What Parliament is proposing
In June 2023, Parliament’s environment committee adopted its position on protecting groundwater and surface waters from pollution and improving water quality standards. The new law revises the Water Framework Directive, the Groundwater Directive and the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (Surface Water Directive). The aim is to better protect human health and natural ecosystems from pollutants.
Expanding the watch list
MEPs propose that the watch list of pollutants should not be limited to a maximum of substances as proposed by the Commission. They want it to be regularly updated to keep up with new scientific evidence and the fast-evolving pace of emerging new chemicals.
MEPs want a number of substances to be added to the watch list as soon as suitable monitoring methods are identified, including microplastics.
Preventing groundwater pollution
To better protect ground water, MEPs demand that the threshold values – which are quality standards to assess the chemical status – are 10 times lower for groundwater than those for surface water.
They also want a subset of specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to be added to the list of groundwater pollutants, as these substances have been detected at more than 70% of the groundwater measuring points in the EU. MEPs want stricter standards for glyphosate, bisphenol, atrazine, pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
Polluters should pay
The report also says producers of products containing polluting substances should contribute to the monitoring costs.
Next steps
Parliament is scheduled to agree its negotiating mandate in September 2023. Talks with national governments on the final form of the law can start once the Council has adopted its position.
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