EurEau notes the legal challenge from the two sectors that will have to contribute to the EPR under the recast to the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. We agree that all European legislation must comply with the principles of the EU Treaty, including article 191.2.

Under the revision that came into force in January this year, pharmaceutical and cosmetics producers will have to contribute to micropollutant removal costs (the so-called quaternary treatment) under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The impact assessment that accompanied the Commission’s proposal for the directive states that these two sectors are the greatest source of micropollutants found in urban wastewater and, therefore, EPR should apply to those two groups. The directive allows Member States to add to the EPR system other sectors producing micropollutants that can be found in urban wastewater.

We urge national policy makers to ensure that the implementation of the EPR schemes continues as planned while the Court of Justice of the EU) assesses the case. Any delay in the implementation of EPR would lead to a similar delay in the launch of quaternary treatment.   

The potential postponement would only see losers: wastewater operators who need regulatory certainty before they launch the planning phase for the related investments; the two sectors that need to plan their contributions and, last but not least, the aquatic environment.