EurActiv
Politicians from Hungarian governing party-in-waiting Fidesz said they would push for a revision of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in 2011 to help tackle water scarcity and drought. EurActiv Hungary reports.
The centre-right party, which is widely expected to triumph in national elections later this month, plans to use its 2011 EU presidency to push for far-reaching changes to the directive.
The intention is to stop wasteful practices and tackle future droughts, Fidesz officials said.
On 31 March, the president of the environmental committee in Hungary’s National Assembly, Andor Nagy, urged the government to prepare a strategy to tackle water scarcity by 2012 to put a stop to hugely wasteful trends in the country.
Hungary takes up the rotating EU presidency from January to June 2011. After winning 53% of the vote in the first round of national elections, Fidesz could win an absolute two-thirds majority in the Hungarian parliament in the second round later this month.
BACKGROUNDER
The EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) was adopted on 23 October 2000 to streamline the large body of water legislation into one overarching strategy.
One key element is the introduction of a water management model based on ‘river basins’, or geographical areas, rather than administrative or political boundaries.
In 2006 and early 2007, the European Commission carried out in-depth assessments of water scarcity and drought in the European Union. The Commission then presented a set of policy options to increase water savings in July 2007. It also highlighted the need to improve water efficiency in existing policies, such as agriculture.
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