 3rd of November 2008.
 
EWA organised its 4th Annual Brussels Conference “European Water Management and the Economic Aspects of the Water Framework Directive” on 4th of November 2008. The conference took place as usual in the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria in EU and it was attended by more than 100 participants. Dr. Helmut Blöch from the European Commission was invited to give the Keynote speech of the conference. Also an opening speech was kindly given by
 the MEP Dr. Richard Seeber – rapporteur on Water Scarcity for the European Parliament.
 
EWA actively participate in the regional coordination of the 5th World Water Forum taking place in March 2009 in Istanbul.
 
 
The Editorial Team and all standing behind the European Water Association would like to wish you jolly Holiday Season and success for the new 2009.
 
Yours,
 
EWA Team
 
 
EWA’s Agenda

 EWA EVENTS

  19 -21 January 2009
The Energy – Water Nexus: Managing the Links between Energy and Water for Sustainable Future( more )
Brussels, Belgium
 
21 -23 January 2009
Conference on the International Dimensions of Climate Policies ( more )
Switzerland
 
29. - 30. January 2009
Water Efficiency in Urban Areas Concepts, Technologies, Socio Economics ( more )
Würzburg, Germany
 
19-21 March 2009
“Modern methods of storm water drainage in urban coastal areas” ( more )
Rijeka, Croatia
 
22 March 2009
World Water Day ( more )
 
30 March – 03 April 2009
Water Berlin ( more )
 
29. - 30. April 2009
CIWEM’s Annual Conference 2009 – Water and the Global Environment ( more )
 
5 - 7 May
8th International Conference and Exhibition –WASTEWATER 2009 ( more )
Pilsen, Czech Republic
 
  27 - 28 May 2009
 
3rd International Conference BULAQUA 2009
Water Infrastructure – problems and solutions ( more )
  04 June 2009
EWA-Workshop „European Wastewater Benchmarking Reporting – Discussion of current activities and chances of cross-national comparison”
Hennef, Germany
 
20-29 September 2009
CIWEM/ASTEE/EWA Conference “Water Framework Directive – Emerging Challenges ” ( more )

 POLICY AGENDA

 22 December 2008
Deadline for Member States to establish groundwater threshold values
Deadline for Member States to start public consultation on RBMPs
 
8 January 2009
Deadline for submitted a proposal under the FP7 - Environmental research - call for proposals ( more )
 
11 March 09
WFD strategic coordination group meeting in Brussels
 
16-22 March 09
5th World Water Forum in Istanbul ( more )
 
 

EWA’s Activities 

EWA is staring a preparation of a Workshop on European Wastewater Benchmarking Reporting
Benchmarking activities have been started in several European countries, are still going on or were completed in the first cycle. Depending on different foci sets of performance indicators have been developed, which are not comparable in most cases – although it may look like this at first sight. Nevertheless cross-national attempts comparing evaluation results in European countries are of great interest and are already in progress. The objective of this workshop is to discuss existing approaches in Europe, differences and commonalities of key sets of performance indicators, monetary as well as nonmonetary. The workshop takes place on 04.June 2009 in Hennef, Germany (near Cologne) and starts at 9.00 am. A detailed time table and location plan will be issued later.

Highlights

 Biowaste

On December 3, the European Commission presented a green paper on the management of bio-waste (meaning biodegradable garden, kitchen and food waste) in the European Union. It will consider the need for new legislation which could help direct more bio-waste towards recycling and energy recovery. The paper also considers possible use of the end-of-waste mechanism as introduced by the new framework directive. There are several connections with the sludge issue (sludge co-composting, product quality standards, soil norms). In particular, Point 5.6 proposes to make a distinction high-quality and lower-quality compost. The later would be subject to legislation similar to sludge.
EU discussions on biowaste started in the 90s and were coordinated in 2004 with the revision of the sludge directive 86/278/EEC under the soil thematic strategy which failed to deliver a common framework.
The consultation will remain open until 15th March 2009 ( more ).
 
Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
The EC Commission, DG Environment, is preparing the 5th implementation report with the assistance of national experts. This report is expected for next year. These works will take advantage of the integration of the reporting provisions into the WISE - Water Information System for Europe – system.
In the meantime, the EC Commission took recently further legal action over the lack of enforcement of this Directive. It concerns Spain ( more ) and Greece ( more ).
 
