Water news @eureauwaternews - Tumblr Blog

EurEau newsletter - edition 24 - April 2018

EurEau news Meeting members Carla Chiaretti from the Secretariat met with Utilitalia in Milan and presented EurEau’s position on the Drinking Water Directive at their ‘Proposal for a Directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption: contents and analysis’ conference held in Milan on the 16 April. Oliver Loebel attended a joint meeting of the Water UK Drinking Water and Environment Advisory Groups and WaterUK’s representatives in EurEau. The discussion focussed on EurEau’s functioning and priorities as well as measures to ensure Water UK’s involvement in EurEau after Brexit. The governance of water services in Europe We are pleased to announce the publication of the report on ‘The governance of water services in Europe’. It will help readers – particularly EU decision makers - have a clear overview of the various types of management of water services across Europe. This practical guide gives a better understanding of the models, organisational structures, tasks and responsibilities of the players involved at the different levels of governance (EU, national, regional or local). You can read and download the report here. EurEau’s new internet site We are in the process of redeveloping the EurEau internet site, which will ‘go live’ in about a week or so. The new sites will make it easier to find the information you are looking for Investing in infrastructure EU committee chair Klara Ramm penned a piece for EurActiv on why the EU should invest in our water infrastructure. You can read it here. EU news Drinking Water Directive The European Commission adopted the draft revised DWD on 1 February. The Council of the EU has already met three times during the past two months and a policy debate by Ministers is scheduled for the Environment Council on 25 June. On the European Parliament side, the consideration of the draft report by the Rapporteur, Michel Dantin, is planned for 7 June. To know more about the ENVI MEPs involved and the calendar in the ENVI Committee read the ‘EU matters blog’. The ENVI Committee held an exchange of views with the European Commission on the implementation of the DWD currently in force, the REFIT exercise and the new legislative proposal. MEPs sent questions in advance and DG ENV’s newly appointed Director Veronica Manfredi answered on behalf of the Commission. The debate can be watched online here(starting at 1:30:00) and a verbatim report can be found here. 16 May: Intergroup meeting on the Drinking Water Directive The working group on Agriculture and Water Management of the Intergroup on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Sustainable Development of the European Parliament, will organise a meeting on the DWD on 16 May from 13.30 to 15.30. The meeting will be chaired by Michel Dantin MEP, rapporteur of the DWD for the EP, Dr Claudia Castell-Exner, Vice-President of EurEau, will be among the speakers. The event is fully booked (over 200 people). To join the waiting list, please send an email to [email protected]. Committee of the Regions opinion on the DWD The Committee of the Regions (CoR) will deliver an opinion to the European Parliament and the Council on the DWD. The CoR Rapporteur is Mr Marc Weinmeister (DE/EPP). The ENVI Commission of the Committee of the Regions adopted a draft opinion on 12 April, reflecting many of the EurEau’s concerns. The Plenary of the Committee of the Regions will adopt its final opinion at the plenary session on 16-17 May. Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) The ENVI Committee of the European Parliament held an exchange of views with the Commission on the PiE Strategy on 25 April. Many MEPs took the floor complaining about the delay in the process. ECJ to decide on the deterioration clause for groundwater The ECJ will rule on the meaning of the deterioration clause laid down in Art 4 (1) of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The German Federal Administrative Court referred a case (street planning) to the ECJ and asked how to apply the deterioration clause on behalf of the groundwater. This is new because other rulings applied the clause to surface water. The case could become important for all users of groundwater. Up to now, there is no case number. Water reuse The Ad-hoc Task Group on water reuse met on 3 May in Brussels and the EurEau representative, Mr Pier Paolo Abis from EU2/Utilitalia attended. They were updated on the development of the legislative proposal on the minimum quality requirement for water reuse on irrigation in agriculture and the future steps to development of guidance documents for water reuse in agriculture and water reuse for aquifer recharge. PSI Directive: Commission proposes extended scope The European Commission published its proposal for the revised Directive on the Reuse of Public Sector Information. It sets minimum standards for commercial and non-commercial reuse of all types of information in all formats with certain exclusions (for example security-related). The new draft extends the application to ‘public undertakings’ and provides a wider definition of the sectors covered, but leaves some question marks. Parliament report on the future of CAP The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will undergo a major reform initiated by the Commission proposals expected for late May 2018. The lead committee n the European Parliament - AGRI - submitted a stunning 1.300 amendments of which some reflect the proposals submitted by EurEau. The ENVI Committee also took into account some of EurEau’s amendments. The report, which will probably eliminate many of the water-related amendments, will be voted in plenary on 11 June. Other news Powerstep project publishes policy brief EurEau participated in the EU-sponsored Powerstep project, which aimed to enhance the contribution of the waste water sector to the energy transition. The project summarised its political recommendations in the ‘POLICY BRIEF: Potential of the Wastewater Sector in the Energy Transition’. OECD Water Governance Initiative (WGI) presents results The OECD launched the WGI report Implementing the OECD Principles on Water Governance: Indicator Framework and Evolving Practices. It takes stock of the use and dissemination of the principles building on a survey across the 40+ countries and 140+ stakeholder groups who have endorsed them over the last three years, and proposes an indicator framework and a set of 50+ evolving practices to support their implementation. The ON-LINE MAP containing: 11 pilot test results of the water governance indicator framework and more than 50 water governance practices are also available. Call to Register for the Western European EBC Foundation programme The EBC Foundation will hold its next benchmarking exercise for water and waste water utilities soon. You can register to the open call here. The objective of the exercise is to assess performance, learn from each other and improve the services. ESPC3 conference ESPP will host its third European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference (ESPC3) on 11-13 June in Helsinki (FI). Most up to date programme can be found here: www.phosphorusplatform.eu/programmeESPC3. The registration is now open. You can register via https://events.eventos.fi/event/espc3/pages/registration. Anders Finnsonn will speak on behalf of Svenkst Vatten and Paula Lindell from FIWA will be rapporteur of a session on behalf of EurEau. News from our members All about the Dutch drinking water sector: Vewin publishes Drinking Water Statistics 2017 Customers have a very high opinion of Dutch drinking water; customer satisfaction with drinking water services is also high and drinking water bills in the Netherlands are low in comparison with neighbouring countries. Those are the standout conclusions from Drinking Water Statistics 2017, from source to tap, Vewin's up-to-date and extensive statistical survey of the Dutch drinking water sector. And All about Austria: Austria also publishes its statistics on drinking water You can read all about Austria’s drinking water in their publication, now also available on our website. Press at Water UK The UK is garnering a lot of press interest nationally. You can read some of their press releases and coverage here, and here, and here. Events 16 May – Intergroup meeting of the European Parliament on the Revision of the Drinking Water Directive (note: meeting will be in the Committee of the Regions). More… 16-17 May - The final public event of the EU-sponsored Powerstep project will take place during IFAT 2018. The project will close at the end of June 2018. EurEau participates in the project’s advisory board. 23-24 May – Conference of the Baltic water associations. This year’s conference will be hosted by the Lithuanian association. The EurEau president, Bruno Tisserand, is one of the speakers. 5-6 June – the Polish Association IGWP wil hold an International Fair and Conference - WOD-KAN - in Bydgoszcz.More… 11-12 June – third Third European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference, Helsinki. Deadline for proposing presentations on sustainable phosphorus policy or management actions, or of business or action success stories, for ESPC3 is 28th February. More information is here 11-13 June – Nordiwa - Nordic Drinking Water Conference in Oslo. More information – here.Remember to book hotel rooms before the deadline expires May 15th! An alternative is the Scandic Holberg Hotel, located just around the corner for the conference venue. Deadline for this hotel is May 10th. We strongly recommend you to book hotel room early, since June is a popular time to host events in Oslo. 26-31 August - World Water Week on the theme ‘Water, ecosystems and human development’. 16-21 September - IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018, Tokyo 20-21 September - EU Water Conference will take place in Vienna. It will be a big event, co-organised by the European Commission and the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Draft programme and more details. EurEau will be invited to speak). Registration. Conference Website. 7 November - Young Water Leaders first global event, Berlin (InterContinental Hotel) http://www.ourfuturewater.com/berlin/ You can see a list of events happening around Europe here. Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline. You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

