EU water law as part of EU environmental law

Antti Belinskij, Elina Heikkilä and Anton Ruotsalainen

Chapter 3 in Research Handbook on EU Water Law, 2026, pp 20-35 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores the relationship between EU water law and environmental law. First, it examines the historical development of this relationship, while the pursuant sections analyse how water law and environmental law, respectively, reflect each other. The final section concludes that, although water law is an integral part of EU environmental law, the legal effectiveness of their integration is questionable, given the difficulties in achieving the environmental objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive, for example. Furthermore, the integration of EU water law and environmental law is currently being challenged by the impacts of, and adaptation to, climate change, EU initiatives concerning renewable energy and critical mining minerals, and ongoing diffuse pollution from agriculture. The chapter emphasises the importance of further integrating water law with environmental law and sector-specific EU legislation in order to address these challenges and achieve the water-related environmental objectives.

Keywords: Water law; EU environmental law; Marine strategy; Climate law; Energy law (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035336425
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