Agriculture & water
On November 20, the agriculture reached conclusions on the CAP Health Check. This resulted in a resources shift from the 1st pilar (direct aid) to the second pilar (rural development). It will probably bring beneficial measures for the water sector (i.e. buffer strip, modulation) but some points remain open concerning the way these resources will be allocated. In the meantime, DG Environment is supervising the outcomes from the ECOLOGIC study on the WFD and rural development. These will be circulated for comments amongst the CIS stakeholders.
On December 9, the European Court of Auditors presented its report on the effectiveness of cross-compliance measures ( more ).
 
Marine strategy
At the water directors meeting on November 24-25, DG Environment made a proposal for putting in place a CIS to facilitate the implementation of some key elements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, in close coordination with the process for the WFD, while also addressing other marine specificities, and links with the habitats directive. The proposal was further discussed at the French Presidency conference held in Brest on December 9-11 ( more ).
 
Urban development
The EU-27 urban development ministers met on 25 November to take stock on the progress made under the 6th EAP thematic strategy on urban development and the Leipzig Charter on integrated sustainable urban development adopted in May 2007. The ministers adopted a reference framework that would "break down barriers between sectoral policies and create links between national, regional and local policies" by bringing together all actors involved in sustainable and inclusive urban development ( more ).
These activities are supported by the EU program called URBACT ( more ) whose general assembly met on December 2-3 in Montpellier.
 
Czech Presidency of the EU
In January 2009, the Czech Republic is taking over the EU presidency from France. As it concerns environmental policy, its top priorities will unsurprisingly be the follow-up of the climate & energy package and Post Kyoto. Other priorities will be:
  • Revision of the 2001/81/EC directive on national emission ceilings
  • Revision of the 96/61/EC directive on IPPC
  • Sustainable consumption and production
It should also be noted that the Czech Presidency included the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul on its agenda.

Members News

 
 
DWA celebrated its 60 Anniversary
 
In order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its foundation, the DWA is offering you exclusively the possibility of purchasing the CD-ROM with the English translations of the DWA Set of Rules and Standards at a considerably reduced price. You receive the CD-ROM with in all 72 standards and advisory leaflets as well as three DWA Topics in pdf format at the update price of € 90.00 (original price € 690) (corporate DWA members € 72.00 – original price € 552). This offer applies up to and including 28 February 2009. A list of contents can be called up under http://www.dwa.de/dwa_master/content-2008 .
 
The Association of Wastewater Treatment Experts of the Czech Republic organises the 8th International Conference and Exhibition –WASTEWATER 2009
The Conference and Exhibition will take place between 5 and 7 May 2009 in Pilsen, Czech Republic. A goal of the conference, keeping the traditional name Odpadní vody – Wastewater 2009, will be to present the organizing association as a modern professional union, striving from a narrow concentration on waste water problems to a complex understanding of the water cycle. The conference will be again organized in co-operation with the EWA – European Water Association. ( more )
 
BWA organises the 3rd International Conference BULAQUA 2009

The Bulgarian Water Association organises the 3rd International Conference BULAQUA 2009 between 27 and 28 May 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Conference will take place during the International Specialised Exhibition WATER SOFIA 2009. The first call will be issued in January. For more information contact the Secretary of International Relations Mr Boycho Boychev .

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Publications

 UNFCCC meeting in Poznan - technical papers

  • Application of environmentally sound technologies for adaptation to climate change. Chapter VI deals with water resources ( more ).
  • Integrating practices, tools and systems for climate risk assessment and management and strategies for disaster risk reduction into national policies and programmes ( more ).
  • Challenges and opportunities for mitigation in the agricultural sector ( more ).
OECD global forum
 
  • Millennium Development Goal: OECD calls for more investment in water and sanitation ( more ).
  • Financing and pricing water: Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General declared that good water management is so fundamental to human and economic development, and to the maintenance of ecosystems, that we cannot afford to fail ( more ).
 
Publication in the EU Official Journal
 
  • Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives ( more )
  • Commission Decision of 30 October 2008 establishing, pursuant to Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, the values of the Member State monitoring system classifications as a result of the intercalibration exercise ( more )
New publication in EWA online journal E-WAter

Area co-operations as an instrument of public participation for implementing the EU Water Framework Directive: networking and social learning (Borowski, I., Kastens, B., Ridder, D.) - View

Online Monitoring of Water Quality on the River Erft (Ekkehard Christoffels) – View

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