Annual Report 2017

Our Annual Report 2017 is now available. You can read it here: http://eureau.org/administrator/components/com_europublication/pdf/9f6dd7f5743381f47bf77f57627e02c0-610-EurEau-AR17.pdf

Newsletter - edition 23 - March 2018

EurEau news EurEau Annual report 2017 The Annual Report for 2017 is now available online, detailing a lot of our work last year. You can read it here. EurEau at the Brasilia World Water Forum 8 EurEau was the lead coordinator for the session on ‘Promoting a circular economy by building an enabling environment’ on Wednesday 21 March. EurEau President Bruno Tisserand moderated the session, which had Dr Hakan Tropp from the OECD as a keynote speaker on the governance of circular economy in urban contexts. The panellists were: Miriam Feilberg (DANVA), Hiromasa Yamashita(Japan Water Forum) Dr.Thomas Honer (Windhoek Goreangab Operating Company) and Paula Keohe (The San Francisco Water Utility). Many thanks to our co-coorganisers: AEAS, UN-Habitat and CNI Brazil, as well as DANVA for their support in organising this session. EU news Drinking Water Directive: Council and Parliament develop positions Following the publication of the draft revised DWD, Council almost immediately began discussions on a common position and the European Parliament nominated its (shadow) rapporteurs. According to current planning, the rapporteur, Michel Dantin, intends to present his report on 4 May. Amendments can be submitted by 13 June. The committee and plenary votes are scheduled for 10 September and 1 October, respectively. Drinking Water Directive: Intergroup meeting planned The working group on Agriculture and Water Management, of the Intergroup on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, chaired by MEP Michel Dantin, rapporteur of the DWD recast for the European Parliament, will organise a meeting on the DWD on 16 May from 13.30 to 15.30. EurEau will speak at it. To register for the event, email [email protected]. The meeting will be held in the Committee of the Regions in Brussels. UWWT Directive: ENVI Committee discusses implementation The European Commission presented the 9th report on the implementation of the UWWTD to the European Parliament in the ENVI committee. Most MEP questions related to the consideration of micropollutants, especially pharmaceuticals, in waste water and to the use of sewage sludge in the context of the circular economy. PSI Directive: Commission proposal expected in April 2018 The Commission confirmed to EurEau that the draft revised Directive on the Reuse of Public Sector information should be published towards the end of April 2018. The Commission also stated that the two main concerns of EurEau members: the security of critical infrastructure and the relationship of the PSI Directive with sectoral legislation (i.e. drinking water directive) - were “carefully considered”. ECI Directive: Evaluation roadmap published DG HOME published its roadmap for the evaluation of the European Critical Infrastructure Directive (2008/114/EC). A public consultation will be launched at the same time as the evaluation process. The Commission will summarise its conclusions in a Staff Working Document due at the beginning of 2019. Water is not considered as a priority for inclusion in the directive. EurEau responded to the Roadmap stressing the water infrastructure does not meet the criteria for a European critical infrastructure and should, therefore, stay outside the Directive’s scope. Comments can be submittedhere. Cybersecurity: Commission plans certification The Commission proposed a regulation on ENISA, the ‘EU Cybersecurity Agency’, and on Information and Communication Technology cybersecurity certification ('’Cybersecurity Act’') with the goal to set up an EU-wide approval scheme starting with hardware. Innovation An EU public consultation is open on ‘missions’ to include in the next EU R&D funding programme (FP9) which will follow on from Horizon2020. EurEau is preparing an answer and members are also encouraged to respond to it to propose missions related to water resource protection. Deadline is today, 3 April. Plastics Strategy: ECHA launches restriction dossier for intentionally added microplastics As announced in its Communication ‘A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’, the Commission requested the ECHA to prepare a restriction proposal targeting intentionally added plastic particles in products for both professional and consumer uses, such as paint and detergents. The ECHA launched a call for evidence to identify uses, impacts and alternatives. Bertrand from the Secretariat participated in the preparatory Webinar held on 12 March. ECHA is looking for evidence that is related also to the consequences of the treatment for WWTP. EurEau members are encouraged to contribute. Plastics Strategy: Parliament prepares Initiative Report The European Parliament’s ENVI committee is preparing a reaction to the ‘European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’. We submitted proposals and held meetings with key MEPs with a view to raising awareness about the need to include the release of microplastics in extended producer responsibility schemes. CAP: Commission to present revised package in May The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will undergo a major reform initiated by the Commission proposals expected for late May 2018. It should set goals (including environmental) and develop proven tools at the European level, but leave it to Member States to decide which these tools to use. The Commission should then monitor how goals have been met. As there are fears that the goals will be weak, WWF developed detailed proposals as to how they should be designed. The draft reports presented by the AGRI Committee’s rapporteur and the ENVI Committee’s rapporteur do not take the protection of water resources into account. Fertiliser Regulation EurEau submitted its answer to the interim report of the STRUBIAS group to propose criteria for struvite and ash-based products that could be accepted in the future Fertiliser Regulation. It is important that the criteria allow water services to recover nutrients from sewage sludge. European Network for Rural Development On 22 March, Bertrand attended the 3rd meeting of the Thematic Group on Sustainable Management of Water and Soils. The meeting focused on the possible actions towards farmers to improve quality of soil and water and their possible funding through Rural Development Funds. Other news OECD Principles on Water Governance: EurEau signs stakeholder pledge EurEau is one of the signatories of the Brasilia Multi-stakeholder Pledge to Implement the OECD Principles on Water Governance, which was developed jointly with the OECD WGI Steering Committee and published at the World Water Forum on 21 March 2018. Other events 16-17 May - Ole Steensberg Øgelund (DK) represents EurEau on the EU-sponsored Powerstep project. The final public event will take place during IFAT 2018. The project will close at the end of June 2018. 10 April – EP breakfast on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment hosted by BDEW and MEP Tiemo Wölken (registration link https://tiemowlken.typeform.com/to/Db7KmM) 16 May – Intergroup meeting of the European Parliament on the Revision of the Drinking Water Directive (note: the meeting will be in the Committee of the regions). More… 11-12 June – third Third European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference, Helsinki. Deadline for proposing presentations on sustainable phosphorus policy or management actions, or of business or action success stories, for ESPC3 is 28th February. More information is here 26-31 August - World Water Week on the theme ‘Water, ecosystems and human development’ 16-21 September - IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018, Tokyo 7 November - Young Water Leaders first global Event, Berlin (InterContinental Hotel) http://www.ourfuturewater.com/berlin/ You can see a list of events happening around Europe here. Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline. You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

Peut-on vraiment boire de l’eau du robinet ?

Un rapport publié par la DGO3 sur la qualité de l’eau distribuée en Wallonie confirme que l’eau du robinet ne représente aucun risque sanitaire pour les consommateurs. Faisons le point sur cette précieuse ressource.

Une denrée alimentaire extrêmement contrôlée

Plus de 30.000 échantillons sont prélevés chaque année en Wallonie pour s’assurer de la parfaite qualité de l’eau du robinet. Cela représente près de 1,5 millions de paramètres (microbiologiques et chimiques) qui sont analysés annuellement lors des contrôles qualité. Chaque résultat d’analyse est par ailleurs validé par le Service Public de Wallonie qui vérifie le travail réalisé par les distributeurs d’eau. Et ce n’est pas tout, la Directive Eau, actuellement en révision, imposera des normes encore plus strictes !

Une eau d’excellente qualité

Le taux de conformité global des analyses de l’eau par rapport aux normes européennes, qui sont plus strictes que les recommandations de l’OMS, est de 98,9%. Les 1,10 % dits « de non-conformité » ne signifient pas pour autant une non-potabilité ou un risque pour la santé. L’eau du robinet peut donc être consommée sans aucun risque ! Tout citoyen a accès au détail relatif à la qualité de l’eau qui lui est fournie. Il suffit, pour vérifier ces propos, de simplement demander les résultats à son distributeur d’eau.

