Under certain situations, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) allows Member States exemptions to achieving "good status" in water bodies. This project supports the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management of Austria in the identification of exemptions under the Article 4.4 – 4.7.

While the Water Framework Directive (WFD) allows exemptions under certain situations, clear guidelines for implementation at the EU level only exist for the Articles 4.6 – 4.7. For the Articles 4.4 and 4.5, there is a need for further clarification in the event of a "disproportional high effort." Despite intensive examination, only a few literature references exist on how to interpret exemption rules for these articles.

The aim of this project is to support the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment, and Water Management (BMLFUW) in the preparation of a programme of measures in context of the EU - Water Framework Directive (WFD). The work includes determining the methodology for the identification of exemptions under Article 4.4 – 4.7.