EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) seeks input on sustainable water policies

Water policy must promote efficient and sustainable management of water resources and  local and regional authorities have an important role to play in this context. As part of the "Resource Efficiency" Flagship Initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy, the European Commission will carry out a review of EU water policy by 2012.

With this in mind, the Committee of the Regions intends to adopt an outlook opinion on "The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy" at its plenary session in June this year. Nichi Vendola (IT/PES), President of the Region of Puglia, member of the CoR ENVE Commission and the political coordinator of the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform, will take on the role of rapporteur for this opinion.

Against this background, the CoR's Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform has launched a survey on Sustainable Water Policy with a deadline of 4 March 2011 for submissions.

The answers will contribute to preparations for the CoR opinion and will also feed into the second CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020 which is scheduled for publication in December this year.

To download the questionnaire, visit the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform.

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Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform invites you to contribute to the survey

  The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy

Water is a fundamental need for everyone and a key resource for many economic sectors, in particular agriculture and industry. The need for water poses a series of tremendous challenges in many areas of Europe: structural scarcity which might lead to desertification and occasional scarcity, linked to changes in the hydrological cycle and precipitation patterns, leading to drought. Climate change is likely to exacerbate these phenomena.

To address these challenges, water policy must promote efficient and sustainable management of water resources and the local and regional authorities have a role to play in this context. The European Commission will carry out a review of EU water policy by 2012 as part of the "Resource Efficiency" Flagship Initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy, and so the Committee of the Regions will adopt an Outlook Opinion on "The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy" at its plenary session in June 2011. The Rapporteur for this Opinion, which has been requested by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, will be Mr. Nichi Vendola (IT/PES), President of the Region of Puglia, member of the CoR ENVE Commission and the political coordinator of the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform

Against this background, the CoR's Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform asks you to answer the questions below. Your answers will contribute to preparations for the CoR Opinion and will also feed into the second CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020 (to be published in December 2011).

To download the questionnaire, click here

Please send your reply, in ANY EU LANGUAGE, to europe2020@cor.europa.eu 

Deadline 4 March 2011

You can write in ANY EU LANGUAGE, in Word format (.doc), using the boxes provided right below the questions.