What changed between the plenary report of 12 Jul 2023 and the plenary report of 18 Mar 2026

Removed:Recital 1: (1) Chemical pollution of surface and groundwater poses a threat to the aquatic environment, with effects such as acute and chronic toxicity in aquatic organisms, accumulation of pollutants in the ecosystem and loss of habitats and biodiversity, as well as to human health. Setting environmental quality standards helps to implement the zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment, one of the priority goals of the 8th Environmental Action Programme1a. / 1a Decision (EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030

Removed:Recital 1 a (new): (1a) According to the European Environment Agency, around 90 % of the area of groundwater bodies is reported to be in good quantitative status, around 75 % of the groundwater body area is in good chemical status, 40 % of surface water bodies are in good or high ecological status, and 38 % of surface water bodies are in good chemical status, while the European Environment Agency’s report of 4 December 2019 entitled ‘The European environment – state and outlook 2020: Knowledge for transition to a sustainable Europe’ found that reduced pollution has improved water quality, but that the Union was far from achieving good ecological status for all water bodies by 2020.

Removed:Recital 1 b (new): (1b) The 2019 Fitness Check of the Water Framework Directive (‘the Fitness Check’) concluded in its evaluation that the next round of programmes of measures will play a key role in ensuring the necessary progress towards achieving the environmental objectives of Directive 2000/60/EC by the 2027 deadline, and stated that currently more than half of all European water bodies are exempt under Directive 2000/60/EC, which makes the challenges for Member States to achieve the Environmental Quality Standards for priority substances within the given deadline, more than substantial. In addition, the Fitness Check concluded that the environmental objectives have not been reached fully largely due to insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation.

Removed:Recital 1 c (new): (1c) Due to geographical and socioeconomic factors, some populations, including indigenous peoples, are more vulnerable to water pollution. The mining sector in the European Union is expected to grow to ensure the development of the net zero industry. As stated in Report 09/2021 from the European Environmental Agency1a, the mining sector directly impacts water quality and quantity. It is, therefore, necessary to better implement the existing legislative frameworks and to plan and control water use and discharge also in mining operations. / 1a Drivers of and pressures arising from selected key water management challenges : A European overview, report 09/2021, EEA

Removed:Recital 1 d (new): (1d) Many territories in the Union are subject to large and increasing water constraints. The significant and persistent droughts of recent years, especially in the Mediterranean regions, are putting agricultural production at risk and causing a serious decline in surface and groundwater reserves 1a . / 1a https://www.oecd.org/agriculture/topics/water-and-agriculture/

Removed:Recital 1 e (new): (1e) Water is a public good for the benefit of all, which as an essential natural resource that is irreplaceable and indispensable to life, and which needs to be carefully considered in the light of its social, economic and environmental dimensions. Climate change, including the increased frequency of natural disasters and extreme weather events, and the degradation of biodiversity, both negatively affect water quality and quantity, leading to pressure on sectors dependent on the availability of water, particularly agriculture.

Removed:Recital 1 f (new): (1f) While in its 2018 Report on “European waters - assessment of status and pressures”, the European Environment Agency (EEA) identified certain agricultural practices as obstacles to achieving good chemical status of groundwater in the Union, leading to nitrate and pesticide pollution, a steady decrease in use of mineral fertilisers and in nutrient surpluses has been observed in the Union over the last decades 1a. Other significant sources of pollution are discharges that are not connected to a sewerage system, contaminated sites or abandoned industrial sites. / 1a https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/state-of-water

Removed:Recital 1 g (new): (1g) Good status of water bodies and efficient management of water resources represents a priority for agriculture, since farmers rely on water to conduct their activity, and as such, have a vested interest in the sustainable use of such resources.

Removed:Recital 1 h (new): (1h) In order to facilitate a transition to a more sustainable and productive agricultural sector that is resilient as regards water constraints, incentives should be put in place for farmers to improve water management and modernisation of irrigation systems and techniques.

Removed:Recital 1 i (new): (1i) Pesticide use can severely affect water quality and the quantity of water available for agricultural use, leading to negative impacts on both aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. It is therefore appropriate to monitor the impact and ecotoxicological fate of pesticides and their metabolites in water bodies.

