Publication
Title
How Hercules cleans up the Augean stables : differentiated implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive
Author
Abstract
Realising the goals of the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive is difficult. The differentiation of water policies according to local conditions enjoys increasing attention and may be necessary to achieve good ecological status in all European waters. This paper seeks to explore to what extent and how local water quality determines the degree of coercion, i.e. the extent to which differentiated policies are voluntary or rather imposed upon policy addressees, of spatially differentiated water policies. It does so on the basis of seven cases in five EU Member States. For highly polluted waters, spatially differentiated policies tend either to make the use of authoritative policy instruments, i.e. coercion by way of formal regulation, or to rely on the threat to introduce such regulation. For preventing the deterioration of relatively 'clean' waters, voluntary instruments based on information and persuasion dominate, often supported by subsidies and/or the direct input of public resources. In relation to the spatial differentiation of water policies, issues of data demand, equality and legitimacy have to be taken into account.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Water policy. - Place of publication unknown
Publication
London : Iwa publishing , 2021
ISSN
1366-7017
DOI
10.2166/WP.2021.024
Volume/pages
23 :4 (2021) , p. 1000-1016
ISI
000670649500001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 30.07.2021
Last edited 17.11.2024
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