Un secteur à la recherche de l’excellence

Près de 100 millions d’euros sont investis chaque année par le secteur de l’eau pour entretenir et renouveler le réseau et les infrastructures. Et ce n’est pas fini, 250 millions d’euros supplémentaires, sur 10 ans, permettront d’aboutir au Schéma Régional des Ressources en Eau qui contribuera à ce que chaque wallon qui a fait la démarche de se raccorder au réseau de distribution public reçoive une eau de qualité en quantité suffisante.

Plus de renseignements : AQUAWAL - 081/25 42 30

Lien vers le rapport de la DGO3 :

http://environnement.wallonie.be/de/eso/qualite2014-2016.pdf

The governance of water services in Europe

We are also launching our report on the governance of water services in Europe. Providing water services is an activity with important technical, economic, managerial and regulatory aspects - whether carried out by public or private operators.

But little is known about these services.

To help stakeholders better understand the governance of water services in Europe, our report provides a snapshot of the current situation in the 29 EurEau member countries.

This report provides a simple but comprehensive overview of water governance models in 29 European countries, illustrating the diversity of management models, organisational structures, tasks and responsibilities of the players involved at the different levels of governance (EU, national, regional or local).

With the EU reviewing water legislation in the coming years, this report will be an important tool to help everyone understand this vital service!

EurEau and nature based solutions for World Water Day

Working with our environment to protect it

Brussels, 22 March 2018: The European water sector is facing a broad range of challenges; increasing urbanisation, overuse of precious resources and climate change to name a few.

We are certain that the frequency of extreme rain events – and therefore flooding - will increase. Water service providers are responsible for drainage in cities. With the increase of impervious urban areas, urban water management affects our security, environment and health. We need effective and future-proof run-off management to deal with this.

“With up to 80% of Europe’s population set to be living in cities by 2050, it is essential that we equip our cities to work with the environment” said EurEau President Bruno Tisserand speaking on World Water Day today 22 March, which focuses on nature based solutions this year.

More green spaces, increased storage capacity and delayed run-off for storm waters will help deal with extreme weather events. Several European cities have already incorporated infrastructure into their design to help manage extreme weather events such as cloud bursts.

Malmö has 6km of canals and water channels and 10 retention ponds to deal with excess water, and landscape features are integrated into the cityscape which also provides recreational green spaces.

The city of Thessaloniki is redesigning urban spaces such as Chrimatistiriou Square to improve infiltration capacity, reduce run-off and decrease the temperature during the hot summer.

The European water sector has always worked with nature. We protect drinking water sources, and ensure the safe return of treated waste water to the environment. Policy makers must integrate long term thinking when planning urban spaces in coordination with the European directives such as the Water Framework Directive and the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

EurEau newsletter - edition 22

EurEau news

World Water Forum, Brazilia & EurEau

Are you or your colleagues attending the WWF in Brazilia later this month? Would you like to learn more about how people all over the world are promoting a circular economy by building an enabling environment? If so, join us for session 4.b.3 on Wednesday 21.03.18 at 11.00am.

The key address will be given by Dr Håkan Tropp (PhD), Head of OECD Water Governance Programme on the topic of the governance of the circular economy in urban contexts.

He will be followed by a panel debate featuring Miriam Feilberg (DANVA ), Shigenori Asai (Japan Water Forum), Dr.Thomas Honer (Windhoek Goreangab Operating Company) and Paula Keohe, (The San Francisco Water Utility).

The event is moderated by Bruno Tisserand.

EU news

Drinking Water Directive

The European Commission adopted a new legislative proposal on the DWD on February 1. You can find the proposal and all the related documents on the

EU matters blog.

The working group on Agriculture and Water Management, of the Intergroup on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, chaired by MEP Michel Dantin will organise a meeting on the DWD on 16 May from 13.00 to 15.00: save the date, the invitations will be issued soon!

Information to consumers

Carla from the EurEau Secretariat attended the meeting on information to consumers organised by Aqua Publica Europea on 8 February. The European Commission, the OECD and the Bulgarian Water regulators were among the speakers. The presentations of the event are available here

Committee of the Regions opinion on the DWD

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) will deliver its opinion to the European Parliament and the Council on the DWD. To this end, the CoR Rapporteur, Mr Marc Weinmeister (DE/EPP), Member of the ENVE Commission of the CoR, organised a meeting with stakeholders on 27 February.

The adoption calendar of the opinion is as follows:

approx. mid-March: deadline for the rapporteur to submit his draft opinion document (with political recommendations) to translation

27 March 2018: deadline for amendments for ENVE members

12 April 2018: CoR ENVE Committee: adoption of CoR draft opinion

16-17 May 2018: Plenary Session: Adoption of final CoR opinion.

Water Framework Directive: Strategic Coordination Group meeting

The CIS Strategic Coordination Group met on 8 February with discussions limited to two key topics: the revision of the Watchlist for surface waters and the forthcoming EU strategy on pharmaceuticals in the environment.

All meeting documents are available here.

Agriculture and Water: Joint OECD – Commission meeting

EurEau was the only non-governmental representative invited to speak at this event on 20-21 February which focussed on both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the water agriculture nexus. Agriculture Commissioner Hogan again stressed the need for more sustainable farming practices, but emphasised that farmers should not be “punished”.

Pesticides: moving towards neonicotinoid ban?

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) confirmed that three neonicotinoid pesticides – clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam pose a threat to three types of bees. The EFSA report might convince Member States to extend the current ban on the use of these pesticides on flowering crops to include wheat in their 22 March meeting.

Plastics Strategy: ECHA launches restriction dossier for intentionally added microplastics

As announced in its Communication ‘A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’, the Commission requested the ECHA to prepare a restriction proposal targeting intentionally added plastic particles in products for both professional and consumer uses, such as paint and detergents. The ECHA launched a call for evidence to identify uses, impacts and alternatives. A preparatory Webinar will be held on 12 March 2018.

EIP on Water

The European Commission is conducting a mid-term implementation review of the European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP Water) with the help of consultants and independent participants.

On 7 February, we participated in a workshop on the evaluation of the governance of the EIP Water. We highlighted the lack of connection and communication between the different levels of the organisation and the absence of a clear definition of the decision process and action plans from the Action Groups to remove barriers and bottlenecks for innovation in the water sector.

Water reuse

The Regulatory Scrutiny Board gave a positive opinion on the draft impact assessment for a potential EU level instrument on water reuse. The legal proposal on water reuse should come by April/May. The final document of the proposed standards for irrigation in agriculture by the JRC is available on CIRCABC. Regarding groundwater recharge, a guidance document will be prepared by a group of experts and the JRC.

Other news

Call to Register for EBC’s International Benchmarking exercise

In 2018 the European Benchmarking Co-operation organises its 12th annual benchmarking exercise for drinking water and waste water utilities in Western Europe.

EBC’s benchmarking and improvement programme offers participants a comprehensive analysis of the performance of its utility in comparison with colleague utilities from across Europe. This ‘fitness check’ helps participants finding improvement areas and priorities in a structured and objective way.

Furthermore, the programme offers participants an opportunity to improve by learning from best practices and innovations from EBC’s extensive European utility network.

The benchmarking exercise runs from 1 May to 15 December 2018 and starts with an Orientation and Training workshop on 6 April 2018 in Copenhagen, in particular for those who are new to benchmarking.

Further details about the upcoming exercise are available in the ‘call to register’ and on EBC’s website www.waterbenchmark.org.

Water solution centre inaugurated

AquaGlobe, a new Water Solution Center, in Skanderborg, Denmark just opened. Dedicated to connecting the most innovative and ambitious actors in the water sector, the centre provides solutions to deal with global water threats such as water shortage, flooding and pollution.

Events

18-23 March - World Water Forum (Brasilia). We are co-hosting the 21 March session on Promoting a circular economy by building an enabling environment (Session 4.b.3).

