The regulation of groundwater in EU Law: the Groundwater Directives

Henrik Josefsson

Chapter 16 in Research Handbook on EU Water Law, 2026, pp 283-305 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: More than 50% of the global population relies on groundwater for drinking, and over 40% of all groundwater is used for irrigation, making it a valuable resource on which all of the EU Member States depend. The EU has safeguarded its groundwater through specific Directives since 1979. Although groundwater regulation has often been overshadowed by surface-water management, the case law of the European Court of Justice under the Water Framework Directive treats surface water and groundwater as two sides of the same coin. This tendency has led to concepts such as threshold standards being interpreted as strict environmental quality standards, and Member States have been required to ensure that these thresholds are not exceeded. This chapter also discusses other groundwater-specific concepts, such as trend assessment, in the light of the case law of the Court.

Keywords: Groundwater; Groundwater Directive; Chemical Pollution; Quantitative Status; Aquifers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035336425
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