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| 146. | The concept of ‘water damage’ refers to significant adverse effects on the status of waters as defined in the Water Framework Directive. However, it is important to bear in mind that the concept of ‘damage’ in Article 2(2) of the Environmental Liability Directive covers not only measurable adverse changes to water but also measurable impairment of the services that water provides. The adverse effects covered by the environmental damage category ‘water damage’ thus encompass not only measurable changes to water but measurable impairment of the services that water provides. This is confirmed by the text of Annex II.1 of the Environmental Liability Directive which refers to both natural resource and natural resource services when considering the remediation of damage to water, protected species and natural habitats. On the other hand, as mentioned before, the concept of ‘damage’ is not self-standing and needs to be read in the light of the definition of ‘environmental damage’ – and more specifically of ‘water damage’. The impairment of the services that water provides must, therefore, be accompanied by significant adverse effects on the status of the waters concerned.

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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.