There is a need to gather more knowledge about the presence, importance and sensitivity of groundwater ecosystems in order to properly protect them. Additional scientific research should therefore be encouraged, funded and conducted, and the findings should be disseminated, and, where necessary, taken into account, along with existing knowledge, when implementing or revising Directives 2000/60/EC and 2006/118/EC. The Commission should work with Member States under the Common Implementation Strategy for Directive 2000/60/EC to establish a methodology for identifying groundwater ecosystems. As soon as a reliable methodology is available, Member States should, where relevant, apply that methodology, and set stricter standards where necessary to protect those ecosystems.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
