💧 EU Water Pollution Standards: Time to Act 💧

EU representatives were due to reach an agreement on updating water pollution standards on 15 July, but negotiations have once again been postponed until 23 September.

We’re nearing 3 years since the European Commission proposed long-overdue updates to regulate pharmaceuticals, more pesticides, and PFAS in surface and groundwater. This delay is becoming something of a record… 

These #RulesToProtect would rightly require Member States to monitor and act on these substances to urgently protect both people’s health and precious ecosystems on which we all depend.

Meanwhile, alarming reports continue to surface:

🧪 Toxic industrial discharges into rivers

💩 Raw sewage spreading antimicrobial resistance

🚱 Pesticides contaminating drinking water

As scientists did a few months earlier, a broad coalition of environmental and health organisations, healthcare professionals, social partners, recreational fishing associations, and water-dependent businesses is calling on the @Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2025, which kicked off in July, to conclude the negotiations without delay.

We urging the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU to oppose attempts by some states to lower the ambition of the text and to take a position against an extension of the transition period or the introduction of new exemptions to the Water Framework Directive.

We must uphold ambition, adopt strong new quality standards, and legally ensure that Member States include targeted measures in the next River Basin Management Plans (2028–2033).

The health of Europe’s water – and its people – can’t wait 🌍

read the letter