EurEau News

Christmas wishes

We send all our best wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas season to our colleagues from across our member associations, the EU institutions and other stakeholders. We look forward to what the New Year brings and working with you all.

Speaking out

Sébastien Mouret (EurEau Secretariat) represented us at the CEBEDEAU conference in Liège, Belgium on 21 November to discuss EU legislation on micropollutants. He also spoke at the City Lighthouse for Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management conference in Istanbul, Türkiye on 27 November, on the topic of water resilience in the EU.

EurEau President Pär Dalhielm represented EurEau at the EESC, European Consumer Day 2024 on 9 December on water challenges: Exploring consumer perspective - Moving ahead on the EU Blue Deal.

Gari Villa-Landa (EurEau Secretariat) represented us at the APDA event on the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (recast) on 29 November, to discuss the challenges of implemention.

Oliver Loebel spoke at the sewage sludge conference of our Austrian member ÖWAV in Wels (Austria) on 21-22 November. He also addressed the board of our Lithuanian member, Vandens Jega, on 27 November (online). On 10 December, he addressed Belgian MEPs as part of a meeting organised by our Belgian member Belgaqua (Brussels). He also spoke at the WAREG high-level workshop on climate neutrality in the water sector (Brussels).

EU news

Non-legislative developments

Water Resilience Strategy (WRS): call for evidence coming soon

The European Commission announced its intention to put forward a non-legislative initiative on water resilience, to ensure access to water for citizens, nature and the economy, while also tackling catastrophic flooding and water shortages. A call for evidence is expected in January but the Commission will likely not follow it up with a public consultation. We will input at every available stage of the process.

We need a robust 360° strategy at European level to ensure that water services are protected across all areas. Our vision for a water resilient Europe is outlined in this report.

On the Parliament side, the ENVI Committee is preparing an Own Initiative Report (INI) on the WRS. The Rapporteur is Javi López (S&D-ES, also the Rapporteur for the EQS file), and the Renew shadow is Grégory Allione (FR).   

The Parliament will hold a hearing in late January on this topic. Hearings allow Committees to hear from experts and hold discussions on the key issues.

Water legislation

Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) (recast): published

The UWWTD (recast) has been published in the OJEU. It will enter into force on 1 January 2025.

Specific Ad hoc task groups are being set to address each of the prioritised delegated (DA) and implementing acts (IA).

Environmental Quality Standards (EQS): trilogues to begin

Following our joint letter to MEPs and after months of delay, the European Parliament’s ENVI committee finally gave the green light on 4 December to start trilogue negotiations on the update of surface water and groundwater pollutants (revision of the WFD/GWD/EQSD). Talks are set to begin in late January, more than two years after the Commission published its initial proposal. We urge the co-legislators to reach a timely compromise to lift any legal uncertainty ahead of the next River Basin Management Planning cycle.

Water and agriculture

Sustainable food systems: Dashboard published

While the Commission stopped work on the legal act on sustainable food systems, they have developed a first version of the dashboard and the accompanying technical report to assess such systems.

EurEau welcomes this publication which takes account of potential environmental impacts. However, its impact will remain limited as it is not linked to any legislative requirements. 

Dashboard and Report.

Water and the environment

PFAS: ECHA restriction proposal on the brink?

The November ECHA meetings continued their work on the universal PFAS restriction. While agreement was found on textiles and food-contact materials/packaging, work on construction products started.

EurEau is concerned about ECHA’s announcement that it would consider ‘alternative restriction options” by setting conditions allowing the continued manufacture, placing on the market or use of PFAS for certain uses.

In addition, we met with the consultants working on the Commission’s behalf to assess technologies to remove PFAS from drinking water and wastewater, and the feasibility of EPR for PFAS in drinking water.

PFAS: EurEau calls for pesticide ban

The Commission proposed to the competent Member state committee banning two pesticides, flufenacet and flutolanil, that release TFA to the environment when degrading. The final decision is due in March 2025.

EurEau fully supports this move, as TFA is extremely persistent and mobile and accumulates in the aquatic environment.

Bisphenol A: ban

The Commission’s proposal to ban bisphenol A (BPA) and other harmful bisphenols in food contact materials was approved by Member States and will be published shortly.

We welcome this move and call for exemptions to be applied in a restrictive manner. The ban should lead to a reduction in bisphenol contamination of drinking water resources.

Sustainability Reporting: Omnibus Regulation

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in November an Omnibus Regulation to amend sustainability disclosure laws at once: the Taxonomy Regulation, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), to reduce the burden of the sustainability reporting obligations.

Water as an essential service

Security and resilience: New report highlights relevance of water services

The EU Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission, and former President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö released the report Safer Together – Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness. It sets out the challenges for critical infrastructures such as water services in ensuring the functioning of our societies in moments of crisis.

ENISA Threat Landscape 2024 released

The EU’s cyber security agency, ENISA, released its new analysis of seven cybersecurity threats, by analysing publicly reported cybersecurity incidents and events. The report is complemented by a detailed analysis of the current vulnerability landscape and of ‘threat actors’.

To the report here.

Other news

CIRSEAU

The CIRSEAU Coordination and Support Action (CSA) project held its kick-off meeting in Brussels on 11 December. EurEau is one of 10 project partners involved in the project, which follows up on five previous research projects on circularity. Over the next three years, we will be working with project partners to turn research results from these projects into market-ready solutions for water operators, industries and others. Our role within the consortium focuses on tackling policy obstacles, in particular by creating a roadmap towards EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for recycled resources and materials from the water cycle. We will keep you in the loop.

Water Europe study

Water Europe released a Socio-Economic Study on the Value of the EU Investing in Water. There will be a webinar to present it, taking place on 16 December from 16h00-17h30.

European Parliament Intergroups: No place for water resilience

While the need to increase water resilience is widely acknowledged, no Intergroup will cover this topic in the new Parliament mandate. The water sector finds this decision disappointing, particularly in light of the forthcoming Commission Water Resilience Strategy and the Blue Deal adopted by the Economic and Social Committee in 2023.