Author(s)

S. Galera Rodrigo & A. Iglesias Alonso

Abstract

The European Union (EU) faces a rather difficult situation regarding water and land use planning. On the one hand hydrological planning is empowered by the recognition of its regulatory nature within the European legal system, but political decisions about land use remains at national level, due to the fact that the EU has not yet received any competences on that subject. This means that the EU can only play a role of encouraging and promoting effective planning and adequate water policies at the local and regional levels. On the other hand and particularly in some southern countries of Europe, the scarcity problem is a crucial issue which has to be dealt within a framework of multi-level territorial actors with rather different interests regarding water management. The overall object of this paper is to assess and discuss problems and prospect

Keywords