Water protection and quality management in the European Union and Lithuania Summary Key words: water protection, strategic planning, integrated protection, sustainable development, financial instruments, water directives, transference of legislation, legislation on water protection. The major objective of this master thesis is to examine how water protection policy is implemented in the EU and Lithuania, to analyze possibilities of water policy financing, and to discuss the process of harmonizing EU’s and Lithuania’s legislation on water protection issues. The hypothesis raised in this thesis states that successful implementation of water policy is being highly influenced by the integrated water management, which covers policy agenda setting, legislation scope, institutional capabilities and financing efficiency. The thesis consists of six parts. In the first part of this thesis author examines three different stages of water policy implementation in the EU in a chronological order. The development of policy formation is discussed and features of every stage are defined. In the second part of the thesis water directives of different stages of EU water policy are presented and examined. The third part of this thesis is targeted to examine the development of water policy in Lithuania and at the same time to determine the changes of water legislation in Lithuania prior to its membership in the European Union and after its entry. The fourth part of the thesis aims to... [to full text]