Our Publications

The Commission proposal for the ‘Simplification and strengthening of food and feed safety requirements’ modifies the conditions for placing pesticides and biocides on the market It contains welcome measures to accelerate access to the market for new biocontrol substances and products.
However, several proposals will negatively affect compliance with article 7.3 of the Water Framework Directive and the requirements of the Drinking Water Directive, such as unlimited approval period of most active substances. Furthermore, it must be possible to ban pesticide uses easily and promptly as soon as monitoring data show that the environmental quality objectives of the Water Framework Directive are at risk from these substances. We call on the co-legislators to ensure the full protection of drinking water resources and avoid legal uncertainty between Regulation 1107/2009 and the DWD.

The INSPIRE Directive must be consistent with EU legislation aimed at protecting critical entities and vital societal services. The protection of public health and the environment must prevail over the right to access certain spatial data. Member States should be required to ensure that spatial data of infrastructure managed by the sectors listed in the annex to Directive 2022/2557 should not be made publically accessible, unless it are not security-relevant.

The limitation only applies to spatial data and not to environmental data.

Drinking water and wastewater services are essential to the functioning of Europe’s societies and its internal market. As the European Union prepares the next Multiannual Financial Framework, funding for cohesion, prosperity and security represents a key opportunity to strengthen the resilience, sustainability and climate neutrality of the water services sector, in line with the objectives of the European Water Resilience Strategy.

EurEau welcomes the Commission’s proposal for the National and Regional Partnership (NRP) Regulation and sets out targeted recommendations to ensure that water services infrastructure is adequately supported in the next seven-year financing cycle. These recommendations focus on securing explicit eligibility for water services infrastructure, mainstreaming funding across climate, environmental and security objectives, strengthening governance through the involvement of water service providers, and improving the sector’s capacity to absorb available funding.

This briefing note outlines why energy security is becoming a defining issue for Europe’s water services. It explains the interdependence between resilient water services, energy security and Europe’s broader objectives on health, climate resilience, competitiveness and security. The paper examines key challenges facing the sector, highlights the untapped potential of water services to support a resilient European energy system, and explores innovative economic and financial instruments needed to unlock investment and ensure long-term energy security.

As part of its recommendations, EurEau calls for a better protection of water resources. The classification of PMT and vPvM substances as substances of very high concern is essential, as these substances tend to accumulate in our scarce water resources. Furthermore, the Authorisation Procedure should be strengthened and the Generic Risk Assessment (GRA) approach extended. Last but not least, the current REACH rules should be applied to implement a prompt and far-reaching ban of PFAS uses.

BPA mainly enters the body through food, but its presence in drinking water also needs attention. While the EU ban on BPA in food contact materials is a positive step, it should be followed by a full REACH restriction, targeting BPA analogues and promoting safer alternatives. Since BPA transfers to water at higher temperatures, it should be banned from hot-water systems. The revision of BPA limits in the Drinking Water Directive should include a realistic timeline for suppliers to comply with new standards.

TFA is a very persistent, very mobile member of the PFAS group of chemicals. Due to its numerous emissions pathways, TFA is now ubiquitous in the water cycle and hard to remove by conventional water treatments. The EU should recognise the urgent necessity to stop TFA emissions to the environment as a first step towards addressing this pollution.

Because TFA is an atypical PFAS, the catch-all “PFAS Total” parameter is inadequate for TFA. A specific TFA limit value in drinking water should be set based on health-derived criteria. Where this value would require additional drinking water treatment, these costs should be borne by the polluters.

Safe and secure water supplies are of critical importance for all people everywhere, to protect public health, mainstream resilience, and guarantee safety and the well-being of people and societies.

The promised European Water Resilience Strategy should set a clear direction for coordinated and coherent action by Member States, taking into account national and regional circumstances. In this regard, EurEau has identified three essential drivers that we believe should be included in the Water Resilience Strategy to ensure its effectiveness:

• Improved water governance and monitoring for integrated and sustainable water resource management across all sectors.
• Improved supply management to ensure sufficient resources.
• Better demand management and promotion of water saving solutions where appropriate.

EurEau welcomes and strongly supports the European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution, which will allow for a regulatory framework implementing control at source for a relevant part of microplastics unintentionally released to the environment, and it will contribute not only to protecting water resources but also to meeting the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, as well as the New Action Plan on The Circular Economy.

EurEau welcomes and strongly supports the European Commission’s Proposal to amend the Mercury Regulation, banning the use, manufacture and export on dental amalgam from 2025, which will not only contribute to a long-term reduction of mercury in water bodies but also to the circular economy by allowing for a decrease of mercury in treated urban wastewater for reuse in agricultural irrigation and in sludge from wastewater treatment.