Wildy Logo
(020) 7242 5778
enquiries@wildy.com

Planning Law:
A Practitioner's
Handbook 2nd ed




 William Webster, Robert Weatherley


Welcome to Wildys

Watch


Corporate Insolvency Practice:
Litigation, Procedure
and Precedents 3rd ed




 Mark Watson-Gandy


Offers for Newly Called Barristers & Students

Special Discounts for Newly Called & Students

Read More ...


Secondhand & Out of Print

Browse Secondhand Online

Read More...


Research Handbook on EU Water Law

Edited by: Marleen van Rijswick, Cathy Suykens

ISBN13: 9781035336425
Published: June 2026
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
Country of Publication: UK
Format: Hardback
Price: £270.00



Despatched in 5 to 7 days.

This impactful Research Handbook tackles the pressing challenge of ensuring water security and resilience. It provides a comprehensive overview of water law and governance in the EU including the regulation of water usage and the safeguarding of resources.

Leading experts examine key governance approaches and risk management strategies, particularly in the context of mitigating floods, droughts, and other hazards. They explore crucial interconnections, including water’s interaction with energy, agriculture, land use, and sustainability, as well as links to international water law and the wider field of EU environmental law. Combining scientific understanding with practical orientation, chapters present ways to improve water governance with novel approaches such as river rights and nature-based solutions.

The Research Handbook on EU Water Law is greatly beneficial for students and scholars of environmental, water, and European law. Its insights into the interaction of law and practice make it a valuable resource for policymakers and practitioners including spatial planners and water managers.

Subjects:
Environmental Law, EU Law
Contents:
List of figures x
Foreword xxi
Preface xxii
List of abbreviations xxiii

PART I. EU WATER LAW: SETTING THE SCENE
1. Introduction to the Research Handbook on EU Water Law 2
Cathy Suykens and Marleen van Rijswick
2. The history of EU water law 10
Marleen van Rijswick
3. EU water law as part of EU environmental law 20
Antti Belinskij, Elina Heikkilä, and Anton Ruotsalainen
4. Water in the EU Green Deal and recent evolutions in EU water law and policy 36
Suvi-Tuuli Puharinen
5. EU water law and international water law: mutually reinforcing frameworks 56
Owen McIntyre

PART II. WATER MANAGEMENT AND RELATED RIGHTS AND CONFLICTS
6. Human rights and consumer protection in the EU Drinking Water Directive 73
Iris Benöhr
7. Review of permits: the interplay between Article 11(5) of the Water Framework Directive and Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights 89
Víðir Smári Petersen and Flore Vavourakis
8. River rights: exploring how river personhood could connect to EU river laws 112
Cathy Suykens, Katie O’Bryan, and Erin O’Donnell
9. Participatory rights and access to justice: water and the Aarhus Convention in the EU 137
Jerzy Jendrośka
10. European basin organizations in the context of climate-induced conflict risks 157
Susanne Schmeier and Gábor Baranyai

PART III. THE SUBSTANTIVE WATER LEGAL LANDSCAPE
SECTION 1 RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION OF WATER RESOURCES
11. Goals of the Water Framework Directive: prevent deterioration and protect, enhance and restore ecological status 180
Moritz Reese
12. Environmental quality standards for water and the long road towards achieving good chemical status for surface water 209
Henrik Josefsson
13. Planning: management cycles and implications for industrial permits 234
Lasse Baaner
14. Monitoring, compliance and enforcement: the Water Framework Directive 249
Oda Essens
15. Cost recovery as a water policy principle 266
Petra Lindhout
16. The regulation of groundwater in EU Law: the Groundwater Directives 283
Henrik Josefsson
17. The marine environment and coastal zones: the Marine Strategy Directive and marine planning 306
David Langlet
18. The Drinking Water Directive 326
Jasper van Kempen
19. Safe bathing water 342
Susanne Wuijts, Ciska Schets, and Marleen van Rijswick

SECTION 2 REGULATING PRESSURES AND RISKS
20. Flood risk management in Europe: a deep dive into the Floods Directive 355
Willemijn van Doorn-Hoekveld and Frank Groothuijse
21. Water scarcity and drought risk management in the EU: towards an EU Water Scarcity and Droughts Directive? 368
Marchien van Steinvoorn and Herman Kasper Gilissen
22. Circular water management: wastewater and water reuse 385
Annalies Outhuijse and Dafne van der Kraan
23. The regulation of polluting substances in relation to EU water law 401
Valérie van ‘t Lam

PART IV. WATER-NEXUSES
24. Water and agricultural pollution 422
Helle Tegner Anker
25. Reconciling flood-risk management with nature protection law: the promise of nature-based solutions 443
Anne Lansink and Bente de Leeuw
26. Water and land use: role and scope of EU legislation 467
Juliane Albrecht and Thomas Hartmann
27. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and EU Taxonomy: a waterproof European plan for the energy transition? Zooming in on the water–energy nexus 482
Cathy Suykens, Kelly Verreth, and Leonie Reins

PART V. APPROACHES TO IMPROVING WATER GOVERNANCE
28. Nature-based solutions in sustainable water governance 506
Froukje Maria Platjouw, Maximilian Nawrath, Isabel Seifert-Dähnn, Line Johanne Barkved, and Ingvild Skumlien Furuseth
29. Social-ecological systems approach to water: resilience and adaptivity in water management, governance and law 529
Niko Soininen and Marleen van Rijswick
30. Water and spatial planning: exploring governance synergies in the Netherlands – a case study and lessons for the EU 548
Liping Dai
31. Water law, water management and water governance: towards a multidisciplinary approach ensuring coherence, adaptiveness, and effectiveness 566
Susanne Wuijts, Peter Driessen, and Marleen van Rijswick

Index 586