10 April – EP breakfast on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment hosted by BDEW and MEP Tiemo Wölken (registration link https://tiemowlken.typeform.com/to/Db7KmM)

11-12 June – third Third European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference, Helsinki. Deadline for proposing presentations on sustainable phosphorus policy or management actions, or of business or action success stories, for ESPC3 is 28th February. More information is here

26-31 August - World Water Week on the theme ‘Water, ecosystems and human development’

16-21 September - IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018, Tokyo

7 November - Young Water Leaders first global Event, Berlin (InterContinental Hotel) http://www.ourfuturewater.com/berlin/

You can see a list of events happening around Europe here.

Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline.

You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on

the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar .

EurEau newsletter - edition 21

January 2018

EurEau news

EurEau meetings with stakeholders We met with ETRMA (the European rubber and tyres association) and the Baltic Sea Centre to discuss microplastics pollution, the European SME Agency on ICT4Water and with EUROCITIES on the EU water legislation.

EU news

Drinking Water Directive: Commission publishes proposal

The European Commission published its proposal for the revised Drinking Water Directive (DWD). As expected, the revision covers five key areas: quality parameters, the risk-based approach, construction products in contact with drinking water, information to consumers and access to drinking water for all.

Our press release.

Water Framework Directive: Commission publishes documents

The final version of CIS Guidance Document on WFD Article 4(7) (Exemptions to the Environmental Objectives) is available here.

Microplastics: Commission publishes Plastics Strategy

In mid-January, the Commission published the communication ‘A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’ . The key goal is to reduce plastic waste and improve recyclability. One chapter refers to microplastics. It calls for microplastics monitoring in tap water, a number of control at source measures and hints at the possibility for extended producer responsibility mechanisms.

The European Parliament will prepare an own initiative report on this topic.

Microplastics: Commission moves to ban intentionally added particles

As announced in the Plastics Strategy, the Commission requested the ECHA to prepare a restriction proposal targeting intentionally added plastic particles in products for both professional and consumer use, such as paints and detergents. The restriction would also apply to the use of oxo-degradable plastics.

Communication on EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance

This Communication presented an Action Plan to increase compliance with EU environmental law and improve environmental governance. Read it here.

Directive on the Reuse of Public Sector Information: Commission plans to extended scope

On 23 January, EurEau and several of our members attended a stakeholder consultation meeting on the revision of the Directive on the Reuse of Public Sector Information.

The Commission will publish its proposal at the end of April 2018. Today, its scope is limited to organisations offering public services and being governed by public law. The revision may lead to the inclusion of all forms of organisational structures, as long as public services are offered.

Pesticides approval: European Parliament to investigate procedures

If approved at next month’s plenary, the European Parliament will set up a special committee to investigate failings and possible conflicts of interest in the EU regulatory process for pesticides. This is a direct consequence of the controversy accompanying the extension of the glyphosate authorisation.

Public consultation – Construction Products

The European Commission launched a public consultation on the functioning and future of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). We will prepare a response before the 16 April 2018 deadline.

Public consultations – EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)

With a view to preparing the negotiations on the EU’s next MFF starting in 2021, the Commission has launched a number of consultations including on the EU’s cohesion policy, research and innovation, security and strategic infrastructure. We will prepare responses.

European Court of Justice ruling on challenging environmental decisions

A new ruling of the European Court of Justice concerns the right of NGO’s to challenge certain environmental decisions, for examples permits for water use under Art 4 of the Water Framework Directive and national laws of the Member States. See case c- 664/15 for more.

The ruling means that the role of NGO’s becomes more important in any permit procedures and procedures in drafting programmes of measures and the river basin management plans under Art. 11 and 13 of the WFD. The ruling might strengthen the protection of water resources as exemptions may become more difficult to acquire. Now it is even more important for water service providers to engage in the drafting of plans under Art. 11 and 13 of the WFD.

Critical infrastructures: Workshop on Water Safety and Water Security

This workshop will be hosted by DG HOME in close association with ERNCIP (

European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection) and DG ENV on 8 March in Brussels. The event will focus on:

· Water Safety Plans (DWD) and water quality (WFD), water infrastructures

· Water security-related standardisation in particular cybersecurity

· FP7 and H2020 projects

· Policy to policy panel (Commission, Member States)

· Policy to research & innovation panel

· Interactions with practitioners panel.

The EurEau ExCom appointed Miquel Paraira Faus (Aigues de Barcelona, AEAS, E) as our representative at ERNCIP.

Fertiliser Regulation

The Council of the European Union (national ministers) met and adopted their position for the triologue last December. It is important that all our members contact their ministries in charge to push for the articles we obtained in the European Parliament Report to be maintained in the final text.

At the same time, we developed a common position to make the proposal suitable for the market and encourage recycling of phosphorus with the ESPP and its members. You can find it here.

Urban Agenda 2030 on the Circular Economy

EurEau met with the city of Prato in Italy and a representative of the Agency for Waste Management for the city of Olso. They are coordinating the working group on Circular Economy for the Urban Agenda 2030. We discussed the possibility of including recommendations related to resource recovery in the water sector to contribute to the achievement of the circular economy objectives under the urban agenda. This discussion will continue to find a suitable way for EurEau to contribute.

Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: Commission prepares strategy

The Commission will publish its long-awaited strategic approach to tackling pharmaceuticals in the environment in May 2018. The strategy will not formally announce new legislation but rather hint at what the next Commission might decide to do.

At the targeted stakeholder consultation meeting of 13 January, EurEau promoted a holistic approach focussing on source control measures and implementing the principle of extended producer responsibility. Those principles also received a good attention at an event in the European Parliament on pharmaceuticals in the environment and antimicrobial resistance hosted by MEP Annie Schreijer-Pierik on 30 January.

Background paper to the Commission public consultation here.

EurEau’s response to the public consultation.

News from our members

Water UK launched a campaign to help fight plastic waste. Water companies will join forces with the Refill campaign to create a national network of high street retailers, coffee shops, businesses and local authorities offering new refill stations for the public to top-up their water bottles for free in every major city and town in England by 2021. Read more…

Our Swedish member Svenskt Vatten worked with H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) to print anon-flushability label several of its products (e.g. cotton buds, wet wipes etc).

Other events20-21 February – Dr Claudia Castel-Exner will speak at the joint European Commission/OECD workshop on ‘Pathways to policy change on water in agriculture’

18-23 March - World Water Forum (Brasilia)

11-12 June– third Third European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference, Helsinki. Deadline for proposing presentations on sustainable phosphorus policy or management actions, or of business or action success stories, for ESPC3 is 28th February. More information is here

26-31 August - World Water Week on the theme ‘Water, ecosystems and human development’

16-21 September - IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018, Tokyo

You can see a list of events happening around Europe here.

Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline.

You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

EurEau reaction to the European Commission’s revision of the Drinking Water Directive

EurEau welcomes the move to further protect our health and our environment but questions remain

Brussels, 01 February 2018: Ensuring that we have safe drinking water is our sector’s goal.

The revised Drinking Water Directive – launched by Vice President Frans Timmermans - will help achieve this.

“Protecting drinking water resources protects all of us, not just today, but for the future too. The Commission proposal to implement an EU-wide risk-based approach is a first important step forward, as it includes the whole supply chain from catchment to tap.” said Arjen Frentz, chair of the EurEau Committee on Drinking Water.

The proposal contains numerous revised quality parameters for our drinking water. There is a discrepancy between the WHO’s recommendations to include and/or delete quality parameters and the Commission's proposals. EurEau will assess the Commission’s reasoning as well as the technological feasibility and financial implications of these.

On the downside, the Commission missed the opportunity to propose a Europe-wide approval scheme for products and materials in contact with drinking water. Setting hygienic requirements in the new directive, together with technical aspects of the Construction Products Regulation would go a long way to protecting health and the free movement of goods in Europe.

The Commission’s proposal responds to the first ever successful European Citizens Initiative, which called on the EU to guarantee the human right to water and sanitation which must be available, physically accessible, affordable, acceptable, safe and of excellent quality.

