Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, Directive 2006/118/EC on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration and Directive 2008/105/EC on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy

Summary:

Legislative initiative - tabled by the European Commission on 26 October 2022 - introducing amendments to Directive 2000/60/EC, Directive 2006/118/EC and Directive 2008/105/EC as regards the protection of surface and groundwater against new pollutants. This is a text with EEA relevance.

Further information:

The European Union's legislative framework on water shares an overarching objective of protecting human health and the environment from the combined effects of toxic and/or persistent pollutants. Among those several acts, Directive 2000/60/EC - also known as the Water Framework Directive (WFD) - sets out rules to halt deterioration in the status of EU water bodies; Directive 2006/118/EC - also known as the Groundwater Directive (GWD) - includes procedures for assessing the chemical status of groundwater and measures to reduce levels of pollutants; Directive 2008/105/EC - also known as the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD) - sets out environmental quality standards for the presence in surface water of certain substances identified as priority pollutants.

The legislation includes lists of pollutants and quality standards, and includes requirements for their regular review. The need to update the lists was confirmed in Fitness Check concluded in 2019, which also highlighted that other improvements to the legislative framework would increase its effectiveness, efficiency and coherence. The ultimate aim of this draft law is to set new standards for a series of chemical substances of concern to address chemical pollution in water, to facilitate enforcement based on a simplified and more coherent legal framework, to ensure dynamic and up-to-date information on water status, and create a more flexible framework for addressing pollutants of emerging concern. The specific objectives of the initiative are to:

• update the lists of pollutants affecting surface and groundwater;
• improve the monitoring of chemical mixtures;
• harmonise, wherever relevant, how pollutants in surface and groundwater are addressed across the EU;
• ensure that the legal framework can be more swiftly aligned with scientific findings to more promptly respond to contaminants of emerging concern;
• improve the access to, transparency and re-use of data.

The draft law was adopted by the European Commission on 26 October 2022 as part of a so-called Zero Pollution Package of legislative initiatives.

• Primary Source

• Alternative Source

Official

EUR-LEX: SWD(2022)540: Staff Working Document accompanying the Proposal - Impact Assessment Report https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2022:540:FIN

EUR-LEX: SWD(2022)543: Staff Working Document accompanying the Proposal - Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment Report https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2022:543:FIN

European Commission: DG Environment: Groundwater https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water/groundwater_en

European Commission: Press Release, 26/10/2022: European Green Deal: Commission proposes rules for cleaner air and water https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_6278

European Commission: Questions and Answers on new EU rules on surface water and groundwater pollution (26 October 2022) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_22_6279

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