Table of Contents -- List of Tables 11 -- List of Figures 13 -- List of Fact Sheets 15 -- List of Boxes 17 -- 1 Introduction 19 -- 1.1 European water policy: from regulation to integration 22 -- 1.2 The European Water Framework Directive 24 -- 1.2.1 Novelties and building blocks of the Water Framework Directive 25 -- 1.2.2 The Common Implementation Strategy Process: harmonising procedures 29 -- 1.2.3 The implementation schedule for the Water Framework Directive 32 -- 1.3 The role of economics in the WFD 33 -- 1.3.1 Explicit functions of economics in the WFD 34 -- 1.3.2 Implicit functions of economics in the WFD 38 -- 1.3.3 Guidance from the CIS process on implementing the economic aspects 40 -- 1.4 Article 9 and its multiple objectives 42 -- 1.4.1 Recovering financial and environmental and resource costs of water services 46 -- 1.4.2 Setting incentives for efficient water resource use 48 -- 1.4.3 Making the polluter pay and ensuring adequate contributions by sectors 50 -- 1.4.4 Establishing transparency of financial flows in the European water sector and guaranteeing the sustainability of infrastructural systems 51 -- 1.4.5 Putting the objectives of Article 9 into perspective 53 -- 1.5 Research questions 54 -- 1.6 Methodology and scope of the thesis 56 -- 1.7 Plan of the thesis 58 -- 2 Theoretical considerations on cost-recovery and pricing of water services 61 -- 2.1 Water and its dimensions: implications for water services provision 61 -- 2.1.1 Water as an environmental good 63 -- 2.1.2 Water as a social good 64 -- 2.1.3 Water as an economic good 66 -- 2.1.4 The market structure for the provision of a multi-faceted good 69 -- 2.2 Cost-recovery of water services: a multi-dimensional concept requiring interpretation 75 -- 2.2.1 Possible interpretations of the concept of cost-recovery 76.

2.2.2 Which costs to recover? Definition and delineation of cost categories according to Article 9 86 -- 2.2.3 Cost factors in water services provision 104 -- 2.2.4 Framework conditions and cost drivers 112 -- 2.3 Water pricing as a tool for achieving cost-recovery and beyond 117 -- 2.3.1 Potential objectives and limits of water pricing 118 -- 2.3.2 Operationalising water pricing: an introduction to water pricing models 127 -- 2.3.3 Specificities of user groups: pricing water services for households 135 -- 2.3.4 Specificities of user groups: pricing water servicesfor agriculture 135 -- 2.4 WFD Article 9 and its implications for cost accounting and pricing of water services 140 -- 2.4.1 The definition of water uses and water services and related implications 141 -- 2.4.2 Environmental and resource costs: substantiating the concept 145 -- 2.5 Difficulties related to a European comparison of cost-recovery and water pricing 154 -- 3 Methodology for a comparative assessment of cost-recovery in line with WFD Article 9 157 -- 3.1 Analytical prerequisites: the ideal path to cost-recovery according to WFD Article 9 157 -- 3.2 Cost-recovery in line with WFD Article 9: the basic assessmentframework 161 -- 3.2.1 Definition and delineation of parameters for the cost assessment 163 -- 3.2.2 Accounting for financial costs of water service provision 165 -- 3.2.3 Accounting for revenues in water service provision 180 -- 3.2.4 Assessing environmental costs and their recovery 186 -- 3.2.5 Assessing resource costs and their recovery 198 -- 3.3 Linking the assessment components: implementation pathways and adaptation needs 204 -- 3.3.1 Complementary information for a comparative evaluation: background information on the investigation area 205 -- 3.3.2 Testing the relevance of Article 9 exemptions in justifying divergences from the 'ideal path' to cost-recovery 207.

3.3.3 Mapping out present approaches to cost-recovery and adaptation needs 211 -- 3.4 Assessing the implementation of the complementary objectives of WFD Article 9 211 -- 3.4.1 Assessing the adequacy of incentives for efficient water resource use 214 -- 3.4.2 Assessing the implementation of the polluter-pays principle and the adequacy of contributions from other water uses 216 -- 3.4.3 Assessing the sustainability of infrastructural systems and the transparency of financial flows 218 -- 3.5 Plan of procedure for assessing cost-recovery and overall attainment of Article 9 objectives 220 -- 4 Illustrative cases: testing the methodological framework 231 -- 4.1 Aim and scope of the illustration cases 231 -- 4.2 Background information on the selected illustration cases 232 -- 4.2.1 The German water sector and the illustration cases of Emscherand Berlin 233 -- 4.2.2 The Italian water sector and the illustration case of Emilia-Romagna 253 -- 4.3 Testing the framework: illustrative examples on key steps 261 -- 4.3.1 Testing Step 1: accounting for financial costs in water service provision 261 -- 4.3.2 Testing Step 2: accounting for revenues in water service provision 273 -- 4.3.3 Testing Step 4: assessing environmental costs and their recovery 286 -- 4.3.4 Testing Step 5: assessing resource costs and their recovery 311 -- 4.3.5 Testing Step 7: evaluating the relevance of exemptions from Article 9 317 -- 4.3.6 Testing Step 9: analysing the complementary objectives of Article 9 321 -- 5 Conclusions and outlook 331 -- 5.1 The problem statements of the thesis revisited 331 -- 5.2 Main findings of this thesis 333 -- 5.2.1 The requirements of WFD Article 9 and the prerequisites for a methodological assessment framework 334 -- 5.2.2 Lessons learned from the empirical illustration cases 335.

5.2.3 Potential influence of the applied analytical procedure on results 337 -- 5.3 Outlook on further research needs 338 -- 6 Literature 341 -- 7 Annex 371.