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
Date: 2022-10-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: environmental standard, groundwater, pollution control, quality of the environment, surface water, water policy, water pollutant, water pollution, water protection, water resources

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   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 
inadequate  quality  standards). 
longer  present 
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.  

in  significant  quantities  or  with 

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: 

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  As regards surface water: 

o  Adding 24  individual substances  to  the list  of  priority substances:  pesticides, 
pharmaceuticals  and  industrial  chemicals  as  well  as  a  group  of  24  PFAS 
substances; 

o  Changing  the  environmental  quality  standard  (EQS)  for  16  substances:  more 

stringent in 14 cases and less stringent in two cases; 

o  Developing  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; 

o  Removing 4 substances from the list (3 pesticides and 1 industrial chemical) as 

they no longer pose an EU-wide threat.  

  As regards groundwater: 

o  Addition to Annex I (EU-level standards) of a group of 24 PFAS substances, 

two antibiotics and a range of pesticide breakdown products; 

o  Addition  of  one  substance,  a  pharmaceutical,  to  Annex  II  (where  Member 

States need to consider setting a national standard).  

Implementation deficits: 

  Establish  a  mandatory  ‘watch  list’  for  groundwater  to  gather  more  reliable  data  on 

potential groundwater pollutants; 

  Adapt the surface water watch list to account for the seasonality of emissions; 
  Facilitate  future  adaptations to  the lists of pollutants  through  a simplified legislative 

process; 

  Harmonise standards for pollutants that are relevant at the level of river basins; 
 

Introduce a mechanism for automated data reporting that will allow faster and more 
direct access to raw water quality data at Member State level. 

The scientific basis for the initiative was developed in a transparent and inclusive process, led 
by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Directorate-General for Environment and 
involving Member States, stakeholders, industry and academia. The Scientific Committee on 
Health  and  Emerging  Environmental  Risks  ensured  an  independent  scientific  vetting  of  the 
substances concerned. The impact assessment incorporates the preliminary or final opinions 
on  each  of  the  substances  /  groups  of  substances,  available  at  this  point  in  time  (October 
2022).  Limit values for  substances for which no preliminary or final  opinions are  available 
are  based  on  the  dossier  which  the  Commission  prepared  for  the  Scientific  Committee  for 
Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks. The limit values for these substances are denoted 
by  square  brackets  throughout  the  impact  assessment  and  the  proposal.  As  opinions  arrive, 
square brackets will be removed. 

This  initiative  is  projected  to  have  a  positive  influence  on  the  water  quality  of  Europe’s 
surface and groundwater bodies, as well as environmental, social and economic benefits. It is 
therefore  expected  to  directly  impact  on  industry,  agriculture,  distributors,  wastewater 
companies, Member State authorities and citizens. 

It has not been possible to quantify all impacts at EU level. Moreover, as each Member State 
can choose  which measures to  implement  to  comply  with  the preferred policy package, the 
costs  and  benefits  cannot  be  comprehensively  quantified  and  will  vary  significantly  from 
substance to substance and from water body to water body.  

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It is, however, evident that listing a number of substances in surface and groundwater or (in 
the  case  of  surface  water)  changing  their  environmental  quality  standard,  will  have  cost 
implications,  sometimes  significant  ones.  For  surface  water,  significant  direct  adjustment 
costs  are  expected,  for  instance  by  adding  to  the  list  ibuprofen  (a  painkiller  and  anti-
inflammatory),  glyphosate  (a  herbicide  used  in  agriculture  and  horticulture),  PFAS  (a  large 
group of chemicals used for example in cooking utensils, clothing and furniture, fire-fighting 
foam and personal care products) and Bisphenol A (a component of plastic packaging). The 
same applies to amending the environmental quality standard for PAHs (chemicals resulting 
from burning coal, gas, oil, food), mercury (a metal emitted mainly from coal combustion and 
gold mining) and nickel (a metal emitted from coal and heavy oil combustion). In relation to 
groundwater, the most significant costs are expected for PFAS, associated with the restriction 
of  use  (e.g.  in  fire-fighting  foams  -  up  to  EUR 390  million/year  per  substitute  use)  and  the 
management  of  contaminated  bio-solids  (up  to  EUR 755  million/year  for  incineration  and 
EUR 201 million/year for landfilling). However, drinking water companies and ultimately the 
taxpayer will benefit, with lower costs for water treatment.  

It should be noted that costs and benefits cannot be linked only to this initiative, as there are 
several others that concern some of the same pollutants, for example the Urban Waste Water 
Treatment  Directive,  the  Drinking  Water  Directive,  the  Industrial  Emissions  Directive,  the 
Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive, and the announced ban on all but the essential uses 
of PFAS. 

The digitalisation, administrative streamlining and better risk management options that aim to 
make  monitoring  and  reporting  more  accurate  and  timely,  come  at  a  limited,  one-off 
administrative cost for the European Commission (tasked with drafting guidance documents, 
methodologies, etc.), the European Environment Agency (tasked to enhance access to water 
quality data) and the European Chemicals Agency (tasked to scientifically assess the risk of 
relevant pollutants). For most of the assessed tasks, the costs are well below EUR 1 million. 
Member  States’  costs  associated  with  monitoring  pollution  are  expected  to  increase  overall 
due to  the increased number and different  nature (like microplastics) of  substances covered 
by the legislation. However, this is not  expected to exceed EUR 15 million annually across 
the  EU-27  (thus  estimated  at  around  EUR 0.33  million  to  EUR 0.55  million  per  year  per 
Member State). These expenses will, however, allow the Commission and Member States to 
take more targeted measures against pollution in the future. 

This  impact  assessment  concludes  that,  overall,  the  benefits  for  society  considerably 
outweigh  the  costs.  Benefits  include  savings  in  the  cost  of  water  and  sludge  treatment,  a 
healthier  ecosystem  and  savings  in  healthcare  costs.  As  with  pollution  in  the  air  and  soil, 
exposure to endocrine disrupting substances and PFAS, for example, can also have a major 
impact.  Taking the  example of PFAS,  savings from not having to  apply reverse osmosis in 
water treatment amount to some EUR 9 billion annually, and savings in healthcare costs are 
estimated to be at least EUR 52-84 billion annually. Working in complementarity with other 
EU legislation already in place or planned under the European Green Deal, this initiative is 
therefore expected to generate significant benefits for society and the environment. 

In  sum,  the  initiative  revises  the  EU’s  legislation  on  water  pollutants  to  align  it  with  the 
contaminants that are relevant today and in the years to come, but also makes the legislation 
more  relevant,  transparent  and  adaptable.  It  thereby  contributes  to  the  overall  efforts  to 

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reduce pollution to levels that are no longer harmful to human health and the environment, in 
line with the EU’s Zero Pollution Action Plan. 

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