Removed:Recital 1 j (new): (1j) It is essential to consider the efforts achieved so far in sectors such as agriculture, where it has already been possible to reduce phytosanitary contamination by 14 % compared to 2015-2017 and by 26 % if considering the most harmful pollutants. The figures, therefore, show a continuous reduction in the use and risk of chemicals, with 2020 being the second consecutive year in which there has been a significant reduction in the use of pesticides, especially the most dangerous1a. / 1a https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/pesticides/sustainable-use-pesticides/farm-fork-targets-progress/eu-trends_en

Removed:Recital 1 k (new): (1k) Chemical pollution of surface and groundwater also poses a threat to agriculture by limiting the availability of water suitable for crop irrigation, and further aggravating water scarcity. The Union and Member States should, therefore, increase support for research and innovation to rapidly deploy solutions to tackle surface and groundwater scarcity and pollution, including digitalisation, precision agriculture, optimised irrigation and modernisation of irrigation and a circular use of resources, for improved climate-resilient water management and a more targeted application of pesticides and fertilisers for crops, less polluting and safer alternatives to agricultural inputs, more resistant and nutrient-efficient varieties of crops and increased usage of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation. This should contribute to achieving a sustainable and resilient Union food system while reducing diffuse pollution from agriculture and the need for agricultural abstraction.

Removed:Recital 2 a (new): (2a) In seeking to achieve a high level of environmental protection and in implementing the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Union should take account of the diversity of situations in the different regions of the Union, the impact on food security, food production and food affordability, as well as healthy and sustainable diets.

Removed:Recital 3 a (new): (3a) The objectives of achieving “good status of water bodies” and ensuring water availability are cross-cutting and are often not pursued in a sufficiently coherent way. Good water management should be mainstreamed in all Union policies concerning water-using sectors.

Removed:Recital 3 b (new): (3b) The Fitness Check pointed out that better integration of water objectives in agricultural policy was necessary. The new CAP introduced measures making water management more sustainable. In order to have enhanced coherence between agriculture and water policy, Member States should make full use of the opportunities available in the new CAP and integrate water issues fully in their strategic plans, including use of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), and facilitate the development of advisory services to promote best practices concerning water management.

Removed:Recital 4: (4) Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council45establishes a framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. That framework involves the identification of priority substances amongst those that pose a significant risk to, or via, the aquatic environment at Union level. Directive 2008/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council46lays down Union-wide environmental quality standards (EQS) for the 45 priority substances listed in Annex X to Directive 2000/60/EC and eight other pollutants that were already regulated at Union level before Annex X was introduced by Decision No 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council47. Directive 2006/118/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council48lays down Union-wide groundwater quality standards for nitrates and for active substances in pesticides and criteria for establishing national threshold values for other groundwater pollutants. It also sets out a minimum list of 12 pollutants and their indicators for which Member States are required to establish such national threshold values. The groundwater quality standards are set out in Annex I to Directive 2006/118/EC.

Removed:Annex II, Part B contains well-known highly toxic substances such as inter alia cadmium, lead and mercury. Member States should not just consider establishing thresholds for such substances, but actually do so.

Removed:Recital 4 a (new): (4a) Member States should ensure that pollution through the discharge, emission or loss of priority hazardous substances ceases or is phased out within an appropriate timeline and, in any case, not later than 20 years after a given priority substance is listed as hazardous in Part A of Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC. That timeline should apply without prejudice to the application of stricter timelines in any other applicable Union legislation.

Removed:Recital 5: (5) Substances are considered for listing in Annex X to Directive 2000/60/EC or in Annex I or Annex II to Directive 2006/118/EC based on an assessment of the risk they pose to humans and the aquatic environment. The key components of that assessment are knowledge of the environmental concentrations of the substances, including information collected from watch-list monitoring, and of the (eco)toxicology of the substances, as well as of their persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, mobility, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reprotoxicity and endocrine disrupting potential.

Removed:Recital 7: (7) A combination of source-control and end-of-pipe measures is required to effectively deal with most pollutants across their life cycle, including, as relevant, chemical design, authorisation or approval, control of emissions during manufacturing and use or other processes, and waste handling. The setting of new or stricter quality standards in water bodies therefore complements and is coherent with other Union legislation that addresses or should address the pollution problem at one or more of those stages, including Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council49, Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council50, Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council51, Regulation (EU) 2019/6 of the European Parliament and of the Council52, Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council53, Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council54, Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council55and Council Directive 91/271/EEC56. In order for the Member States to achieve the environmental objectives laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2000/60/EC in the best and most cost-effective way possible, they should ensure, when establishing their programmes of measures, that source-control measures are prioritized over end-of-pipe measures and that those measures are in accordance with relevant Union sectoral legislation on pollution. When there is a risk…

Removed:Recital 7 a (new): (7a) Water pollution is mainly the result of industrial and agricultural activities, sewage discharges, and urban runoff, including storm water. The Commission and the Member States should prioritise in their actions measures reducing pollution at source, as well as their enforcement. To this end, coherence between all pieces of Union and national legislation addressing pollutant emissions at source should be ensured in order to reduce pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to health and natural ecosystems.

