The Water Framework Directive of the European Commission was adopted and finally entered into force in December 2000 (Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy (2000/60/EC), 23 October 2000). As opposed to the water protection of the 1990s, the area covered by this Directive extends to all aquatic systems, surface waters (rivers and lakes), groundwater and coastal waters. Land eco-systems depending on groundwater are also included in the protection of the quantity of groundwater. Therefore water resources should be managed across national boundaries, choosing a co-ordinated approach within the river catchment areas.

The main target of this Directive is for the "good status" of all waters in the Community by 2015 whereby there is a differentiation between the ecological and chemical status of water. The basic thinking behind the term "good ecological status" is that water can be used by humans as long as the ecological function of the water body is not significantly impaired. The ecological function is defined by requirements for the different types of water by the EU. It still has not been specified how to define good ecological quality and how to carry out the assessment of water. The chemical water status is to be determined by environmental quality standards for hazardous substances.

Another key point of the Directive is the combination of an emission related approach with discharge related measures to reduce pollution under the basic obligation of cost recovery (Article 9).

The WFD suggests four main fields of action:

1. Development of principles for integrated planning and management of waters;
2. Implementation of regulations concerning the quantitative protection of water resources;
3. Establishing instruments to control groundwater pollution by non-point sources; and,
4. Implementing instruments to control groundwater pollution by point sources.