Climate change in combination with inadequate European water resources will impact the water cycle in Europe with potentially disastrous effects. Against this background, there is an urgent need to revise the management of water resources and to develop strategies for adaptation to the changes. This paper is designed to assess whether EU water law and policy are ready to face the challenge set by climate change, whether the Water Framework Directive responses are good enough, and what can be done for adapting water resources management to climate change impacts. Generally speaking, successful adapting strategies shall be under the framework of the WFD along with its 'daughter' directives, based on the approach of integrated water resources management supplemented by measures in water-related sectors, and complemented by new typologies and screening tools, greater control and quality of information as well as a clearer relationship with other relevant legal documents for climate change adaptation. © 2011 WIT Press.