EWS provides water users with an applicable, voluntary system to assess, verify and communicate sustainable water management practices with main aim to change the behaviour and practices of all water users towards sustainable water management.

The EWS:

•  Initiates private actions with independent guidance.
•  Provides positive incentives for sustainable water management.
•  Helps companies to communicate its successful implementation and achievements at operational level.
•  Supports existing legal processes in the European Union.
•  Offers guidance through transparent, open, dynamic and representative standards.

The EWS is conceived with the focus on water sustainability at river basin level, as water users agree that they share river basins in much the same way as they share sectoral, national or regional concerns.