Removed:Recital 7 b (new): (7b) In order to ensure the legislation intended for preventing pollution of surface water and groundwater is up to date in relation to the fast-evolving pace of new and emerging chemicals that have the potential, as pollutants, to cause significant risks to human health and the aquatic environment, policy mechanisms to detect and assess such substances of emerging concern should be strengthened. In this regard, an approach that allows monitoring and analysis of additional numbers of such substances or groups of substances under the watch lists for surface water and groundwater should be devised. The substances or group of substances to be placed on the watch list should be selected from amongst those substances for which the information available indicates that they could pose a significant risk at Union level to, or via, the aquatic environment, and for which the monitoring data are insufficient. The number of such substances or groups of substances to be monitored and analysed under the watch lists for surface water and groundwater should not be limited.

Removed:Recital 8: (8) The new scientific knowledge points to a significant risk from several other pollutants found in water bodies, in addition to those already regulated. In groundwater, a particular problem has been identified through voluntary monitoring for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and pharmaceuticals. PFAS have been detected at more than 70% of the groundwater measuring points in the Union and existing national thresholds are clearly exceeded at a considerable number of locations, and pharmaceutical substances are also widely found. A subset of specific PFAS as well as of PFAS total should therefore be added to the list of groundwater pollutants. In surface waters, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives are already listed as priority substances, but other PFAS are now also recognised to pose a risk. A subset of specific PFAS as well as of PFAS total should therefore be added to the list of priority substances. In order to ensure a harmonised approach and level playing field in the Union, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to amend Annex I to Directive 2006/118/EC by setting a quality standard for PFAS total. Watch-list monitoring under Article 8b of Directive 2008/105/EC has also confirmed a risk in surface waters from a number of pharmaceutical substances which should therefore be added to the priority substances list.

Removed:Recital 8 a (new): (8a) Glyphosate is the most frequently used herbicide within the Union for agricultural use. As an active substance, it has raised serious concerns in terms of its impact on human health and aquatic toxicity. In December 2022, the Commission decided to grant a temporary extension of the glyphosate marketing authorisation for one additional year, pending the European Food Safety Authority’s reassessment of the active substance due in July 2023. Various recent scientific studies1a suggest, however, that an environmental quality standard (EQS) lower than 0,1 μg /L for all surface water bodies should be considered based on the aquatic toxicity of glyphosate, AMPA and glyphosate-based herbicides. Considering the ongoing assessments by competent Union regulators and the scientific findings of relevant studies regarding the impacts of glyphosate on aquatic life, and for the purpose of ensuring the good chemical status of the majority of Union waters, based on the precautionary principle, a common and unified AA-EQS for inland surface waters and, separately, for other surface waters, should be adopted in relation to glyphosate. / 1a Transcriptomic signalling in zebrafish embryos exposed to environmental concentrations of glyphosate, 2022. Effects of low-concentration glyphosate and aminomethyl phosphonic acid on zebrafish embryo development, 2021. Global transcriptomic profiling demonstrates induction of oxidative stress and compensatory cellular stress responses in brown trout expos…

Removed:Recital 8 b (new): (8b) Atrazine is a herbicide used for annual broad-leaved weeds and annual grasses in cereals. The use of atrazine in plant protection products is no longer authorised within the Union pursuant to Commission Decision 2004/248/EC1a. Atrazine has been proven to be an endocrine disruptor, with evidence that it interferes with reproduction and development, and it could be a cause of cancer. The European Environmental Agency, assessing pesticides against effect or quality thresholds between 2013 and 2020, found that exceedances of one or more pesticides, mainly exceedances of atrazine and its metabolites, were detected at between 4% and 11% of groundwater monitoring sites. Considering its persistent presence in Union surface and groundwater and in order to ensure the threshold values for atrazine do not exceed the total pesticides and metabolites EQS, the threshold value for atrazine in Annex I to Directive 2008/105/ EC should be adjusted, also in accordance with the threshold value for the same substance set in Directive (EU) 2020/21841b. / 1a Commission Decision of 10 March 2004 concerning the non-inclusion of atrazine in Annex I to Council Directive91/414/EEC and the withdrawal of authorizations for plant protection products containing this active substance, OJ L 78. / 1b Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast).

