European waters -- Assessment of status and pressures 2018

The main aim of EU water policy is to ensure that a
sufficient quantity of good-quality water is available for
both people's needs and the environment. The Water
Framework Directive (WFD), which came into force in
2000, established a framework for the assessment,
management, protection and improvement of the
quality of water resources across the EU. Since
December 2015, EU Member States have been
publishing the second river basin management plans
(RBMPs) for achieving the environmental objectives of
the WFD. These plans are updates of the first RBMPs,
which were published in 2009.