Cost recovery as a water policy principle

Petra Lindhout

Chapter 15 in Research Handbook on EU Water Law, 2026, pp 266-282 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: One of the economic instruments that are laid down in Article 9 of the Water Framework Directive is cost recovery for water services. The provision contains, among others, instructions on water-pricing policies and the contributions of different water uses to the costs of water services. It focuses on enhancing water efficiency, and it is a mechanism for ensuring sufficient funding and the fair distribution of costs among water uses and users. This chapter describes the provision, the challenges to its implementation, and the relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. Cost recovery for water services is one of the measures in the Programmes of Measures that the Member States need to set to attain the environmental goals of the Water Framework Directive. Many Member States will not reach the goals by 2027 and therefore may want to make use of the exemptions that are provided in the Directive. One exemption, “measures deemed disproportionately expensive”, may be intertwined with the cost-recovery provision (as a funding mechanism), as explained in this chapter.

Keywords: Cost recovery; Water services; Polluter-pays principle; Water pricing; Reporting obligations; Derogation; Funding; Disproportionately expensive; Exemptions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035336425
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