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On 9-10 February 2012, DG Environment of the European Commission organized the 2nd Stakeholder Workshop for the Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy in Brussels. Participants from Member States and key European stakeholder organizations discussed the main issues, problems and challenges of EU freshwater policy as well as possible solutions. Lessons learned from this workshop contribute to the design and assessment of policy options for the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources.

As part of its Smart Regulation policy, the European Commission aims to review legislation in European policy through "Fitness Checks", which identify excessive burdens, overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies and/or obsolete measures. Pilot exercises started in 2010 in four areas:

• environment,
• transport,
• employment and social policy, and
• industrial policy.

In the area of environment, the protection of EU freshwater resources was selected as the pilot area. The Fitness Check on the protection of EU freshwater resources will be published by the European Commission in the first half of 2012.

During the first phase of the Fitness Check on EU Freshwater Policy, a scoping study [pdf, 5.1 MB, English] was undertaken by Deloitte and IEEP. It explored the relevance, coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of EU freshwater policy and was published in June 2011. The preliminary findings from this study and a 1st Stakeholder Workshop on the Fitness Check were the basis for public consultation and discussion with a broad group of stakeholders in the 2nd phase of the Fitness Check.

In the 2nd phase of the Fitness Check, the 2nd Stakeholder Workshop for the Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy took place in Brussels, on 9-10 February 2012. The event brought together over 50 participants from Member States and European stakeholder organisations to discuss key issues and challenges of EU freshwater policy. The workshop took place in parallel to an online public consultation [pdf, 421 KB, English] running on the Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy from December 2011 to February 2012.

A Discussion Paper and the Workshop Conclusions are accessible on the workshop website.

Ecologic Institute, IEEP and BIO IS supported the European Commission for the organization of the 2nd Stakeholder Workshop on the Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy.