Publication Category: Policy Recommendation & Position papers

On 23 February 2023, the European Commission presented its proposal for a Regulation for measures to reduce the cost of deploying gigabit electronic communications networks (gigabit infrastructure act, GIA). This proposal aims at facilitating the deployment of broadband infrastructure in line with the 2030 digital compass and the digital decade policy programme. The expansion of […]

Directive 2022/0344 amends the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and its two daughter directives, the Groundwater Directive (GWD) and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD). 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). EurEau welcomes the […]

EurEau welcomes the European Commission’s Proposal for a Directive concerning urban wastewater treatment (recast) as its more ambitious objectives will align better with the overarching UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the European Green Deal while enhancing the governance of the wastewater sector and people’s access to sanitation. Reaching the new goals and requirements as set […]

EurEau supports major parts of the proposed Regulation, but calls for more clarity regarding ‘off-site transfer’ management. Easy access to data is paramount to facilitate the risk management of waste water operators. Waste water treatment plants (WWTP) larger than 100,000 PE are covered by the Regulation as it was for the E-PRTR and the list […]

We welcome the legislative proposal of the Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (SUR), enshrining the European Commission’s Zero Pollution ambition in pesticides policy to protect human health and the environment.  This legislative proposal heralds good news for water operators: water suppliers need water resources that are protected from pollution so that […]

The proposed text meets most of the water service providers’ expectations by correcting some drawbacks of the current directive regarding the protection of water bodies. EurEau supports the general philosophy, aligned with the zero-pollution ambition, to control industrial pollution at the source. Overall, we find the Commission’s proposal goes in a very positive direction and we […]

Removing PFAS from the urban water cycle causes a wide range of problems for water service providers. While technologies exist to remove most PFAS, they are unsustainable, mainly due to their technical complexity, resource intensity (water, energy, treatment chemicals etc.) and the generation of PFAS-containing residues. Reliance on end-of-pipe solutions creates a substantial stumbling block […]

Although the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) does not specifically address the water sector, the water cycle has renewable energy generation potential, i.e.: the generation of electricity from hydraulic turbines, biogas from sewage sludge, electricity and thermal energy from sewage sludge mono-incineration, electricity from on-site windmills and solar panels, heat pumps and thermal energy from […]

EurEau supports the general objective of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) which is to promote energy efficiency next to using renewable energies with the overall goal to achieve energy and climate neutrality. The EED and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) must accompany and support this process, taking into account the GHG emissions as the main […]

Waste water treatment plants (WWTP) remove pollutants from domestic waste water through mechanical and chemical processes and the biological activity of the biomass contained in the reactors. Chemicals coming from industrial waste water discharges into sewers can pose threats to waste water treatment, human health and the environment. Therefore, controlling hazardous industrial discharges into sewers […]