Facilitating factors leading to the adoption of the reform Water pollution had been slowly mounting as a concern for the general public in the European Union. In 1988 the Council of Ministers of Environment requested the European Commission to work on a directive to tackle the issue in a holistic way. This began with the Nitrates and Waste Water Treatment Directives. In 1995, Council of Ministers of Environment and the European Parliament’s environmental committee requested the EU Commission to proceed with a more global approach to water policy.