EurEau welcomes the enlargement of the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) lists as a prerequisite to providing safe and affordable drinking water services to consumers and as an effective means of protecting the environment.

The proposal adds pesticides, pharmaceuticals and PFAS to the priority substances lists for surface water and groundwater, and sets more flexible procedures to update Environmental Quality Standards (EQS).

If EQS are exceeded, the EU and Member States are obliged to take action to curb the emissions. EurEau requests that, in line with Article 191.2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), any exceedance of EQS should primarily trigger control-at-source measures.

You can read our position here: https://www.eureau.org/resources/position-papers/7042-eureau-position-on-the-wfd-eqsd-and-gwd/file