EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 26.10.2022 SWD(2022) 543 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT

Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 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 {COM(2022) 540 final} - {SEC(2022) 540 final} - {SWD(2022) 540 final}



Executive summary The Water Framework Directive (WFD), jointly with the Environmental Quality Standards (EQSD) and Groundwater (GWD) Directives, provides the framework for the sustainable management of Europe’s surface water and groundwater bodies. Although they are still under pressure from pollution, Europe’s almost 100 000 surface water bodies and close to 12 000 groundwater bodies are a vital source of drinking water, ensure biodiversity, are an essential resource to farmers and industry, a means of transportation and an indispensable ingredient of electricity and heat production. The current legislation lists a number of polluting substances and groups of substances, as well as permitted concentrations for each, which Member States need to respect in their territory. The legislation also regulates monitoring (at almost 150 000 sites in the EU) and reporting of whether or not pollutants are found above the maximum concentration. They also report on the measures taken against this pollution. At present, EU legislation includes 53 substances for surface water; these are mainly pesticides, industrial chemicals and metals. For groundwater, the legislation lists nitrates and active substances in pesticides. This initiative addresses two main problems: 1.Inadequate protection of ecosystems and human health from risks posed by ubiquitous and/or emerging pollutants and their mixtures. The present list of substances of EU concern is incomplete (not including substances that are having significant negative effects on the environment and human health) and out of date (including substances no longer present in significant quantities or with inadequate quality standards). Furthermore, the current focus on individual substances disregards cumulative or combined effects of mixtures, and the framework does not currently account for seasonal variations in pollutant loads, such as in the case of pesticides used by farmers or in private gardens. 2.Implementation deficits: there is too large a variation in pollutants and quality standards designated at Member State level, which results in incomparable data. Data management and reporting is burdensome and not adapted to the digital potential of today’s technology; and updating the lists of pollutants affecting surface and groundwater through the ordinary legislative procedure is an excessively lengthy procedure. The review of the EQSD, GWD and WFD aims to significantly modernise the rules on pollutants in water, and as such deliver on the zero pollution ambition in the overall context of the European Green Deal. The initiative builds on, and is linked to, a number of other European Green Deal initiatives, such as the reduction of pesticides and antimicrobial use in agriculture and aquaculture, the revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive to address micropollutants, etc., and the revision of the EU’s chemicals policy through the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. A package of preferred policy options and sub-options is presented, addressing the two main problems. Lack of protection: ·As regards surface water: oAdding 24 individual substances to the list of priority substances: pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals as well as a group of 24 PFAS substances; oChanging the environmental quality standard (EQS) for 16 substances: more stringent in 14 cases and less stringent in two cases; oDeveloping a methodology for the measurement and monitoring of microplastics and antimicrobial resistance genes in surface water and groundwater, with a view to listing them as a pollutant in future; oRemoving 4 substances from the list (3 pesticides and 1 industrial chemical) as they no longer pose an EU-wide threat. ·As regards groundwater: oAddition to Annex I (EU-level standards) of a group of 24 PFAS substances, two antibiotics and a range of pesticide breakdown products; oAddition of one substance, a pharmaceutical, to Annex II (where Member States need to consider setting a national standard). Implementation deficits: