doc__table__154 — COMMISSION NOTICE Guidelines providing a common understanding of the term…

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COMMISSION NOTICE Guidelines providing a common understanding of the term ‘environmental damage’ as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2004/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage · European Union

The Water Framework Directive contains precise definitions of ‘ecological status’ and ‘quantitative status’. Article 2(21) of the Water Framework Directive provides that ‘ecological status’ is ‘an expression of the quality of the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems associated with surface waters, classified in accordance with Annex V’. Article 2(26) of the Water Framework Directive provides that ‘quantitative status’ is ‘an expression of the degree to which a body of groundwater is affected by direct and indirect abstractions’. While the Water Framework Directive contains express definitions of ‘ecological status’ and ‘quantitative status’, it does not contain express definition of ‘chemical status’. Instead, its Articles 2(24) and 2(25) define ‘good surface water chemical status’ and ‘good groundwater chemical status’ respectively (emphasis added). ‘Good surface water chemical status’ is defined to mean ‘the chemical status required to meet the environmental objectives for surface waters established in Article 4(1)(a), that is the chemical status achieved by a body of surface water in which concentrations of pollutants do not exceed the environmental quality standards established in Annex IX (140) and under Article 16(7), and under other relevant Community legislation setting environmental quality standards at Community level’. ‘Good groundwater chemical status’ is defined to mean ‘the chemical status of a body of groundwater, which meets all the conditions set out in table 2.3.2 of Annex V (141)‘. Likewise, the Water Framework Directive does not contain an express definition of ‘ecological potential’ but its Articles 2(23) defines ‘good ecological potential’ to mean ‘the status of a heavily modified or an artificial body of water, so classified in accordance with the relevant provisions of Annex V.’

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.