The Council of the EU has agreed its negotiating mandate on the directive which will amend the water framework directive, the groundwater directive and the directive on environmental quality standards.
The proposal updates priority substances and environmental quality standards in surface water and groundwater.
The council’s mandate is described as setting a balance between keeping ambitious goals for the EU’s water policy and providing flexibility for member states in the implementation of water legislation, while keeping a level-playing field and reducing administrative burden.
Alain Maron, minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for climate change, environment, energy and participatory democracy said: “Reducing pollutants and extending the monitoring to new substances, like forever chemicals or pharmaceuticals, in surface waters and groundwater is crucial in order to protect human health and our ecosystems.”
Updated list of water pollutants
The proposal updates the list of water pollutants by adding new pollutants and related quality standards for some per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
Forever chemicals (PFAS)
PFAS are a large group of ‘forever chemicals’ used in cookware, clothing and furniture, fire-fighting foam and personal care products.
Member states agreed to maintain the European Commission’s proposal on setting environmental quality standards for the sum of 24 PFAS in surface water.
Pesticides
The commission’s proposal to add quality standards for non-relevant metabolites of pesticides has been simplified.
The council also added the obligation for the commission to establish a list of known pesticides, indicating if they are relevant or not.
Pharmaceuticals
Member states agreed to maintain the commission’s proposal for listing individual pharmaceutical products, used as painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as antibiotics.
The negotiating mandate provides for a stepwise approach when there is evidence that stricter quality standards need to be set to protect the ecosystem.
Monitoring and reporting water quality
The water framework directive requires member states to submit their river basin management plans and to report on the status of water bodies in their countries.
For this, the current water framework directive applies a one-out-all-out principle. This means that all ecological and chemical indicators should meet the quality standards set in EU legislation.
According to the EU Commission, this principle makes it difficult to show overall progress. Therefore, member states agreed that the commission will set indicators at EU level to measure progress in a uniform way, also in situations where not all quality standards are at ‘good’ status.
The negotiating mandate provides for intermediate reporting, new monitoring techniques, including remote sensing, and the possibility to set up an EU-wide monitoring facility to help member states with their tasks.
Member states also clarified the concept of deterioration of the status of a water body i.e., short-term activities effects without lasting consequences or already existing pollution relocation within, or between, waterbodies will not be considered as deterioration, as long as they do not produce an overall increase in pollution.
Groundwater pollutants
As regards groundwater substances identified as being of national concern, the council has narrowed down the scope and sets EU-wide values only for synthetic substances.
Member states will have until 2039 to achieve ‘good’ groundwater chemical status.
As groundwater is the main source for drinking water in many member states, the negotiating mandate aligns the PFAS requirement for groundwater with the drinking water directive, which sets quality standards for 20 PFAS.
It also includes quality standards for the four most problematic PFAS.
A mandatory ‘watch list mechanism’ for groundwater similar to the already existing one for surface water, will also be introduced.
The Council clarified that microplastics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes will be included in the watch list only once harmonised monitoring and evaluation standards are in place.
Future reviews
Member states stressed the need to update the relevant pollutants list for surface water and groundwater through legislative acts to be adopted according to the ordinary legislative procedure, instead of the initial proposal to have them amended via delegated acts of the commission.
This latest negotiating mandate allows for member states to transpose the directive in two years instead of 18 months, as initially proposed by the commission.
The agreement on the council’s negotiating mandate allows its presidency to start talks with the European Parliament on the final text. The European Parliament adopted its position on April 24, 2024.
Background
Chemical pollution of surface and groundwater poses a threat to the aquatic environment, with effects such as acute and chronic toxicity in aquatic organisms, accumulation of pollutants in the ecosystem and loss of habitats and biodiversity, as well as to human health, according to the EU.
This proposal addresses the legal obligation of the EU to regularly review the lists of pollutants affecting surface and groundwaters.
Setting environmental standards is part of the European Green Deal’s zero pollution ambition of having an environment free of harmful pollution by 2050.