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These criteria are applied to the European Union\u2019s Water Framework Directive (WFD). For each of the six criteria we find deficiencies that should preferably be redressed in future revisions of the framework. Based on this example, we argue that in the future, complex goal systems should be carefully analysed from the viewpoint of goal-setting rationality before they are adopted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00267-026-02635-6","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T21:38:32Z","timestamp":1791668312000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rationality Criteria for Complex Goal Systems: The case of the EU Water Framework Directive"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"76","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1090-579X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Neelke","family":"Doorn","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4063-3219","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karin","family":"Edvardsson Bj\u00f6rnberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0071-3919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sven Ove","family":"Hansson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"2635_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1142\/S2382624X24300019","volume":"10","author":"J Albiac","year":"2024","unstructured":"Albiac J, Calvo E, Esteban E (2024) A quarter of a century of the European water framework directive\u2014The slow path towards sustainable water management. 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