EurEau newsletter - edition 20

December 2017

Microplastics: EurEau comments Eunomia is finalising its study for the European Commission on unintentionally released microplastics over the life cycle of products. EurEau submitted detailed comments on the preliminary conclusions, which should also feed into the drafting process of the EU’s Plastics Strategy. More details at http://www.eumicroplastics.com/. Critical infrastructures: Community of Users adopts more holistic approach The Community of Users on Safe, Secure and Resilient Societies, coordinated by DG HOME and supporting targeted research activities, met on 5 December. The Commission announced that they would adopt a sector-specific approach and invite a wider group of relevant stakeholders. This fully responds to EurEau’s proposals. A three-day event will be organised from 5-7 March 2018 including a meeting on water safety and security. It will bring together DG HOME (lead), DG ENV, DG ENER, ERNCIP, EurEau and WssTP. EurEau also calls for the involvement of CEN and NATO. Plant Protection Products – public consultation EurEau answered to the public consultation (stakeholders’ questionnaire) on the Plant Protection Products Regulation. The draft answer is available here. Water Framework Directive: guidance document approved At their December meeting, the Water Directors approved a guidance note under the Common Implementation Strategy on Exemptions to the Environmental Objectives according to Article 4(7) of the WFD. Final editing is underway. Water Framework Directive: assessing the added value of EU legislation The Commission is conducting a study on the socio-economic assessment of policies to improve the quality of freshwater and the marine environment – the so-called BLUE2 project. Part A aims to identify the economic benefits of EU water policy and the cost of its non-implementation. It is looking at freshwater and considers two aspects: the value of clean water as an input for the EU economy, and more generally the value of a healthy freshwater environment. Eight river basins are studied in detail. Part B supports a wider effort to build up a Europe-wide capacity for the integrated assessment modelling of policies that affect the quality of the freshwater and marine environment. A total of 14 country visits are planned to check the assumptions. A workshop is due to take place on 6 February 2018. Climate Change: Commission launches consultation The European Commission launched a Public consultation on the evaluation of the EU's Strategy on Adaption to Climate Change. It will remain open until 1 March 2018, with a public consultation meeting organised for 23 January in Brussels. EurEau will prepare a response. The consultation is available at the following link here. Glyphosate: the battle is not over National ministers have formally approved the renewal of the authorisation for glyphosate for another five years. Member States can now decide individually whether they want to authorise the use of glyphosate-containing weedkillers. Global 2000 and the Pesticide Action Network will file legal complaints against the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Germany’s BfR risk assessment institute, accusing them of using scientific data in their assessments of glyphosate without stating it came from Monsanto. Endocrine disruptors: criteria definitions progress Scientific criteria to identify EDCs in biocides entered into force on 7 December and will become applicable in June 2018 (see here). Following a veto from the European Parliament, Member States have now endorsed a revised set of criteria for identifying EDCs in pesticides. Sustainable Development Goals: Eurostat monitoring report Eurostat recently published ‘Sustainable development in the European Union – 2017 monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context’. It provides an overview of all individual EU indicators for the 17 SDGs and how they evolved over the past years. Other events 18-23 March - World Water Forum (Brasilia) 26-31 August 2018 - World Water Week on the theme ‘Water, ecosystems and human development’ 16-21 September 2018 - IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018, Tokyo You can see a list of events happening around Europe here. Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline. You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

EurEau newsletter -edition 19

EurEau news EurEau out and about Claudia Castel-Exner spoke at EWA. Arjen Frentz at EWP. Eric Chauveheid at ECPA. And Oliver Loebel at the DVGW congress. EU news Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) The European Commission finally published the public consultation on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment. The European Parliament working group ‘agriculture and water management’ which is part of the Intergroup EurEau support, provided the perfect framework to discuss the issue and gather all stakeholders’ feedback, as well as the necessary political input by MEP Dantin and MEP Liese on this important topic. To access the public consultation (to which EurEau will respond) and read more about the meeting, read the ‘EU matters’ blog here. DG SANTE plan on chlorate Our expert Eric Chauveheid attended a meeting of the Biocides Competent Authorities on behalf of EurEau at the end of November. Microplastics Anders Finnson, Arne Haar, Susanne Tumlin and Bertrand Vallet attended the microplastics conference co-organised by IWA Sweden, Sweden Water Research, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management and Svenskt Vatten on 8 November. Glyphosate Member States voted on 27 November the renewal of the glyphosate license in Europe for five years. Germany voted in favour, instead of abstaining as they did it before, and allowed to have a qualified majority for the renewal. It is the end of the story, at least for another few years… EU urged to tighten controls on pharma pollution Medical and environmental groups have called on the European Commission to propose specific legislation to address the threat posed by pharmaceutical products when it presents a strategy paper early next year. In the joint letter, addressed to the EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella, the groups call for action to minimise the entry of pharmaceuticals into the environment throughout their lifecycle, applying a zero discharge policy, and argued that extended producer responsibility should be applied to the pharmaceutical sector. We urged the EU executive in May to use an ongoing review of water quality legislation to align it with rules on pharmaceuticals and other chemicals. The Commission is due to publish its communication on a ‘strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment’ in the first quarter of next year. Plant Protection Products – public consultation The European Commission launched the survey concerning the REFIT evaluation of the pesticides legislation (Plant Protection Products): the PPP Regulation and the MRLs Regulation. The consultation is made up of a survey for stakeholders (deadline 31 December 2017) and a survey for the general public (deadline 12 February 2018). The consultants working for the Commission, ECORYS, are aware that EurEau’s experts are available for follow-up interviews. Nitrates Directive A EurEau delegation, headed by EurEau Vice President Claudia Castell-Exner met the Unit of DG ENV responsible for the Nitrates Directive. The meeting was a great occasion to make the European Commission aware of the challenges posed to water resources and drinking water operators by nitrate. Drinking Water Directive The DWD is scheduled to be adopted by the College of Commissioners on 16 January 2018. In the past month, EurEau shared its views with the Commission on the various policy options under consideration and especially on the importance of strengthening Article 10 of the current DWD on materials and products in contact with drinking water. Materials and products in contact with Drinking Water EurEau and European Drinking Water met representatives of three Commissioners on 23 November to discuss the issue of materials and products in contact with drinking water, advocating for EU-wide hygienic requirements for these products under the DWD. Bathing water parameters: DG ENV holds stakeholder consultation meeting On 24 November, Member states and stakeholders discuss possible changes to bathing water quality parameters as proposed by the WHO on behalf of the European Commission. The results of this sudy will feed into the formal review process of the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) to be launched in 2020. Critical infrastructures: Member States meet with stakeholders On 20 November, DG HOME hosted a meeting of Member States and critical infrastructure stakeholders to discuss strategies to mitigate security threats. Oliver presented the situation of the water sector. DG HOME is launching the review process of the directive on European Critical Infrastructures (2008/114/EC) which is part of the European Programme for European Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP). EurEau will assess the impact of a potential inclusion of the water sector in the scope of Directive 2008/114/EC. Public sector information directive: Commission considers wider scope DG CNECT will hold a high-level meeting on 23 January 2018 to discuss the potential extension of the scope of the Directive on the reuse of public sector information (2003/98/EC, PSI directive). Bodies that are not purely public (e.g. entities providing services in the utilities sectors based on public procurement or concession contracts and/or subsidies from the state) are not covered today. This might change in the revised directive expected for spring 2018. EurEau is requested to provide three participants that can report on the situation in their company. Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive– Roadmap feedback The EurEau Joint Working Group WFD drafted the response to the Commission’s roadmap on the WFD and FD, published in October. Our feedback is available here. All 82 feedbacks received by the Commission are available via this link. Water Framework Directive: Meeting of the Strategic Coordination Group Carla and Oliver attended the Strategic Coordination Group meeting of the Common Implementation Strategy (8-9 November). Participants were updated on water-related legislative developments and the cooperation between DG ENV and DG AGRI. All meeting documents are available here. Anti-microbial resistance (AMR): European Antibiotics Awareness Day The 10th European Antibiotics Awareness Day took place on 15 November with calls for a more prudent use and increased investments in new products. The European One Health Action Plan will also analyse the impact of antibiotics in the environment on AMR. CAP: Commission publishes Communication on the future CAP DG AGRI published its Communication COM(2017)713 The Future of Food and Farming. It fails to clearly address nitrate and pesticides pollution of water bodies. EurEau will react to this publication. Effect-Based Methods (EBM) task under the WG Chemicals in the framework of the WFD CIS. Armelle Hebert attended the kick off meeting of the Effect-Based Methods task under the WG Chemicals in the framework of the WFD CIS. You can find a note on this meeting here. Kick off meeting of the WATenERgy Cycle Caroline atteneded the first meeting of the WATenERgy CYCLE project in Larissa, Greece, on 7-8 November. The goals of the project include making the most of integrated water supply management in the Balkan region. The project aims at increasing resource efficiency and climate change resilience measures. SDG6 and the SME UNION Carla spoke on behalf of EurEau at the work dinner held in the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Paul Rubig and organised by the SME Union. It was a very good opportunity to show the participants our work on the SDGs, especially after our Bilbao Congress meeting. The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union Bertrand and Carla met the attachés of the Bulgarian Permanent Representation to the EU to discuss the plans on of Bulgaria for the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU (January-June 2018) concerning water. International water issues Carla attended a meeting organised by DG ENV on international water issues on the 8 November. The European Commission reported on the EU’s progress on cooperation with China, India and Iran, considered strategic partners, on SDG6. Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive evaluation roadmap The Commission launched the review process of the UWWTD by publishing a roadmap (link). We sent our comments on the roadmap. You can read them here. The fitness check should be finalised by the end of 2018. Water reuse Iacovos Papaiacovou, our Cypriot GA member, replaced Pier Paolo Abis for DG ENV’s ad-hoc Task Group meeting on water reuse held in Larnaca, Cyprus on 6-7 November to convey EurEau’s message. From our information, the proposal has been resubmitted to the scrutiny board and a decision on the release should be taken by the end of the year. Monitoring inland and coastal water quality from space EOMORES is an EU co-funded project aiming to develop commercial services for monitoring the quality of inland and coastal water bodies using data from Earth Observation satellites. The EOMORES project is inviting expressions of interest from new users. If you represent a European water management authority, research institute or private company involved in water quality and would like to apply to test the initial EOMORES services, please write to [email protected] (applications will be assessed on case-by-case basis). INBO survey on ecological compensation on watercourse - Experience feedback INBO and IOWater are conducting a survey, with the French Agency for Biodiversity (AFB) participation, looking, in Europe and internationally, for case studies and projects addressing ecological compensation on watercourses. EurEau communications EurEau in the media Radio Bilbao broadcast from our Congress. They also made a short video to support this, discussing sustainability and cost recovery. Can you spot yourself in the clip? It is in Spanish! Bertrand presents the outcomes of our Data Survey in this article in Pan European Networks. In it, he discusses the need for greater investment in the sector. You can see a list of events happening around Europe here. Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline. You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

