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We are pleased to share our 2024 Annual Report, showcasing our collective achievements and ongoing work to safeguard Europe’s water services. Despite political uncertainty and environmental setbacks, we advanced key policies, including the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, pushed for a robust PFAS ban, and continued advocating for a comprehensive Water Resilience Strategy.

Discover how our members, experts and partners are shaping a resilient, sustainable future for water in Europe.

Read the full report here.

The recast UWWTD is a crucial tool for improving Europe’s water quality, protecting aquatic biodiversity and public health as well as promoting circular solutions. Its EPR scheme is a proportionate instrument to encourage sustainable market practices and pollution reduction whilst spreading the cost of pollution equitably. We therefore call on the European Commission to uphold this approach and avoid any revisions that would jeopardise a timely, equitable, and effective implementation of the recast Directive.

BPA mainly enters the body through food, but its presence in drinking water also needs attention. While the EU ban on BPA in food contact materials is a positive step, it should be followed by a full REACH restriction, targeting BPA analogues and promoting safer alternatives. Since BPA transfers to water at higher temperatures, it should be banned from hot-water systems. The revision of BPA limits in the Drinking Water Directive should include a realistic timeline for suppliers to comply with new standards.

Healthy waters are not only a vital natural resource for human well-being and the environment but also a key driver
of Europe’s resilience and global competitiveness. Only by upholding the integrity of the WFD, maintaining a strong,
predictable regulatory framework, and ensuring its effective implementation can we safeguard Europe’s water
resources while fostering innovation, investment, and economic prosperity.

TFA is a very persistent, very mobile member of the PFAS group of chemicals. Due to its numerous emissions pathways, TFA is now ubiquitous in the water cycle and hard to remove by conventional water treatments. The EU should recognise the urgent necessity to stop TFA emissions to the environment as a first step towards addressing this pollution.

Because TFA is an atypical PFAS, the catch-all “PFAS Total” parameter is inadequate for TFA. A specific TFA limit value in drinking water should be set based on health-derived criteria. Where this value would require additional drinking water treatment, these costs should be borne by the polluters.

A group of companies and organisations urge the Commission to develop an ambitious proposal for a targeted
revision of REACH that prevents harm and avoids ‘circular pollution’. We are convinced that REACH can become the needed cornerstone towards a toxic-free circular economy that enhances the global competitiveness of European industry while benefiting human health and our environment.

In our paper – PFAS Phase Out: A Prerequisite for a Water Resilient Europe – we highlight the continued threat that PFAS pose to human health and the environment. We urge the European Commission to act now to ban these toxic chemicals.

Known as ‘forever chemicals,’ PFAS are present in our food, air, water and everyday products. Their persistence, mobility, and toxicity create far-reaching challenges for Europe’s water services.

Safe and secure water supplies are of critical importance for all people everywhere, to protect public health, mainstream resilience, and guarantee safety and the well-being of people and societies.

The promised European Water Resilience Strategy should set a clear direction for coordinated and coherent action by Member States, taking into account national and regional circumstances. In this regard, EurEau has identified three essential drivers that we believe should be included in the Water Resilience Strategy to ensure its effectiveness:

• Improved water governance and monitoring for integrated and sustainable water resource management across all sectors.
• Improved supply management to ensure sufficient resources.
• Better demand management and promotion of water saving solutions where appropriate.

2023 was a year of both achievement and challenge in our ongoing mission to protect Europe’s water resources. We made significant strides with key legislative advancements such as the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD), the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), Environmental Quality Standards and the Groundwater Directives (EQSD and GWD), sending a strong message that polluters must be held accountable. However, we faced setbacks along the way. Despite these hurdles, we remained steadfast, knowing that our work is crucial for the sustainable future of our water services.

As we look to 2024, we are committed to continuing our efforts with renewed focus and collaboration, ensuring that water remains at the heart of Europe’s resilience and prosperity.

Read more about our work in our 2023 Annual Report.

EurEau welcomes and strongly supports the European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution, which will allow for a regulatory framework implementing control at source for a relevant part of microplastics unintentionally released to the environment, and it will contribute not only to protecting water resources but also to meeting the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, as well as the New Action Plan on The Circular Economy.