Removed:Recital 8 c (new): (8c) According to SCHEER1aand EMA1b, the generic quality standard of 0,1 μg/L and 0,5 µg/L for groundwater, suggested for individual pesticides and for the sum of all pesticides respectively, as specified in Directive 2006/118/EC, was established in the 1980s, based on the chemical-analytical sensitivity available at that time. The default value of 0,1 μg/L for individual pesticides is not proven to be sufficiently protective for human health and the groundwater ecosystem, and is sometimes significantly higher in comparison to threshold values for many pesticides and fungicides on the list of priority substances in Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC. Taking into consideration also SCHEER's opinion that no groundwater threshold values should be higher than the EQS for surface water, the Commission should review the threshold values for individual pesticides and the sum of all pesticides, including their relevant metabolites, in Annex I to Directive 2006/118/EC by applying modern analytical methods and comparing them in relation to the best available toxicological knowledge. Pending this review, and in line with the precautionary approach expressed by drinking water providers in the European Groundwater Memorandum1c, interim threshold values, based on best available scientific knowledge, should be established. / 1a SCHEER. Contribution to ENV consultation: Comments on the Commission’s proposal for amending the WFD/GWD/EQSD, March 2023. SCHEER. Groundwater quality standards for pr…

Removed:Recital 8 d (new): (8d) Bisphenol-A should be treated as a priority hazardous substance and should be added to the list in Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC. Scientific reports show that also bisphenols other than bisphenol-A have proven endocrine-disrupting potential and mixtures of those bisphenols represent an ecotoxicological risk. Given that those scientific findings raise concerns regarding the safe use of alternatives to bisphenols that might have a negative impact on human health and the environment, the Commission should establish a 'Bisphenols Total' parameter and an appropriate EQS for the total of bisphenol substances.

Removed:Recital 8 e (new): (8e) According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA)1a, groundwater ecosystems are fundamentally different and therefore can be more vulnerable to stressors than surface water ecosystems as they lack the ability to recover from perturbations. Therefore, a precautionary approach should be applied when setting groundwater threshold values to protect human health, groundwater ecosystems and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. In line with advice from EMA, as a result of this vulnerability, the threshold values applicable to groundwater should normally be 10 times lower than the corresponding threshold values for surface waters. However, where the actual risk posed to the groundwater eco-systems can be established, it could be appropriate to set threshold values for groundwater at a different level. / 1a EMA. Assessing the toxicological risk to human health and groundwater communities from veterinary pharmaceuticals in groundwater - Scientific guideline, April 2018.

Removed:Recital 9 a (new): (9a) Pursuant to applicable Union law, Member States are obliged to identify affected and at-risk waters, designate nitrate-vulnerable zones, develop action programmes and implement relevant measures. In this regard, there is still a need for an improvement in the harmonisation of control measures and water quality measurement systems between Member States, so as to allow for harmonised standards across the Union that make comparability between Member States possible, thus avoiding competition problems in the European agricultural sector, resulting in disturbances to the internal market.

Removed:Recital 10: (10) It is estimated that in 2019, between 900 000 and 1,7 million deaths around the world were attributable to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) infections1a. At the same time, concern has been expressed about the risk of antimicrobial resistance developing from the presence of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance genes in the aquatic environment, but little monitoring has taken place. Relevant antimicrobial resistance genes should also be included in the surface and ground water watch lists and monitored as soon as suitable monitoring methods have been developed. This is in line with the 'European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance’, adopted by the Commission in June 2017, and with the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, which also addresses this concern. / 1a “Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis”, Lancet, 19 January 2022 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673621027240?via%3Dihub

Removed:Recital 10 a (new): (10a) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1729 repealing Implementing Decision 2013/652/EU1a sets the framework to obtain comparable and reliable data on antimicrobial resistance in the European Union, including by monitoring slaughterhouse wastewater as a potential vehicle of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and therefore a possible environmental contamination route. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found in water discharged by slaughterhouses.

Removed:Recital 10 b (new): (10b) Concern has been expressed about the risk of sulfates and xanthates in the aquatic environment. Sulfates not only impair drinking water quality, they also affect the material cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Among other things, this increases the nutrient loads in water bodies and thus the growth of plants and algae and also increasesfood supply for aquatic organisms and leads to a decrease of oxygen in water. Sulfates and their degradation products, especially sulfide, under certain conditions, can have a toxic effect on aquatic life. Standard test results indicate that some xanthates and their degradation products are toxic to aquatic invertebrates and fish species and that they may bioaccumulate. Sulfates are already listed as a pollutant for groundwater, but the monitoring that has taken place has been insufficient. Sulfates should therefore be included in the surface and ground water watch lists. Xanthates should be included in the surface water watch list.

Removed:Recital 10 c (new): (10c) Substances such as microplastics pose a clear risk to public health and the environment, but also to basic activities such as the development of agriculture. The presence of such substances and other particles can have implications not only on the water received by livestock and crops, but also on soil fertility, thereby compromising the health and good development of present and future crops1a. / 1a https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352186422000724

Removed:Recital 11: (11) The current and conventional monitoring methods for the chemical status of water bodies cannot, in general, determine the impact of complex mixtures of chemicals on water quality. Considering the growing awareness of the relevance of mixtures and therefore of effect-based monitoring for determining chemical status, and considering that sufficiently robust effect-based monitoring methods already exist for estrogenic substances, Member States should apply such methods to assess the cumulative effects of estrogenic substances in surface waters over a period of at least two years. This will allow the comparison of effect-based results with the results obtained using the conventional methods for monitoring the three estrogenic substances listed in Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC. That comparison should be included in an evaluation report published by the Commission in which it assesses whether effect-based monitoring methods deliver robust and accurate data and may be used as reliable screening methods. Using such screening methods would have the advantage of allowing the effects of all estrogenic substances having similar effects to be covered, and not only those listed in Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC. The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts to supplement Directive 2008/105/EC to set out modalities for the Member States to use the effect-based methods for monitoring to assess the presence also of other substances in water bodies, in anticipation of a …

Removed:Recital 11 a (new): (11a) More stringent threshold values should be established where groundwater quality standards could result in failure to achieve the environmental objectives of Directive 2000/60/EC for associated water bodies, as required under Directive 2006/118/EC. That requirement under Directive 2006/118/EC should be further extended to better protect vulnerable sites from pollution.

Removed:Recital 12: (12) The evaluation of Union water legislation58(the ‘evaluation’) concluded that the process for identifying and listing pollutants affecting surface and groundwater and setting or revising quality standards for them in the light of new scientific knowledge could be accelerated. Therefore, in the framework of any future review of Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC with regard to the list of priority substances and corresponding EQS set out in Part A of that Annex and of Annex I to Directive 2006/118/EC, the functioning of the surface and groundwater watch-list mechanisms, in particular in terms of timing and sequence of listing, monitoring and assessing results, should be improved, the links between the watch-list mechanism and the reviews of the lists of pollutants should be strengthened, and the review period for the lists of pollutants should be adjusted in order to take account of scientific progress more swiftly. In this context, the Commission should take account of the results of the monitoring of substances on the surface and groundwater watch lists. As a consequence, Articles 16 and 17 of Directive 2000/60/EC and Annex X to that Directive, as well as Article 10 of Directive 2006/118/EC, should be deleted, while maintaining the obligation to take measures aimed at the cessation or phasing out of discharges, emissions and losses of priority hazardous substances.

Removed:Recital 12 a (new): (12a) Overall, the conclusions of the Fitness check indicate that the Directives are broadly fit for purpose, with scope for improvement, including accelerating the proper implementation of their objectives, which might be achieved through more Union funding. The assessment indicates that the Directives have so far generally led to a higher level of protection of water bodies and flood risk management.

Removed:Recital 13 a (new): (13a) Any decision on the selection, review of substances and the setting of EQS should be based on a risk assessment and follow a proportionate, transparent and science-based approach and take into consideration recommendations from the European Parliament, Member States and relevant stakeholders.