EurEau newsletter - edition 18

EurEau news EurEau annual congress Our annual congress was held in Bilbao on 18-20 October. Our Spanish hosts surpassed themselves, finding a wonderful venue for the committee meetings and showing us the best that the Basque region has to offer. Thank you to all who participated in making the congress a huge success. The Thursday afternoon plenary session was on the implementation of the SDG’s. We welcomed Peter Koefoed Bjørnsen, Director of the UNEP-DHI Partnership in the Centre on Water and Environment, Marta Moren-Abat from the European Commission, and José Maria Villanueva del Casal, Technical Director at the CABB. EurEau meets members On 11 October, Oliver Loebel, EurEau Secretary General, met with a delegation of the Dutch members from Unie van Waterschappen, in Brussels in order to exchange on current priorities. EurEau president Bruno Tisserand and Oliver met a delegation of our Estonian member association, EVEL, in Tallinn on 25 October. The goal was to learn more about the Estonian water sector and to understand how EurEau can better respond to EVEL’s needs. They also met with the Latvian water association LWWWWA. EurEau out and about Oliver presented European circular economy legislation for water at Utilitalia’s Festival dell’Acqua in Bari on 10 October. EurEau President Bruno Tisserand spoke at the NBS2017 a flagship conference of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU. He presented the possibility for water services to sustainably manage rain water in cities through natural retention measures. Meeting - Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Michel Dantin and Peter Liese MEPs will co-host a European Parliament intergroup meeting on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, on Wednesday 29 November 2017 between 16.30-18.30. To register, see here. More information is here. EU news Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive evaluation roadmap The European Commission published the WFD and the FD evaluation roadmap, available here. EurEau will submit its feedback by the 17 November deadline. The members of the JWG WFD will work on it. You can submit your own feedback by clicking here. A detailed public consultation will be launched in the first half of 2018. Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive evaluation roadmap The European Commission published the UWWTD evaluation roadmap, available here. EurEau will submit its feedback by the 9 November deadline. The members of the EurEau Waste Water committee is working on it. You can submit your own feedback by clicking here. DG SANTE plan on chlorate DG SANTE and national competent authorities are working on a plan to reduce the dietary risks related to chlorate in food and drinking water and to resolve the systemic non-compliance with the pesticides MRLs. This should be on the agenda of the biocides Competent Authorities meeting on 24 November, where our expert Eric Chauveheid will attend on behalf of EurEau. Commission Work Programme 2018 The CWP2018 is available here. Under ‘new initiatives’ the one ‘Delivering on the Circular Economy Action Plan’ includes a strategy on plastics use, reuse and recycling (non-legislative, Q4 2017); a proposal for a Regulation on minimum quality requirements for reused water (legislative, incl. impact assessment, Art. 192 TFEU, Q4 2017); a REFIT revision of the Drinking Water Directive (legislative, incl. impact assessment, Art. 192 TFEU, Q4 2017); an initiative to address legal, technical or practical bottlenecks at the interface of chemical, product and waste legislation (non-legislative, Q4 2017); and a monitoring framework for the circular economy (non-legislative, Q4 2017). Parliament objects to endocrine disrupting chemicals definition On Wednesday 4 October the European Parliament followed the opinion of the Environment committee to object to the criteria proposed by the European Commission for the identification of endocrine disrupting chemicals under the Plant Protection Product Regulation. The European Commission will have to come back with another proposal in the coming month. More… Glyphosate: MEPs ask for a full ban by end 2022 Parliament backed a full ban on glyphosate-based herbicides by December 2022 and immediate restrictions on the use of the substance, on 24 November 2017. This resolution is non-biding, its objective is to put pressure on the European Commission and the Council. Member States must adopt their position by a qualified majority but remain deeply divided. Greenpeace believes that ten countries would vote against a ten-year renewal of the glyphosate licence (A, B, F, GR, HR, IT, L, MT, S, SI), while two countries would abstain (D, PT). Sixteen countries may vote in favour (BG, CY, CZ, DK, E, EE, FIN, H, IRL, LT, LV, NL, PL, RO, SK, UK). If not renewed, the licence expires in December 2017. Water reuse The European Commission finalised the impact assessment of the proposal for an EU instrument on water reuse and submitted it to the Regular Scrutiny Board of the Commission on 25 October 2017. The board requested to improve the impact assessment for a potential EU level instrument on water reuse. The European Commission is aiming at finalising this revision very soon and will give more details at the Ad-hoc Task group meeting in Cyprus on 6-7 November. Iacovos Papaiacovou, our Cypriot GA member, will replace Pier Paolo Abis for this meeting to convey the EurEau message and see if the proposal can still be presented before the end of the year as expected. Water JPI The 2017 Water JPI call is just published: here. Standing of NGO´s in administrative proceedings (Case c-664/15) The Supreme Administrative Court in Austria asks for guidance on the standing of an environmental organisation in seeking access to justice. The questions arise in the context of an application for a permit to abstract water from a river for the purposes of producing snow for a ski resort. The Advocate General Sharpston at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in this preliminary ruling that Non-Government-Associations (NGO) have the right of access to administrative or judicial procedures. The legal basis for this right was Art. 4 WFD in connection with the Aarhus Convention. If the ECJ follows this opinion – it does so very often –every water service provider asking for a new or renewed permit to use water (abstraction or discharge) will face NGO´s in the administrative or judicial procedure. We await how the ECJ will decide. HELCOM consultation - ‘State of the Baltic Sea’ HELCOM are looking for your overall views of their report and its presentation. You can also provide comments on the reports’ sub-chapters. The consultation is open from 1 October 2017 – 31 December 2017. You can close the survey window at any time – your responses will be saved, and you can continue later by clicking the ‘Begin Survey’ button again. The response will be sent to the HELCOM Secretariat once you click ‘Done’ on the last page. The survey responses are not confidential. Background information on the report and the regional consultation, as well as a list of invited organisations, is here. Survey: here. Fertiliser Regulation On 24 October, the European Parliament voted the amendments on the Fertiliser Regulation as a basis for the EP position in the trialogue discussion. All the IMCO amendments that EurEau supported were voted in plenary. Read more here (article from EurActiv features EurEau secretariat’s Bertrand Vallet). Member States will now approve their position in the Council and enter into discussions with the European Parliament to find a compromise on diverging positions. EurEau member news Hello and goodbye Stefan Bostrom from Sweden attended his last EurEau meeting after over 20 years in the family. We all send Stefan our thanks and appreciation for his important contributions down the years and wish him all the best for his retirement. Giordano Colarullo (IT) and Stuart Colville (UK) were appointed to the EurEau Executive Committee and the General Assembly at the last General Assembly meeting. EurEau communications EurEau in the media Oliver published articles in the Vewin’s Waterspiegel and DVGW’s energy|wasser|praxis in October. You can see a list of events happening around Europe here. The following are a selection. If you have events happening in your country, let us know, especially if you would like to get the EurEau perspective by having us represented at it! Important dates 23-24 November: Persistent and Mobile Organic Chemicals in the Water Cycle: Linking science, technology and regulation to protect drinking water quality, in Leipzig, Germany Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline. You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

