Even though improvements of the quality of European lakes and rivers as well as of European groundwater can be stated, there still exists stress due to pollution, transverse structures or excessive water abstraction as an important long-term challenge. A major part of the European bodies of water still fails to meet the EU targets to reach a good water status. The data supplied by the Member States to the national Water Management Plans 2015 were used.

The comprehensive report and a summary with key messages and various presentations on maps and data evaluations are made available at the homepage of the European Environment Agency under the following link.