EurEau notes with dismay the intention stated by some MEPs to amend the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) compromise text at its upcoming Plenary vote. Together with industry bodies and NGOs, EurEau is publishing a joint statement calling on MEPs to adopt the Political Agreement as agreed in trilogue.

Last December the Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on a common version of the IED revision which was since endorsed by the ENVI Committee in Parliament and by COREPER in Council. The trilogue agreement secured important advances for the protection of water resources, in particular stricter emission limits and binding water efficiency targets for industrial facilities, as well as increased protection for urban wastewater infrastructure when industrial wastewater is discharged in urban sewers.

Amending the Directive at such a late stage would jeopardise these and other benefits enshrined in the agreement. By adopting a second-reading position different from the Political Agreement, the Parliament would force a new round of negotiations which could affect any and all parts of the Directive. Given the proximity of the elections, this would also considerably delay the implementation of this much-needed update to industrial emission rules.

We therefore call on MEPs, when they vote on the IED on 11 March 2024, to reject any amendments and adopt the revised Directive as endorsed by both ENVI and COREPER.