COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast)
Date: 2020-10-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: consumer protection, drinking water, human nutrition, public health, quality standard, water management, water pollution, water protection, water supply

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 26.10.2020  COM(2020) 669 final 2017/0332 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast) (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
 
2017/0332 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of 
the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast) 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2017) 753 final – 2017/0332 COD): 

1 February 2018 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

11 July 2018 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions: 

16 May 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

28 March 2019 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

23 October 2020 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  overarching  objective  of  the  proposal  was  to  ensure  a  high  level  of  protection  of  the 
environment  and  of  human  health  from  the  adverse  effects  of  contaminated  drinking  water. 
The  revision  followed  also  from  the  result  of  the  first-ever  successful  European  citizens' 
initiative 'Right2Water'. The proposal aimed to update water quality standards, to introduce a 
risk-based  approach  to  drinking  water  management,  to  improve  consumers’  access  to 
information  on  water  quality  and  water  and  to  improve  access  to  water.  In  addition,  the 
proposal also addressed the issue of materials in contact with drinking water. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE PARLIAMENT 

The  European  Parliament  adopted  its  first  reading  position  on  28  March  2019.  The 
amendments  to  the  Commission  proposal  aimed  at  improving  access  to  water  (including 
amendment  to  the article on ‘Objectives’), introducing  a new article on  materials  in  contact 
with  water,  increasing  attention  to  microplastics,  and  introducing  some  exemptions  to  the 
risk-based approach. The Parliament also proposed a less ambitious approach to transparency 
and access to information than in the Commission proposal.  

Following  the  Council's  adoption  of  its  first  reading  position,  the  European  Parliament  is 
expected to formally endorse the agreement found in trilogues. 

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4. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  Council's  position  reflects  the  agreement  found  in  trilogues.  Overall,  this  agreement 
represents  a  balanced  outcome  between  the  positions  of  the  co-legislators,  preserves  the 
Commission’s  initial  objectives,  and  maintains  a  similar  level  of  ambition  as  in  the 
Commission proposal.  

In particular, the Council position supports and further refines the Commission proposal by: 

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maintaining the original Commission’s ambitions on access to water,  

improving and including  more details  on the risk-based approach to  drinking water 
management,  

setting  minimum  harmonised  requirements  for  materials  in  contact  with  drinking 
water (this new provision is accompanied by a legislative financial statement which 
was endorsed by co-legislators at the final trilogue),  

introducing a new requirement on water leakages, and 

introducing  a  watch  list  concept  to  address  pollutants  of  emerging  concern  such  as 
endocrine-disruptors, pharmaceuticals and microplastics.  

Concerning  health  protection  aspects,  the  Council  adopted  a  balanced  position  with  some 
improvements  compared  to  the  existing  Drinking  Water  Directive,  albeit  sometimes  not  as 
ambitious  as the original Commission proposal  (e.g. on lead, PFAS,  Bisphenol A,  Chlorate, 
Chlorite).  While  the  Council  also  somewhat  limited  the  obligations  regarding  transparency 
and  access  to  information  originally  proposed  by  the  Commission,  the  most  important 
information for consumers was retained.  

The  Commission  regrets  however  the  proposed  limitation  of  its  empowerment  to  amend 
Annex  II to  the Directive by delegated act,  as originally proposed and as currently foreseen 
under the existing Drinking Water Directive.  

In addition, the Commission regrets the introduction of the so-called “no-opinion clause” to 
the article on implementing acts, which is a deviation from the rule of principle and should be 
properly justified, as  it limits the possibility of the Commission  to  adopt implementing  acts 
when no opinion is delivered by the Committee.  

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission accepts the position taken by the Council whilst issuing the following two 
declarations:  

DECLARATION BY THE COMMISSION ON DELEGATED ACTS IN THE DRINKING 
WATER DIRECTIVE 

The  Commission  regrets  the  decision  of  the  co-legislators  to  limits  its  empowerment  to 
modify  the  annexes  of  the  revised  Drinking  Water  Directive  to  Annex  III,  whereas  the 
Commission had sought an empowerment to modify Annexes I to IV in its original proposal1.  

The Commission specifically regrets that the co-legislators did not agree on an empowerment 
to  amend  Annex  II,  which  is  particularly  necessary  in  light  of  the  need  to  update  the 
monitoring requirements set out in Annex II to scientific and technical progress.  

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COM(2017)0753 

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DECLARATION  BY  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  PROCEDURE  OF  ADOPTION  OF 
IMPLEMENTING ACTS 

The Commission underlines that it is contrary to the letter and to the spirit of Regulation (EU) 
No 182/2011 (OJ L 55 of 28.2.2011, p. 13) to invoke point (b) of the second subparagraph of 
Article 5(4), without proper justification. Recourse to this provision must respond to a specific 
need  to  depart  from  the  rule  of  principle,  which  is  that  the  Commission  may  adopt  a  draft 
implementing act  when  no opinion is  delivered.  Given that it is  an  exception to  the general 
rule  established  in  Article  5(4),  it  cannot  be  simply  seen  as  a  "discretionary  power"  of  the 
Legislator, but must be interpreted in a restrictive manner and thus must be justified. 

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