The goal of this project was the comparison of six draft River Basin Management Plans required under the Water Framework Directive from France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

The implementation of the WFD has been an intensive on-going process since its adoption in 2000. River Basin Management Plans are the core instrument to implementing the Directive as they provide the framework for managing water bodies.

In this context, the project compared draft River Basin Management Plans in the following selected river basins:

• Seine-Normandie (France)
• South East National - (England and Wales, UK)
• Neagh Bann National (Northern Ireland)
• Neagh Bann International (Republic of Ireland)
• Rhine National (the Netherlands)

The comparison focused on the level of detailed information, presentation of the objectives and the programme of measures.

The results were presented at the UK TAG RBP workshop on the 26th and 27th January 2009 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The final report [pdf, 1 MB, English] is available for download.