Water Europe has released its latest position paper on the upcoming Omnibus on Environmental legislation, calling for decisive action to secure Europe’s water future.
The initiative aims to simplify EU environmental legislation. While this ambition is welcome, Water Europe stresses that simplification must not come at the cost of reopening or weakening recently revised directives such as the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) and the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). These directives are vital cornerstones for Europe’s green transition. Regulatory stability is critical to provide investors with the confidence needed to drive innovation and upgrade water infrastructure.
Our message is clear: Europe cannot afford further hesitation in implementing its water legislation and the Water Resilience Strategy. With critical industries set to triple their water consumption by 2030 and only 2.4% of treated wastewater currently reused, the time to act is now.
Water Europe’s recommendations focus on four key lines of action:
- Ensure legal and financial security to unlock investments in water efficiency and infrastructure upgrades.
- Safeguard provisions on water efficiency and reuse across EU legislation to maintain stability and investor confidence.
- Unlock the untapped potential of water reuse in agriculture, industry, and domestic use by cutting administrative burdens and simplifying risk assessments.
- Promote digitalisation and intelligent water solutions to accelerate innovation and efficiency.
- Improve implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) to remove unnecessary hurdles and secure progress toward water quality objectives.
Water Europe reaffirms its commitment to a Water-Smart Society and calls on policymakers to keep Europe on track: implementing the WRS is not optional but an urgent necessity for Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability, and strategic autonomy.
Read the full Position Paper here