Removed:Recital 13 b (new): (13b) While Directive 2000/60/EC set the rules necessary to make progress in relationto water quantity and quality, the Fitness check showed that the slow progress made as regards achieving the objectives of this Directive can amongst other things be attributed to a lack of sufficient financial resources as well as regulatory and ecological complexity, including possible time lags for groundwater to respond to measures and with regard to reporting timelines. Measures that improve the status of water bodies through restoration of rivers and ecosystem services provide financial benefits that outweigh the costs and could reduce unnecessary expenditure for Member States. Furthermore, the evaluation points to a lack of implementation, an insufficient scope, and insufficient or inadequate restoration measures ensuring hydrological and ecological connectivity1a. / 1a https://www.igb-berlin.de/sites/default/files/media-files/download-files/IGB_Policy_Brief_WFD_2019.pdf

Removed:Recital 15: (15) In order to ensure a harmonised approach and level playing field in the Union, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to amend Part B of Annex II to Directive 2006/118/EC by adapting the list of pollutants for which Member States have to establish national threshold values.

Removed:Recital 20 a (new): (20a) In order to provide for adequate protection standards for areas of high ecological value, vulnerability or pollution, such as caves and karst areas, that contain ecosystems that are among the most vulnerable to contamination and represent an important drinking water supply, as well as for former industrial sites and other areas with known historical contamination, the Commission should publish an assessment of the chemical status of such areas and, where appropriate, present a legislative proposal to revise Directive 2006/118/EC accordingly.

Removed:Recital 21: (21) To ensure effective and coherent decision-making and develop synergies with the work carried out in the framework of other Union legislation on chemicals, the European Chemicals Agency (‘ECHA’), should be given a permanent and clearly circumscribed role in the prioritisation of substances to be included in the watch lists and in the lists of substances in Annexes I and II to Directive 2008/105/EC and Annexes I and II to Directive 2006/118/EC, and in the derivation of appropriate science-based quality standards. The Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) of ECHA, should facilitate the carrying out of certain tasks conferred on ECHA by providing opinions. ECHA should also ensure better coordination between various pieces of environmental law through increased transparency as regards pollutants on a watch list or the development of Union wide or national EQS or thresholds, by making relevant scientific reports publicly available. In relation to assessing threshold values for pharmaceutical substances, ECHA should cooperate with the European Medicines Agency ('EMA').

Removed:Recital 23: deleted / (deleted)

Removed:Recital 31: (31) It is necessary to take into account scientific and technical progress and the best available methods in the area of monitoring of the status of water bodies in accordance with the monitoring requirements set out in Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC. Therefore, Member States should be allowed to use of data and services from remote sensing technologies, earth observation (Copernicus services), in-situ sensors and devices, or citizen science data, leveraging the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis and processing.

Removed:Recital 31 a (new): (31a) Industrial activities related to the energy transition could increase adverse impacts on the water quality. Mitigating such future impacts, such as changes to natural flow patterns and temperature, and water pollution, requires assessing the full range of potential factors as well as measures to be taken to achieve and maintain good water quality. Therefore, Member States should regularly evaluate the impact on water quality of industrial activities related to the energy transition and inform the Commission of newly identified threats with the aim of updating the watch list accordingly. The evaluation should be easily accessible to the public and the update should be allowed to occur outside of the general updating cycles, to ensure a continuous improvement of water quality assessment.

Removed:Recital 31 b (new): (31b) The Commission, in its communication of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal and its communication of 14 October 2020 on improving access to justice in environmental matters, committed to taking action to improve access to justice before national courts in all Member States for citizens and environmental non-governmental organisations that have specific concerns about the compatibility of administrative acts that have effects on the environment with environmental law. In the latter communication, the Commission affirms that ‘access to justice in environmental matters, both via the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the national courts as Union courts, is an important support measure to help deliver the European Green Deal transition and a way to strengthen the role which civil society can play as watchdog in the democratic space’. Those commitments should be implemented also under Directive 2000/60 EC.

Removed:Recital 31 c (new): (31c) As confirmed by the case law of the CJEU1a, environmental non-governmental organisations and directly concerned individuals should be provided legal standing in order to challenge a decision taken by a public authority, which is in breach of the environmental objectives referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2000/60 EC. With the purpose of enhancing access to justice in the matters concerned before national courts across the Union and for environmental non-governmental organisations and directly concerned individuals to be able to rely on national laws when challenging decisions that are in breach of Directive 2000/60 EC, provisions to ensure access to justice should be established in Directive 2000/60 EC. / 1a Case C-535/18, Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 28 May 2020; IL and Others v Land Nordrhein Westfalen. Case C-664/15, Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 20 December 2017; Protect Natur-, Arten- und Landschaftsschutz Umweltorganisation v Bezirkshauptmannschaft Gmünd.

