The European Court of Auditors is assessing the impact of the EU’s agricultural policy on sustainable water use as at least one-quarter of all freshwater abstracted in the EU is used on farmland.
Agricultural activity not only affects the quantity and availability of freshwater resources, but it also affects water quality, for instance through fertiliser and pesticide pollution. The audit will be useful as the EU moves forward with its reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
The CAP plays an important role in water sustainability. It offers some tools that can help reduce the pressures on water resources, but it may also, for example, finance irrigation infrastructure. This audit of the impact of the EU’s agricultural policy on the sustainable use of water is being launched with a view to contributing to the future CAP.
The auditors will assess whether EU policies promote sustainable water use in agriculture. In particular, they will examine whether:
- the European Commission has included the principles of sustainable water use in the CAP rules;
- the EU Member States apply those principles and provide incentives for sustainable water use in agriculture.
Water Europe has recently held a session during the Water Innovation Europe 2020 conference that addressed ‘A Water-Smart Society to Provide Healthy Food for EU Citizens’. Click here to discover the key points from the session.
Watch below our dedicated video that introduced the session.
