Water is a precious resource but one humanity has not really looked after wisely. The concept of an eternally renewable resource is starting to crumble, including in Europe, where problems related to the availability of water affect a number of regions. The growing scarcity of the resource is not limited to the southern countries alone but is tending to spread eastward and even to the north. Although the trend cannot be reversed overnight, it is time to start making serious changes to existing practices, which requires a strategy at EU level. This is precisely one of the objectives of the Water Framework Directive.

Doing so is particularly important because temporary or more lasting water shortages will tend to increase with the effects of climate change. The alarm was sounded globally at the First Earth Summit (1992), but the average European did not feel (too) concerned at the time. Things have changed in the meantime, however. Preservation of the resource and access to water for all have become planetary problems that are gradually finding their way into political priorities, as seen in this Europoliticsdossier published to coincide with a number of water-related conferences in the coming weeks