Le réseau wallon d’eau potable est en bon état et stable grâce aux investissements des distributeurs d’eau

Les distributeurs d’eau de Wallonie prennent très au sérieux le renouvellement de leurs infrastructures d’adduction et de distribution d’eau. Ainsi, l’état du réseau d’eau est stable depuis 2005, c’est ce qu’indique la dernière publication d’AQUAWAL relative aux statistiques du secteur de l’eau 2017 disponible sur le site web www.aquawal.be.

Le secteur wallon de la distribution d’eau potable a investi 460 millions d’euros ces 5 dernières années dans le remplacement des canalisations d’adduction et de distribution d’eau potable, ce qui permet de remplacer progressivement les quelque 40.000 km de réseau d’eau qui alimentent les ménages à travers la Wallonie. Cela fait du secteur de l’eau un des services publics qui investit le plus par rapport à son chiffre d’affaires.

Si les volumes que représentent les « pertes » peuvent paraître élevés, il est important de rappeler que le volume non-enregistré n’est pas constitué seulement de fuites, mais également du sous-enregistrement des compteurs d’eau (un compteur plus vieux a tendance à sous-estimer le volume d’eau), aux volumes utilisés afin de nettoyer le réseau lors des travaux (purges de conduites), au volume utilisé par la protection civile et les services incendies, et aux vols d’eau. Des études ont abouti à la conclusion que les fuites ne représentent environ qu’un tiers de ces volumes non-facturés.

Il ne faut pas oublier que la comparaison avec la Flandre en la matière n’est pas pertinente, puisque le nord du Pays a été alimenté en eau potable bien après la Wallonie. Elle dispose donc d’un réseau nettement plus jeune que la Wallonie.

Au niveau financier, le coût des volumes non-enregistrés s’élève aujourd’hui à 22 centimes d’euros par mètre cube produit et non facturé, composé comme suit : 5,1 centimes pour l’énergie pour le pompage et le traitement, 2 centimes pour les réactifs et 15,13 centimes de taxes de prélèvement.

A contrario, si l’objectif était de remplacer 2% du réseau, le coût supplémentaire annuel dont devrait s’acquitter l’usager wallon serait de 274 millions d’euros, soit une augmentation du prix de l’eau de 1,7 €/m³, soit, pour un ménage moyen, un surcoût annuel de 120 euros par an. Par ailleurs, on peut également s’interroger de la répercussion de cette augmentation étant donné la structuration des entreprises de pose de conduites. Il est en effet probable, au regard des expériences passées, que cette croissance budgétaire se répercute, en partie, dans une augmentation des prix unitaires, et donc des marges des entrepreneurs, plutôt que dans le renouvellement des réseaux.

Le coût total des volumes non-enregistrés est donc largement inférieur au coût nécessaire pour réduire ces pertes. Economiquement, investir afin de limiter les volumes non-enregistrés est donc non-rentable.

Il est cependant évident qu’il est nécessaire, pour maintenir la continuité du service, que les distributeurs renouvellent régulièrement leur réseau c’est leur mission, mais sans pour autant viser un niveau 0 de pertes. De plus, les budgets consacrés à la maintenance (recherche de fuites et réparations) permettent d’être plus efficace dans la limitation de fuites et diminuent les besoins budgétaires par rapport à un renouvellement pur et simple de conduites.

Le budget des ménages wallons n’étant pas extensible à volonté, le secteur de l’eau a décidé de phaser ses investissements, en donnant la priorité à l’assainissement des eaux usées et à la sécurisation de l’approvisionnement en eau potable pour toutes les zones de la Wallonie.

AQUAWAL tient à rappeler que la limitation des coûts des infrastructures est également de la responsabilité de chacun. La dispersion importante des activités sur le territoire wallon génère des surcoûts d’équipements, et il est à cet égard urgent de favoriser l’urbanisation dans les zones urbanisées existantes et autour de celles-ci.

Plus de renseignements : AQUAWAL - Cédric PREVEDELLO, Conseiller scientifique - 081/25 42 34 - 0471/58 94 08

AQUAWAL est l'Union professionnelle des opérateurs publics du cycle de l'eau potable en Wallonie. Elle regroupe les principaux producteurs et distributeurs d'eau, l'ensemble des organismes d'assainissement agréés en Wallonie et la Société Publique de Gestion de l’Eau (SPGE). AQUAWAL et ses associés mènent depuis plusieurs années des campagnes d'information et de sensibilisation destinées aux écoles et au grand public quant à la qualité de l'eau du robinet, aux enjeux de la gestion durable de l'eau et à la protection de la ressource. Plus d’informations : www.aquawal.be

Water and the SDGs

Delivering a sustainable future is one of the UN’s - and our - key goals

Our plenary conference during our 2017 annual congress is on the theme of ‘The implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in Europe: the role of the water services in delivering sustainable cities’. Keynote speakers are Peter Koefoed Bjørnsen, Director UNEP-DHI partnership; Marta Moran-Abat from the European Commission and José Maria Villanueva del Casal, Technical Director at the CABB. We will publish our report on how the European water sector contributes to delivering a sustainable future for all before the end of the year.

“Water is invaluable. Without a reliable supply of clean drinking water or the safe return of waste water to the environment, we cannot function as a society” said Bruno Tisserand, EurEau President speaking at the congress in Bilbao.

“If we are to meet the SDGs, we need to be able to assure access to water. It is key to providing health, political and economic stability, equality and education. We have played our role for a long time, and we will continue to do so”.

EurEau’s 130 individual members will also discuss EU water policy, which will be evaluated and reviewed by the EU institutions in the coming years. It is an opportunity for member associations to make their voice heard on how to better protect consumers and the environment.

The EurEau congress is hosted by AEAS and Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao Bizkaia (CABB).

