The protection and sustainable management of water resources are fundamental to safeguarding biodiversity, human well-being, sustainable development, and effective climate change adaptation. The development of Greece’s National Water Strategy, introduced under Article 6A of Law 3199/2003, marks an important step towards establishing a coherent national policy framework for the protection and sustainable management of the country’s water resources.
As part of the public consultation process, MedINA submitted a detailed position paper containing proposals to strengthen the Strategy, highlighting the need to enhance its overall effectiveness.
In our submission, we acknowledge that the draft Strategy identifies the main challenges and priorities for national water policy. However, we also point out that it remains largely descriptive and is not accompanied by a coherent implementation framework, including clear objectives, a timeline, responsible authorities, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and an indicative financing framework. To address these shortcomings, we propose that the National Water Strategy be complemented by a National Action Plan, translating its strategic priorities into concrete actions and measures.
Furthermore, we stress that the protection, conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystems should become a horizontal strategic priority of national water policy, in full alignment with the EU Water Framework Directive, the Nature Restoration Regulation, and the European Water Resilience Strategy. In this context, we call for the stronger integration of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), the effective implementation of ecological flows in surface water bodies, and enhanced transboundary cooperation for the management of transboundary river basins.
The effective protection of water resources depends not only on setting strategic priorities but also on translating them into implementable policies with measurable outcomes. Guided by this objective, MedINA’s proposals seek to strengthen the National Water Strategy so that it can serve as an effective tool for the protection of Greece’s rivers, lakes, wetlands, and groundwater resources.
Read MedINA’s comments (in Greek) here.