EurEau newsletter - March 2024
EurEau News
Samorka joins EurEau
We are very pleased to welcome Samorka - the association of the Icelandic electricity industry, district heating, waterworks and sewage utilities in Iceland - to EurEau.
Samorka is the 38th member association of EurEau, expanding our reach to 33 countries all across Europe. Velkomin í EurEau. Við erum mjög ánægð með að vinna með þér að mikilvægum vatnsmálum!
Water Resilience Initiative: stakeholders unite in call for action
A joint letter was sent to European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen on 12 March, signed by a diverse coalition of stakeholders all calling for the EU to publish the Water Resilience Initiative.
The coalition emphasises the indispensable need for a water-resilient Europe in light of the escalating pressures on the continent's freshwater resources, intensified by the impacts of climate change. Water stands at the centre of the economic, societal, and environmental sustainability of Europe. As such, the Water Resilience Initiative is imperative to provide European socio-economic actors with a competitive edge, while ensuring the availability of water resources of the highest quality at the right time. Read more here.
This call came the same day as the Commission published its Communication on EU Climate Risks. You can read our reaction to this here.
Speaking out
Oliver Loebel, EurEau Secretary General met with a delegation of our members visiting from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark on 5 March.
Sébastien Mouret, EurEau Policy Officer, joined Anders Finnson (Svenskt Vatten, Sweden), chairperson of our Joint Working Group on the WFD to speak at the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) workshop on 13-14 March.
Gari Villa-Landa, EurEau Policy Officer, participated in two sessions on the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and the revision of Surface Water and Groundwater Polluting Substances, and Preparing for 2027 Water Quality Objectives: a multi-stakeholder approach (shared presentation with WWF).
Looking ahead, Oliver will be a panellist at the on 10 April (Brussels).
Our Spanish colleagues from AEAS responded to a request from the Latin American Association of Water and Sanitation Operators to present their experience with coagulants at a series of webinars in April.
We will be participating in the EU’s Green Week, 29-30 May. More details in the ‘events’ section.
Harrie Timmer (Vewin, the Netherlands) will speak on behalf of EurEau at the PFAS Global 2024 virtual conference on 13 June.
EU news
Water legislation
UWWTD: Reaching conclusion
A provisional agreement on the final text has been reached, being adopted by the Council on 1 March and by the ENVI Committee in the Parliament on 11 March. The Parliament will have its final plenary vote on 11 April.
Due to the corrigendum procedure, the final text will not be formally approved and published before October/November.
Water and agriculture
CAP: Commission moves to weaken environmental protection measures
Without any impact assessment, the Commission announced a proposal to weaken or make voluntary several ‘Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions’ (GAECs) under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Furthermore, the Commission proposed that Member States no longer need to align CAP strategic plans with the latest environmental policies.
We believe this move will further weaken the protection of drinking water resources from agricultural pollution. Consumer organisation BEUC and NGOs have called on the European Parliament to oppose the Commission's proposals. If and/or when such a vote might take place is unclear.
Nitrates Directive: Evaluation underway
The Commission has launched the evaluation of this directive with a call for evidence and a public consultation. We submitted a response.
The goal of this directive is the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.
Soil Monitoring Directive: Plenary vote coming
The European Parliament’s ENVI Committee adopted its Report in March, endorsing significant amendments to strengthen the text proposed by the Commission. In a positive move, it requires Member States to improve soil status (not just monitor it), monitor PFAS in all soils, take WFD priority substances and other water legislation into account when selecting organic contaminants for monitoring, and prioritise areas of drinking water abstraction when investigating potentially contaminated sites.
The text will be voted on in the Plenary on 10 April, where we trust MEPs will retain the changes made in ENVI.
Water and the environment
Microplastics pollution: Moving towards the prevention of plastic pellet losses
The Parliament ENVI Committee Report on the Commission Proposal to prevent pellet losses to reduce microplastics was voted on and adopted on 19 March. The vote in Plenary is scheduled for 22 April 2024
Textiles: Legislation on the move
The Commission is revising the Textile Labelling Regulation. In our reaction to the public consultation, we emphasised the need to include information on the presence of hazardous substances (PFAS, other PMT, biocides) and microfibre shedding in the labels.
Separately, the JRC is preparing a background study for setting eco-design (green public procurement, eco-label) requirements for apparel (deadline: 25.04.2024).
Nature Restoration Law: Postponed or abandoned?
Member States are unable to find a majority for the adoption of this flagship Green Deal initiative. This follows a tight vote in the European Parliament approving the Trilogue agreement that had already been substantially weakened compared to the initial Commission proposal.
Healthy natural spaces are a prerequisite for the protection of drinking water resources. We therefore regret the unwillingness of the co-legislators to restore deteriorated biotopes.
Pharmaceuticals Legislation: Plenary vote due
The European Parliament’s ENVI Committee adopted all compromise amendments tabled for their vote on 11 March. On environmental matters, the texts (Directive and Regulation) adopted by ENVI largely back the Commission’s proposal which we supported from the start.
The Plenary vote is scheduled foron 10-11 April. No amendments have been tabled relating to the environmental aspects of the file.
Industrial Emissions Directive (IED): End in sight
The European Parliament’s Plenary endorsed the Trilogue text without amendments but it was a close call, with a strong EPP faction seeking to reopen the chapter on industrial farming. The final step is a vote in the Council, probably in mid-June, following which the revised Directive can be published in the Official Journal.
Water as an essential service
INSPIRE Directive: revision initiated
The European Commission launched the revision of the INSPIRE Directive with the publication of a call for evidence.
In our reaction, we supported the overall goal but emphasised the need to exempt geospatial data on infrastructures managed by sectors covered by the CERD directive from public access.
The Commission is expected to launch the public consultation shortly.
INSPIRE provides for the development of an online portal to enable geospatial data on the environment to be shared among public authorities and other users in Europe.
Information Sharing Platform news
We hosted a webinar for almost 100 participants on GHG accounting in the drinking water sector on 19 March. Join the online discussion .
Other news
Green Week
Pär will speak at the event ‘The very source of well-being: clean, affordable water and sanitation for all’ hosted by DG Environment on 30.05.
Events
14-17 April 2024 – IWA Water Loss, San Sebastian, Spain. Many of the world’s leading experts in the field of Non-Revenue Water Management will be present and will discuss the latest developments, strategies, techniques and applications of international best practices as well as successful case studies.
29-30 May 2024 - will focus on water resilience this year.
5-7 June 2024 – Urban Future, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Thousands of from all over the world share how they create transformation and which mistakes are made, accelerating change and successfully shaping the future of our cities. This year's theme will look at water. …
11-12 June 2024 - ResNRJwater launch event, Essen, Germany. Funded by Interreg North-West Europe, the conference will highlight the approach of the ResNRJwater project: aiming at a resilient energy supply for and from water and wastewater infrastructure.
Brian Murphy, our General Assembly Representative for Ireland and co-Chairpern of our Committee on Economics and Legal Affairs will address the event.
12-13 June 2024 – The EU-funded ZeroPM project will host a Special Symposium on PFAS remediation in Rastatt and Karlsruhe (Germany). Please register by 17 May at .
19-20 September 2024 - Achieving Zero Pollution of Persistent and Mobile Substances through Substance Grouping and Risk Assessment workshop, Dessau, Germany. Hosted by UBA.
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