TY - JOUR

T1 - Transforming European Water Governance?

T2 - Participation and River Basin Management under the EU Water Framework Directive in 13 Member States

AU - Jager, Nicolas Wilhelm

AU - Challies, Edward

AU - Kochskämper, Elisa

AU - Newig, Jens

AU - Benson, David

AU - Blackstock, Kirsty

AU - Collins, Kevin

AU - Ernst, Anna

AU - Evers, Mariele

AU - Feichtinger, Judith

AU - Fritsch, Oliver

AU - Gooch, Geoffrey

AU - Grund, Wiebke

AU - Hedelin, Beatrice

AU - Hernández-Mora, Nuria

AU - Frank, Hüesker

AU - Huitema, Dave

AU - Irvine, Kenneth

AU - Klinke, Andreas

AU - Lange, Leonie

AU - Loupsans, Delphine

AU - Lubell, Mark

AU - Maganda, Carmen

AU - Matczak, Piotr

AU - Parés, Marc

AU - Saarikoski, Heli

AU - Slavíková, Lenka

AU - van der Arend, Sonja

AU - von Korff, York

N1 - Funding Information: Parts of this research were funded by the German Research Foundation grant no. NE 1207/2-1 to J.N. (project GoScaLE), and by the European Research Council Starting Grant no. 263859 to J.N. (project EDGE). We thank Lena Elmgren, Insa Krempin, and Blandine Boeuf for research assistance. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 by the authors.

PY - 2016/4/19

Y1 - 2016/4/19

N2 - The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU member states to produce and implement river basin management plans, which are to be designed and updated via participatory processes that inform, consult with, and actively involve all interested stakeholders. The assumption of the European Commission is that stakeholder participation, and institutional adaptation and procedural innovation to facilitate it, are essential to the effectiveness of river basin planning and, ultimately, the environmental impact of the Directive. We analyzed official documents and the WFD literature to compare implementation of the Directive in EU member states in the initial WFD planning phase (2000–2009). Examining the development of participatory approaches to river basin management planning, we consider the extent of transformation in EU water governance over the period. Employing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, we map the implementation “trajectories” of 13 member states, and then provide a detailed examination of shifts in river basin planning and participation in four member states (Germany, Sweden, Poland and France) to illustrate the diversity of institutional approaches observed. We identify a general tendency towards increased, yet circumscribed, stakeholder participation in river basin management in the member states examined, alongside clear continuities in terms of their respective pre-WFD institutional and procedural arrangements. Overall, the WFD has driven a highly uneven shift to river basin-level planning among the member states, and instigated a range of efforts to institutionalize stakeholder involvement—often through the establishment of advisory groups to bring organized stakeholders into the planning process.

AB - The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU member states to produce and implement river basin management plans, which are to be designed and updated via participatory processes that inform, consult with, and actively involve all interested stakeholders. The assumption of the European Commission is that stakeholder participation, and institutional adaptation and procedural innovation to facilitate it, are essential to the effectiveness of river basin planning and, ultimately, the environmental impact of the Directive. We analyzed official documents and the WFD literature to compare implementation of the Directive in EU member states in the initial WFD planning phase (2000–2009). Examining the development of participatory approaches to river basin management planning, we consider the extent of transformation in EU water governance over the period. Employing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, we map the implementation “trajectories” of 13 member states, and then provide a detailed examination of shifts in river basin planning and participation in four member states (Germany, Sweden, Poland and France) to illustrate the diversity of institutional approaches observed. We identify a general tendency towards increased, yet circumscribed, stakeholder participation in river basin management in the member states examined, alongside clear continuities in terms of their respective pre-WFD institutional and procedural arrangements. Overall, the WFD has driven a highly uneven shift to river basin-level planning among the member states, and instigated a range of efforts to institutionalize stakeholder involvement—often through the establishment of advisory groups to bring organized stakeholders into the planning process.

KW - Environmental planning

KW - Sustainability Science

KW - Sustainability sciences, Communication

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84965144834&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/w8040156

DO - 10.3390/w8040156

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 8

JO - Water

JF - Water

SN - 2073-4441

IS - 4

M1 - 156

ER -