The event was co-organised by Friends of Europe and the European Water Partnership (EWP), with the support of The Coca-Cola Company, Dow and Veolia Environnement. It was held on Wednesday 5 November at the Bibliothèque Solvay, Brussels and included the participation of EU Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas.

A few months ahead of the fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, this event was the main European Summit in its preparation, providing concrete input into the European Regional Process towards the Forum.

In 2006, the first European Policy Summit on Water organised by Friends of Europe and the EWP provided a Europe-wide platform to debate the EU’s water policies for the first time. This year, the third annual summit was dedicated to the European Regional Process for the fifth World Water Forum, bringing together international institutions, national and local governments, industries, NGOs and other stakeholders from the water sector in Europe and beyond to discuss three crucial issues for Europe:

• Climate change and adaptation;
• Finance;
• Water scarcity and droughts. 

Speakers included:

• Fritz Barth, Vice-Chairman, European Water Partnership (EWP)
• Alice Bouman, Chair, Women for Water, The Netherlands
• Christophe Bouvier, Director and Regional Representative for Europe, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Luis Bulhao Martins, Vice Chairman of the Portuguese Farmer Organisation and Vice Chairman of the COPA-COGECA Working Party on Environment 
• Stavros Dimas, EU Commissioner for the Environment
• Jan Dusik, First Deputy Minister of Environment, Czech Republic
• Jose Frade, Head of Division Water, Sewerage and Sewage Disposal, Projects Directorate, European Investment Bank (EIB)
• Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia Water
• Peter Gammeltoft, Acting Director, Water, Chemicals and Cohesion, European Commission Directorate General for the Environment
• Pedro Antonio Garcia, Director Corporate Identity, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola Iberia
• Judith Jiguet, Director for Water and Biodiversity, Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning, France
• Johan Kuylenstierna, Chief Technical Advisor to the Chair of UN-Water
• Bin Liu, Division Director, Department for Water Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, China
• Ian Lomax, Global Marketing Leader, Dow, and Vice President of European Desalination Society
• Renske Peters, Director for Water Affairs, Ministry of Transport and Water Management, The Netherlands
• Richard Seeber MEP, Member of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and Rapporteur on water scarcity 
• Kimberly Tara, CEO, FourWinds Capital Management