Public Participation in the EU Water Framework Directive and the Role of Environmental Information

Abstract

The EU Water Framework Directive was adopted in 2000 to establish a legal framework in order toprotect clean water and restore its availability in adequate quantities across Europe. The key objectiveof the directive is to achieve the “good water status” for all European waters by 2015. Publicparticipation is one of the main instruments addressed by the directive in order to achieve thisobjective. This paper examines the concept of public participation in the directive and the role ofenvironmental information in public participation. The results will be useful when improvements inpublic participation systems are to be considered in Japan.