In this position paper, the Living Rivers Europe coalition warns against the revision of the Water Framework Directive, announced by the EU Commission in it’s ResourceEU Action Plan (December 2025). This revision will – according to LRE – imply “the lowering of water protection standards to respond to concerns raised in particular by the critical raw materials sector..(and) is casting a major risk of weakening of the water protection rules in Europe”.
The document shares four key recommendations for the EU Commission and co-legislators
- Refrain from revising or weakening the WFD
- Prioritise the full and timely implementation and enforcement of the existing water acquis (incl. the provisional deal to update priority substances in surface water & groundwater) and the Water Resilience Strategy, including through pursuing the Structured Dialogues started at the end of 2025 with Member States
- Give Member States time to implement the upcoming new guidance document on environmental permitting in relation to mining and water, and assess only later if more flexibility is needed
- Ensure a clear, stable and predictable regulatory environment that safeguards progress, qualified workers and investment.
Why the Water Framework Directive (WFD) matters to the EU’s angling community?
The Water Framework Directive is a cornerstone of EU environmental law. The directive aims at achieving good status of European rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, groundwater, and transitional and coastal waters. They are the very environments on which fish populations (and thus the angling experience) depends. The WFD has driven efforts to
- reduce pollution
- restore river continuity; and
- improve the ecological status of Europe’s waters.
For the EU’s angling community, the link is clear, clean water means healthy fish, restored river connectivity means successful fish migration and strong environmental standards mean sustainable angling opportunities for future generations.
More on the European Anglers Alliance (EAA)’s role in the Living Rivers Europe coalition via this link.
Links & further reading
March 2026 LRE Briefing paper – briefing-paper-on-the-water-framework-directive-review-and-revision_march-2026
More information on EAA’s participation in the LRE coalition: Lobby & Advocacy partners – EAA Europe
