AUTHORS: Andrew Farmer – Victoria Cherrier

The IPPC Directive 2008/1/EC and Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC are two of the most wide-reaching items of EU environmental law. They have presented many challenges to the Member States. Installations regulated under IPPC may impact on the water environment, such as through direct or indirect discharges of pollutants, water abstraction, etc.

This report describes the results of a study which sought views and best practice from IPPC regulators and water authorities in IMPEL member countries. The report found that institutional relationships between IPPC and water authorities vary enormously between Member States. It is important to put procedures in place to facilitate ways of working together to ensure that the right information is shared, that information exchange is timely and that management decisions are, therefore, are more robust. Coordination and cooperation are key factors for success. The report makes recommendations to the European Commission, the BREF process, water directors, IMPEL and to national authorities.