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Policy & Regulation Lib Dem conference 230 the number of member votes in favour of a conditional support of nuclear power nuclear – all three major parties now support it tions where the risk of environmental damage from over-abstraction is greatest. Water companies would be rewarded for abstracting less water where water abstractions have an impact and encourage abstractions from where there is no impact. The Commission envisages that guidance on water trading schemes could be produced for interested member states in 2015. There is an opportunity for the water industry and its environmental regulators to contribute to this work and also to benefit from the experiences of others in this area. Leakage: Ofwat requires water companies to operate at the sustainable economic level of leakage (SELL). The Commission is set to work with the EU water industry to accelerate the development and spread of best practices on SELL, particularly in terms of adapting to climate change and potentially scarcer water resources. The experience of the UK water industry and Ofwat could provide a significant contribution to this work. Water efficiency: Another action is to develop a common EU methodology for setting water efficiency targets for river basins (of relevance to catchment management schemes). Water re-use: Re-use of water is limited in the EU. The Commission aims to look into the most suitable EU-level instrument to encourage water re-use, including the possibility of a regulation in 2015. Innovation: The European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP) has been established by the Commission to encourage and facilitate innovation. Catchment management schemes: Ofwat supported the catchment management approach in the price review of 2009 and is committed to the principle for PR14. The Commission is working to develop guidance (by 2014) for integrating the ecosystems services concept developed by UKWIR into the different stages of the WFD and the Floods Directive, which is of direct relevance to the application of catchment management. The UK water industry should learn from, and contribute its expertise and experience to, the actions arising from the blueprint. Though many actions involve the development of voluntary guidance, benefit may be obtained from learning lessons from others with particular experience and by contributing to a common understanding. This will be particularly important if guidance subsequently leads to the framing of mandatory regulations. Steve Nixon, senior technical specialist, WRc For the full version of this article, visit: www.utilityweek.co.uk GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK 584 days the time left to the coalition before the next general election "I can walk away from the table [with EDF]… we've got ourselves into a strong negotiating position." – Ed Davey lib dem fervour – Nick Clegg said the conference was "worryingly quiet" "It can be difficult building a new green market. But the Green Deal was never meant to be a quick fix. We're building this, not for a few years, but for a few decades." – Energy minister Ed Davey People are understandably concerned about the spiralling cost of living £115/ MWh The cap the government will set for the levy control framework by 2020 consumer affairs minister Jo swinson 50-100g the amount of co2 per kWh of electricity the lib dems would set in a decarbonisation target UTILITY WEEK | 27Th sEpTEmbEr - 3rd ocTobEr 2013 | 17