EurEau newsletter - edition 17

EurEau news Data survey We updated our study reflecting the true picture of drinking and waste water services in Europe. Higher connection rates, more pipes, more network, more investment, better recycling and better environmental protection are the key headlines. We invest €45 billion annually, in over 7 million kilometres of pipes to deliver and treat 45 billion m³ of water. Our members provide safe, clean and healthy water to consumers while returning treated water to the environment EurEau annual congress Our annual congress will take place in Bilbao on 18-20 October. Our plenary conference is on the theme of ‘The implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in Europe: the role of the water services in delivering sustainable cities’. Keynote speakers are Peter Koefoed Bjørnsen, Director UNEP-DHI partnership; Martha Moran-Abat from the European Commission and José Maria Villanueva del Casal, Technical Director at the CABB. We will publish our report on how the European water sector contributes to delivering a sustainable future for all before the end of the year. EU news Commission adopts criteria for endocrine disrupting chemicals for biocides The European Commission formally adopted criteria for chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system. These criteria are due to be included in the EU Biocides Regulation and are the same as those adopted in early July that may apply to the EU Pesticides Regulation. However, the European Parliament’s Environment committee approved an objection to these criteria on 28 September. This objection will be voted in plenary on Wednesday 4 October. More… Microplastics: Commission supports extended producer responsibility EurEau spoke on behalf of the water sector at the 13 September workshop on the role of WWTP in reducing microplastic emissions to the environment. The European Commission’s DG ENV stated that extended producer responsibility should apply and source control has priority. However, measures at other levels might also be effective. The workshop presentations are here and the interim report is here. This workstream will feed into the EU’s Plastics Strategy to be published at the end of 2017. Pharmaceuticals in the environment It is not clear when the public consultation on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) will be launched; it might be out at the end of October or published at the beginning of 2018. The consultation will run for 12 weeks. The Commission should then develop the long-awaited strategic approach to PiE, which should be in the form of a Commission Communication. Security of water infrastructure On 25 September, EurEau met again with the European Commission’s DG Home to discuss greater coordination between all European activities regarding the protection of water infrastructure. This includes ERNCIP research work, CEN standardisation activities and, potentially, NATO activities on resilience. DG Home may hold a meeting on 6 March 2018 to bring together the relevant stakeholders on the security of water infrastructure. Urban Water Agenda 2030 The Conference ‘Mayors and Water’ took place in Porto on 29 September and Carla from the EurEau Secretariat attended. Read more about it on the EU matters blog! UNECE Carla from the EurEau Secretariat attended the Expert Group meeting on equitable access to water and sanitation of the Water and Health Protocol of the UNECE/WHO. Read the EU matters blog to know more about the Protocol and the meeting! WAREG analysis on water efficiency KPIs The European Water Regulators published a report on water efficiency KPIs on WAREG member countries. The report is available here. CAP reform: more environmental credentials? While the European Commission will not table an official proposal on the CAP reform until 2018, it is planning to publish a communication before the end of 2017 explaining how it plans to revise the Common Agricultural Policy. EurEau will analyse the proposals and prepare a response, if necessary. Water and agriculture The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, held a speech on water and agriculture at the European Policy Centre on 28 September. He proposed two new tools that should support farmers to contribute to the protection of the environment:

The development of a knowledge hub on water and agriculture with the JRC

The cooperation of various European Commission DGs to set up a platform for on-farm nutrient management.

Glyphosate: towards a ten-year renewal? By the beginning of November 2017, Europe will decide whether to renew the license for glyphosate. The European Commission proposed a 10-year renewal. However, many Member States have yet to adopt their official position on this matter. France reaffirmed on 25 September its opposition to the Commission plans, considering the ten years as “far too long”. The Standing Committee on Plant Animal Food and Feed will meet on 5-6 October. France might promote a five-year phase out period, while Germany might abstain, Italy is highly reluctant and Sweden remains opposed. It is therefore unclear whether the Commission will succeed in achieving a qualified majority of countries supporting the proposal. Consultation on the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Programme The Commission launched a consultation on Circular Economy tools and policies, including the EU Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Programme. It is open until 10 November. You can see it here. Low-carbon energy The European Commission is preparing an update of its low-carbon economy roadmap for 2050, acknowledging that the EU’s current target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions at least 80% by mid-century is insufficient. Less than a year after it tabled a landmark package of clean energy laws, officials are now busy preparing the next document that will shape the bloc’s energy and climate policies for years to come. Several energy industry sources confirmed that the EU executive is preparing to launch a public consultation with a view to updating its low-carbon economy Water reuse The European Commission finalised the impact assessment of the proposal for an EU instrument on water reuse and will submit it to the Regular Scrutiny Board of the Commission on 25 October 2017. If the boards' response is positive, the Commission intends to adopt the legal proposal by the end of this year. Water JPI advisory board meeting Bertrand from the EurEau Secretariat attended the Water Joint Programming Initiative advisory board meeting in Paris on 20 September. The discussions focused on supporting research infrastructure and preparing the exploratory workshop for identifying new research needs, as well as updating the strategic research and innovation agenda of the Water JPI. The meeting was an opportunity to learn more about the Danbius project, which aims to develop the first European research infrastructure on water-sea system (from mountain to sea). It will regroup different experimental sites focusing on studying phenomenon happening in a river-sea system. More… The next workshop will be held on 2-3 November on ‘Improving Ecosystem Sustainability and Human Well-being’. The Water JPI will also launch a call in 2018 for research projects on the theme: ‘Closing the Water Cycle Gap: Improving Sustainable Water Resources Management’. Fertiliser Regulation After the vote on the amendments to the Fertiliser Regulation in the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee (IMCO) on 13 July, the plenary vote due for mid-September was cancelled, as the rapporteur left the European Parliament. The EPP group is looking for a replacement to present the file in plenary and the vote should be scheduled for the end of October. Read more here (article from EurActiv features EurEau Secretariat’s, Bertrand Vallet). TAIEX-EIR Peer 2 Peer The new TAIEX-EIR Peer 2 Peer tool was launched on 7 September. It aims to provide tailored support to Member State authorities dealing with the implementation of environmental policy and legislation. Staff members from these authorities (at national, regional and local level) can be directly trained by their more experienced peers in other Member States. The Peer 2 Peer tool should help to spread good practice in environmental implementation and governance across Member States. The TAIEX-EIR P2P tool complements existing peer tools such as the upcoming peer-to-peer support process to facilitate improved Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive implementation. Requests can be submitted online. All information, TAIEX-EIR P2P leaflets in 23 languages, a functional contact mailbox and the links for online-applications and expert registration are available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/p2p/index_en.htm . EurEau member news Pharmaceutical residues in Germany The German Association of Energy and Water Industries - BDEW, investigated the development of medicinal drug usage in Germany. The study concludes that as a result of demographic change and an increasing per capita drug intake, medicinal drug usage will increase up to 70% by the year 2045. BDEW espouses the need for a holistic strategic approach for pharmaceutical residues in order to protect the aquatic environment. For more, contact Christina Christopoulou (Tel.: +32 2 774 5119 or E-Mail: [email protected]) and Andrea Danowski (Tel .: +4930 300199-1210 or E-Mail: [email protected]) You can see a list of events happening around Europe here. The following are a selection. If you have events happening in your country, let us know, especially if you would like to get the EurEau perspective by having us represented at it! Important dates 8-11 October: Water Festival (Bari, IT). 9-10 October: Water Reuse Europe will hold its first annual conference and exhibition in Bruges. 26 October: CEBEDEAU in Liege, Belgium. 23-24 November: Persistent and Mobile Organic Chemicals in the Water Cycle: Linking science, technology and regulation to protect drinking water quality, in Leipzig, Germany. Your colleagues can subscribe to this newsletter by emailing Caroline. You can keep up with all the EurEau news via our website, our blog on the EU and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds. For more events, visit our calendar.

Europe’s water in figures

EurEau updated its study reflecting the true picture of drinking and waste water in Europe. And the picture looks good.

Higher connection rates, more pipes, more network, more investment, better recycling and better environmental protection are the key headlines.

“Our members pride themselves on providing safe, clean and healthy water to consumers, while returning treated water to the environment” says Bruno Tisserand, EurEau President. “We invest €45 billion annually, in over 7 million kilometres of pipes to deliver and treat 45 billion m³ of water.”

Water in Europe meets some of the strictest quality requirements anywhere in the world and undergoes rigorous controls. We employ the most advanced technology and methods to deliver this daily.

We want to meet the higher expectations that our customers have for us.

“This is why our figures also highlight the need for even more investment in order to guarantee future generations the same level of quality and service. We urge the Commission and Member States to invest in even greater environmental protection. Extra investment will create jobs to boost agriculture, industry and commerce” concluded Tisserand.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Water news