Turkey’s draft water law and WFD implementation: an analysis

Abstract

After some lengthy processes of preparation and consultation, a new framework water law has now been declared as “ready” for Parliamentary procedures. Since Turkey aspires for European Union membership, harmonization with Water Framework Directive (WFD) is one of the key priorities within environmental negotiations. From the outset, the newly proposed water law has been drafted with an eye on WFD requirements. It also targets to eliminate the so-called “patchwork” of water-related legislation in Turkey through adoption of a single yet comprehensive law. This paper analyzes the recent draft Turkish water law in light of WFD rules and principles. It has been observed that the proposed water law appears to be largely in line with these rules. However, there is room for improvement as well. For instance, although the proposed law mentions the full-cost-recovery principle, which is one of indispensable elements of WFD, there is a degree of ambiguity in the law on whether environmental and resource costs would be calculated and recovered in full. It is anticipated that a number of by-laws would provide full-fledged frameworks of operationalization on issues that are not sufficiently articulated in the law itself.