Policy Framework
Take into account
The Policy Framework section lists relevant directives and legislative acts, as well as regional strategies and recommendations regulating and influencing the water management sector in the Baltic Sea Region.
While regulative acts listed focus primarily on the EU scope, the Policy Framework section also includes documents applied in the neighbouring countries.
Regional recommendations
Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission
HELCOM (Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission) is the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, known as the Helsinki Convention. The Contracting Parties are Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland,...
BSR WATER recommendations
The BSR WATER platform, uniting 7 transnational projects, cooperated with HELCOM in providing the input into the regional policy recommendations, and with UBC Sustainable Cities Commission – in developing of the Baltic Smart Water Hub.
The BSR WATER platform (2018-2021) aims to enhance cross-...
EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region
The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is the first macro-regional Strategy in Europe, it was approved by the European Council in 2009 following a communication from the European Commission. The Strategy is divided into three objectives, which represent the three key challenges of the Strategy:...
EU policy framework
Drinking Water Directive
This Directive concerns the quality of water intended for human consumption. Its objective is to protect human health from adverse effects of any contamination of water intended for human consumption by ensuring that it is wholesome and clean.
The Directive laid down the essential quality standards...
Floods Directive
This Directive aims at reducing and managing the risks that floods pose to human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity. The Directive applies to inland waters as well as all coastal waters across the whole territory of the EU.
The Directive on the assessment and...
Marine Directive
This Directive focuses on ensuring environmental protection and sustainable use of the EU’s marine waters and achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) of them by 2020. The Directive also relates to the protection of marine biodiversity.
The implementation of the directive is based on the...
Nitrates Directive
This Directive aims to protect water quality across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters and by promoting the use of good farming practices.
Under the Directive, all Member States have to analyse their waters’ nitrate concentration levels and...
Sewage Sludge Directive
This directive, despite regulating exclusively agricultural use, is the only sludge-specific legal act at the Community level, and also the most important one. The sludge from plants treating domestic and urban waste waters, from septic tanks, or other similar installations can be used in...
Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
The Directive regulates all stages of the waste water treatment process, and, to some extent, sewage sludge handling. In Article 14, the directive confirms the principles of the Waste Framework Directive, stating that sludge shall be re-used whenever appropriate, but it does not specify any more...
Water Framework Directive
The Directive aims for 'good status' for all ground and surface waters (rivers, lakes, transitional waters, and coastal waters) in the EU. The ecological and chemical status of surface waters are assessed according to the following criteria:
Biological quality (fish, benthic invertebrates, aquatic...