Eastern partnership countries strengthen water security and environmental data with EU support
Final results of EU4Environment–Water Resources and Environmental Data underline progress towards EU standards.
Concluding its 2021–2024 cycle, the EU4Environment–Water Resources and Environmental Data Programme strengthened water management and improved environmental information across Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, in line with EU and international standards. Implemented by Umweltbundesamt-Environment Agency Austria (lead), the International Office for Water (France), the OECD and UNECE with support from ADA (Austrian Development Agency), the programme built on the earlier EU Water Initiative Plus.
“Reliable water management and robust environmental data are critical for resilience — for people and environment health, for the economy and for peace. The tools, laws, competent institutions and data services developed together with our partners will guide investments and reforms well beyond the programme’s lifetime.”
Stronger governance, including beyond borders
Through National Policy Dialogues in all five partner countries, the programme supported key reforms and cross-sectoral coordination, such as Armenia’s amended Water Code (2022), Azerbaijan’s National Water Strategy (2024), Georgia’s Law on Water Resources Management (2023) and Ukraine’s National Water Strategy (2022). Technical guidance advanced topics such as groundwater norms and hydromorphological monitoring; a regional study highlighted human-capital gaps in the water sector. Acknowledging the transboundary nature of river basins, the programme advanced cooperation mechanisms, including the Trilateral Prut River Basin Cooperation Declaration (2023; Republic of Moldova–Romania–Ukraine) and a formal agreement including technical guidance for joint water monitoring in the Khrami–Debed basin (2025; Armenia–Georgia). All partner countries reported on SDG Indicator 6.5.2 (transboundary water cooperation).
River basin plans guide investment decisions
In line with the EU Water Framework Directive, the programme supported the preparation of 12 River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. A major milestone was the adoption of nine RBMPs in Ukraine by late 2024, covering roughly 600,000 km² and indicating priority investment needs of about €7.7 billion, with wastewater treatment accounting for the largest share. To address scarcity, Armenia piloted a quantitative water management plan for the Kasakh sub-basin and developed regional guidance.
From policy to practice: financing tools for reliable service delivery
Three regional analyses and five country studies set out specific financing reforms — including tariff reform in Ukraine; abstraction and pollution charges and irrigation fees/subsidies in Armenia; a water tax in Moldova; surface-water abstraction charges in Georgia; and proposals to strengthen water-sector finance in Azerbaijan — to ensure sustainable services and enable long-term investment.
Nature-based solutions for resilient ecosystems
A catalogue of 34 Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offers local managers and decision-makers factsheets, case studies and achievable benefits for these low-cost measures. Field visits and identified pilots — from constructed wetlands and river restoration to riparian forest projects — demonstrated how NbS can increase flood protection, reduce pollution, enhance biodiversity, and improve climate resilience.
Enhanced monitoring, laboratories, and health protection
Expanded field surveys on rivers, groundwater and coastal waters, plus several laboratory trainings on EU priority pollutants and data interpretation, strengthened the evidence base for policy. The programme supported ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation of national water laboratories (in Armenia and Ukraine). Since 2022, wastewater-based COVID-19 surveillance has been introduced and established (systems in Georgia and Moldova, fully fledged in Ukraine). Cooperation under the UNECE Protocol on Water and Health was reinforced, including targets, reviews and roadmaps tailored to national contexts.
Open data and integrated environmental information
Upgraded public data portals in Armenia, Georgia and Moldova now expose Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for water permits, surface-water quality and solid-waste datasets. Water accounting was advanced; Water Data Hackathons (Armenia, Moldova, 2024) engaged young innovators to turn open data into practical tools. Outputs include a report on open data and citizen participation and the webbook Environment at a Glance in EaP countries with auto-updated indicators. Beyond water, the programme helped countries to map land-use change with European CORINE datasets, use Copernicus satellite data in day-to-day work, introduce legal base for producer-responsibility rules for waste in Georgia and Ukraine, and share air-quality data more consistently as part of an integrated approach.
What’s next: EU4Green Recovery East (2025–2028)
Since 2016, Umweltbundesamt-Environment Agency Austria —together with the International Office for Water (OiEau, France), the OECD and UNECE— has supported the Eastern Partnership through EU-funded programmes to align water management with EU and international standards. This cooperation began with EU Water Initiative Plus (2016–2020) and continued through EU4Environment – Water Resources and Environmental Data, creating a strong technical and institutional foundation for the next phase.
EU4Green Recovery East is a regional programme supporting the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries on their path towards a greener, more resilient, and competitive economy.
EU-funded with EUR 21.3 million (2025-2028), this programme builds on the results of a decade of EU support for better water management and green economy adoption. It focuses on five key components: (1) promoting a circular economy, (2) ensuring water is managed as a critical resource, (3) advancing legal approximation with EU environmental legislation, (4) strengthening integration into EU-wide environmental cooperation and data exchange, and (5) fostering cross-border environmental cooperation.
The programme is implemented by five partners: Expertise France with the French International Office for Water (OiEau), OECD, UNECE, UNIDO, and Umweltbundesamt - Environment Agency Austria (UBA), as again the consortium coordinator.
