EU Water pricing for agriculture

EU Water pricing for agriculture

The focus of this study was to provide a general overview of the use of water pricing and water allocation policies in Europe. To lay the foundation for analysing the impacts of these policies on water use in agriculture, the project first carried out an extensive literature review on the economic theory and the concepts behind water pricing. Also, water allocation policy and what this implies for the agriculture sector were analysed. The overview of policies in the EU agriculture sector presented the state of the art in all EU Member States. To analyse the impacts of water pricing and water allocation policies, the team carried out 7 case studies in cooperation with national experts, including 2 case studies outside of Europe (Mexico and Australia). The case studies helped identify good practice examples by analysing the factors, both positive and negative, influencing these policies as well as the direct and indirect impact of their implementation. Based on this, policy recommendations were developed for European river basins and further implementation of the Water Framework Directive. Fresh Thoughts carried out the case study on a sub-basin of the Danube River in Romania and was the task lead on the development of policy recommendations.

Read the full report and annexes of the study.

start:

2010-12-21

end:

2011-12-20

client:

European Commission, DG Climate Action

geographic scope:

EU-27, Mexico and Australia

project-manager

Thomas Dworak
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