Papers prepared by the WFD
Navigation Task Group
When work is being carried
out under the CIS process or when the European Commission consults on a
particular issue which is of importance to the navigation sector, it has often
proved useful for the Task Group to develop a ‘common position’, summarising
the views of the sector. The process of
discussing the issues raised and agreeing a way forward through the Task Group
has been very successful - both in raising awareness of various WFD-related
issues within the sector, and in allowing any differences in views to be
identified and resolved. The sector has
thus been able to prepare and present a single response to the Commission on a
number of key WFD issues.
Amongst the discussion and
position papers prepared in this way by the Task Group are the following:
Navigation as a water
use or a water service? Position Paper,
November 2008
In this position paper, the
Task Group supported the interpretation of the majority of EU Member States in
arguing that navigation should be considered a water use, but not a
water service insofar as the requirements of Article 9 of the WFD are
concerned.
Relationship between the EU Water Framework Directive
and EU Maritime Policy. Position Paper,
June 2007
Since the preparation of this
position paper, European Parliament and Council have agreed on the final text
of the EU Marine Strategy
Framework Directive. In this
2008 agreed text, many of the Task Group’s concerns about the overlap between
the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive
(MSFD) have been addressed. The MSFD
will now apply in WFD coastal water bodies only in respect of cetaceans, litter
and other aspects not already covered by the WFD. However, the practical issues for sectors
such as navigation which operate across the interface between the two
Directives remain (ie. the need to deal with two
different objectives with associated sets of measures contained in two different
plans).
EU Water Framework Directive Common Implementation
Strategy, Hydro-morphology Activity. Statement
prepared by PIANC, CEDA, ESPO, EFIP, INE, EuDA, IADC,
EURMIG and EBU, October 2005
This statement was prepared
in order to inform the initial debate about the scope of work to be tackled by
the CIS Hydromorphology activity. In summary, the Task Group statement
confirmed that hydromorphology is a vital issue for
navigation and advocated that: other relevant Directorates (eg.
DG Tren) should be involved in the activity; the work
of international conventions should be acknowledged; sediment management should
be included in the scope of work; and maximum use should be made of the wealth
of already existing experience.
The final outputs of the
CIS Hydro-morphology - a policy paper,
a technical paper
and a series of case studies
are all available on the Commission’s WFD CIRCA website.
Potential implications for navigation (including
ports, harbours, waterways and dredging) of EU Water Framework Directive
Articles 16(1) and 16(7).
Discussion
document prepared in November 2004.
This paper discussed the
various concerns of the Task Group associations with regard to the then
evolving priority substances daughter Directive. The final text of this ‘environmental quality
standards’ Directive was eventually adopted in October 2008 with subsequent
publication anticipated in the Official Journal. The agreed ‘compromise text’ of the EQS
Directive now includes a clear reference to the exemption provisions in Article
4 of the original WFD, and this provides some level of reassurance to the sector. However, the Task Group still has a number of
concerns about the Directive - not least the lack of a definition of ‘losses’
(discharges, emissions and losses’) and various questions about the scientific
validity of the ‘total water quality’ measurement. See the latest Task
Group minutes for more information on the status of the daughter
Directive and the Group’s outstanding concerns.
The EU Water
Framework Directive. Position paper,
2004
This position paper, the
first prepared by the Task Group highlighted some of the key issues as
perceived by the newly-formed Navigation Task Group. Several years later, some of the questions
have been resolved whilst others could still require attention.
Joint Statement on Guiding
Principles for the Development of Inland Navigation and Environmental
Protection in the
On behalf of the WFD
Navigation Task Group, PIANC participated in the preparation of the Joint
Statement on Guiding Principles for the Development of Inland Navigation and Environmental
Protection in the Danube River Basin. This joint statement was the outcome of an
interdisciplinary process facilitated by the International Commission for the
Protection of the Danube, the Danube (Navigation) Commission and the
International Commission for the
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