 To do so, all industrial installations covered by the Annex I of the IPPC Directive (see ) are required to obtain an authorisation (permit) from the authorities in the EU countries before they are allowed to operate.The permits granted must be based on the concept of Best Available Techniques (or BAT).The IPPC Directive covers 33 industrial sectors where in almost all of them membrane processes appear as BAT, not only as an end-of-pipe solution for effluent treatment but mainly as a part of the industrial production processes.