AUTHORS: Jana Poláková – Sandra Berman – Sandra Naumann – Ana Frelih-Larsen – Johanna von Toggenburg – Andrew Farmer

A report for the Science and technology Options Assessment (STOA) Panel of the European Parliament by an IEEP-led consortium (including BIO-Intelligence Service and Ecologic Institute), concludes that a step change must be made in several key areas in order to achieve substantially improved management of natural resources, water and soils in agriculture and rural areas. These include full implementation of the legislative framework currently in place to protect Europe’s waters; fuller integration and implementation of EU water priorities; reduction of water losses and increase in water savings and efficiency in agriculture and water scarce areas; promotion of the uptake of sustainable soil management approaches; effective use of EU funds, including CAP funds that are allocated to water priorities; and improving availability of data and decision support tools relating to water and soils that are essential for making informed decisions on the ground.