European water policy has recently shifted its focus to water scarcity in the wake of the Commission Communication of July 2007. Furthermore, the need to ease tensions over water resources was a driving force behind the Union for the Mediterranean project, as was made clear at the recent meeting of water ministers in Jordan, on 22 December 2008. Finally, the workshops of the 5th World Water Forum, to be held in Istanbul from 16 to 22 March, will address changes in resources. Water is basically a renewable resource, but it is unevenly distributed. Growing urbanization is the main factor leading to local structural imbalances between the need for water and the resources available. As it is too expensive to transport water, the emphasis must be on better management of locally available resources.
Viewed this way, just as the European Union has embarked on a path to a lowcarbon economy in order to mitigate climate change, we must opt for a low-water economy and “dehydrated” growth. In a territory plagued by an imbalance between water demand and the resources available, opting for a “dehydrated” economy means addressing wastage and improving efficiency in the use of all available water resources, including seawater desalination and wastewater re-use.

European Issue Robert Schuman Foundation

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