Fourth Steering Committee Meeting under EUWI+

1. 1
REGIONAL TRENDS AND
OVERVIEW
European Union Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership (EUWI+)
6 July 2021

2. 2
• Legislative reforms - moving towards alignment with EU acquis and
good practice
• Institutional reforms to harmonise roles and responsibilities still
require strengthening
• Regulatory reforms to promote efficient water resource use and
improve water quality
• Technical standards and norms progressed to promote efficiency
• Progress made under MEAs including the Protocol on Water and
Health and SDGs
• Strategic and mid-term planning progressed, though remains
fragmented
• Improved monitoring and access of data for decision making
• Strengthened capacity with river basin management planning
PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN ALL COUNTRIES
SINCE 2016

3. 3
CHALLENGES REMAIN
• Implementation of river basin principle
• Despite progress, some countries manage water resources according to administrative-
territorial principles
• Many EaP countries still lack capacities to develop RBMPs without external support
• Progress in adoption of RBMPs can be slow, high costs and challenges to secure
government funding can prevent implementation of adopted RBMPs
• Advancement of institutional arrangements in basins (RBOs, RBCs)
• Not all EaP countries have RBOs and RBCs in place, and where established and
functioning, significant capacity building is needed
• Continued support to establishment of sustainable functioning of RBOs/RBCs is needed
• Requirements under AAs and CEPA
• Despite progress achieved, more needs to be done, AAs and CEPA contain ambitious
and time-bound commitments
• There is a clear need to accelerate action to achieve targets and timeline
• Fragmentation around policy making exists
• Impacts strategic planning, forecasting and budgeting
• Conflicting frameworks and overlapping needs can lead to over estimation of costs
• Need for coherent cross-sectoral plans and sustainable financing
• Role of National Policy Dialogues will be key during the next phase of reforms

4. 4
DYNAMICS OF PUBLIC BUDGET ALLOCATIONS TO
WATER SECTOR
• Financing remains a major challenge in EaP countries. Around 0.4% of
GDP is spent on water (e.g. in EU, over 1.2% of GDP is spent on WSS
and irrigation (not counting monitoring and other costs))
• Public budget allocations show declining trend even before COVID
• Risk to sustained public budget
allocations to water sector

5. 5
PUBLIC BUDGETS ARE UNDER PRESSURE WHILE
INVESTMENT NEEDS ARE INCREASING
Comparison of the average annual allocations to water sector in the period 2011-2020
and the required additional annual investments in the period of 2021-2030 (Eur/capita)

6. 6
INVESTMENT NEEDS ESTIMATES ARE STILL
INCOMPLETE AND REQUIRES COHERENT PLANNING
Required additional annual investments in the period of 2021-2030 in
EaP countries according to sub-sectors, (EUR/per capita)

7. 7
WATER TARIFFS AND AFFORDABILITY
• Tariffs for WSS and irrigation still remain
low, typically not covering O&M costs
• Reforming tariffs often faces political
resistance
• Increased affordability constraints,
especially as a result of the pandemic
• Artificially low water tariffs can hurt
vulnerable communities, preventing
infrastructure development and the
provision of reliable public services in
rural areas
• Targeted social measures, supporting
low income groups, instead of trying to
ensuring cheap water for all

8. 8
• Considerable progress made under EUWI+
• Challenges remain including to meet fixed deadlines and
commitments that are fast approaching
• Instability remains a feature
• Public budget under increasing pressure
• Policy coherence will be key:
• Strategic cross-sectoral planning
• Development of prioritised investment programmes
• Sustainable financing including the use of economic
instruments
• Role of National Policy Dialogues can be strengthened
• Opportunity to “operationalise” EUWI+ outcomes as this work moves
to its next phase
LESSONS LEARNED