Understanding the impacts of the Water Framework Directive on the Maltese economy

Abstract

The transposition of the Water Framework Directive into Maltese Legislation places a suite of responsibilities on the competent authorities to set up a programme of measures to be implemented in Malta in order to comply with the environmental objectives of the Directive. It results that the Malta's water bodies are not in a good quantitative and qualitative status as required by the Directive therefore a number of measures will need to be implemented to improve these water bodies. A number of impacts will result on the economic sectors when it comes to water use and disposal of material which could harm Malta's water bodies. A regulatory impact assessment has been used as a tool to identify the provisions of the legislative instrument under analysis and determine the impact of stakeholders as well as address any mitigation measures accordingly. This research studies in an exclusive manner the impacts of the agricultural sector, which is probably the sector most at risk with the provisions of the Directive, both from a water quantitative and qualitative point of view. The options considered by other Member States were reviewed in order to determine which of these could be implemented in Malta. The natural context was studied with a view to add the local characterisation and customisation of the measures to be implemented. The impacts associated with every option were identified through consultations with stakeholders. Each of the policy options identified were analysed for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legislative impacts and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each option was also considered. The most prominent and urgent options to be implemented are identified for the authorities to give priority, namely providing alternative water sources and managing farm generated waste and investing in national projects, to implement such options. Immediate action needs to be taken as this Directive's implementation will affect Malta and its economy and hence the sooner action is taken, the more time the authorities will gain in planning the implementation process and consulting with the impacted stakeholders.