Influence of European directives on the national policy making : the case of Malta's water resource

Abstract

Water supply is a concern for half of the EU population. The entry into force of the Water Framework Directive gave EU member states a backbone in water policy. This study bring out the issue of Europeanization and makes reference to Malta as a member state of the EU. A review of different scholars interpretation of Europeanization is provided in the study. It further explore the domestic changes occurring because of EU policy making. A brief overview on the evolution of the WFD helps to acquire the necessarily basic knowledge about the directive and agree on the importance this directive has in the environmental scenario. This study list the main objectives of the WFD and goals member countries need to be in line with. Factors emerging from this directive are further explored. A good overview of the water resource governance in Malta, makes part of this study. An investigation on the natural water resources of our island is conducted highlighting from where the production of water comes, who is the main distributor and who regulates. Further more in this study, the process of downloading EU policy into national policy is explored. An environmental impact is assessed and an economic analysis is conducted. An examination of how the policy is monitored bring some disappointing facts on Malta. Although this, a new plan and a set of measures to execute the plan have recently been published.