Removed:Recital 32: (32) Considering the increases in unforeseeable weather events, in particular extreme floods and prolonged droughts, and in significant pollution incidents resulting in or exacerbating transboundary pollution, Member States should be required to ensure that immediate information on such incidents is provided to other potentially affected Member States and effectively cooperate with potentially affected Member States to mitigate the effects of the event or incident. It is also necessary to reinforce cooperation between Member States and streamline procedures for transboundary cooperation in case of more structural, i.e. non accidental and longer term transboundary issues which cannot be solved at Member State level, in accordance with Article 12 of Directive 2000/60/EC. In case European assistance is necessary, competent national authorities may send requests for assistance to the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the Commission, which will coordinate possible offers of assistance and their deployment through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, in accordance with Article 15 of Decision 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council64. Considering that river basin districts can also extend beyond the territory of the Union, ensuring that there is effective implementation of relevant provisions for water protection under Directive 2000/60/EC as well as appropriate coordination with the relevant non-Member States would also contribute to the objectives as se…

Removed:Recital 32 a (new): (32a) The European Court of Auditors in its report of 19 May 2021 entitled ‘The Polluter Pays Principle: Inconsistent application across EU environmental policies and actions’ notes that Member States already spend around EUR 100 billion per year on water supply and sanitation and that increases of that expenditure are expected to amount to over 25 % to meet the objectives of Union legislation on wastewater treatment and drinking water, while not including investments needed to renew existing infrastructure or meet the objectives of the Water Framework Directive and the Floods Directive. Furthermore, in the Union, users pay on average for around 70 % of the cost of providing water services, through water tariffs, while the public purse finances the remaining 30 %, although there are considerable differences between regions and Member States. Households in the Union usually pay for most of the cost of water supply and sanitation services, even though they consume only 10 % of water, whereas the economic sectors that exert the most pressure on renewable freshwater resources contribute the least to meeting such costs.

Removed:Recital 32 b (new): (32b) The costs of monitoring programmes for determining the status of surface water and ground water are financed solely through Member States’ budgets. Given that the number of chemicals detected in the aquatic environment is constantly changing, that there is a growing number of emerging pollutants which have just recently appeared in the aquatic environment, that constant improvement of chemical analytical methods is required in order to detect these emerging and new pollutants and correctly assess their ecological impact, and that also new monitoring methods need to be developed in order to better assess effects of chemical mixtures, those monitoring costs are expected to increase even further. In order to cover those costs, and in accordance with the polluter pays principle enshrined in Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), it is essential that producers placing on the Union market products that contain substances which have a proven or potential negative impact on human health and the aquatic environment take financial responsibility for the measures required to control substances generated in the context of their commercial activities and found in surface water and groundwater. A system of extended producer responsibility is likely the most appropriate means of achieving this, as it would limit the financial burden on the taxpayer, while providing an incentive to develop greener products. The Commission should, therefore, prepar…

Removed:Recital 32 c (new): (32c) Monitoring of an increased number of substances or group of substances involves increased costs but also the need for strengthened administrative capacity in the Member States, especially those with scarcer resources. In light of the above, the Commission should set up a joint European monitoring facility for managing the monitoring requirements when so requested by the Member States, thus easing their financial and administrative burdens. The Commission should define the methods of operation of the monitoring facility. The use of such facility should be voluntary and without prejudice to arrangements already set in place by the Member States.

Removed:Recital 32 d (new): (32d) Evidence shows that there is an investment need in the water sector and Union funding is vital for some Member States to comply with legal obligations laid down in Directive 2000/60/EC, Directive 2008/105/EC and Directive 2006/118/EC. All Member States need to increase their expenditure by at least 20% to reach Union water standards and there is an aggregated financing gap of EUR 289 billion up to 20301a. It is therefore necessary to ensure that sufficient financial and human resources are provided for the purpose of carrying out monitoring and inspections of water bodies in all Member States, including via relevant Union structural funds and programmes, as well as via contributions from the private sector, including under the extended producer responsibility mechanism, once put in place. / 1a OECD, 6th Roundtable on Financing Water. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/water/6th-Roundtable-on-Financing-Water-in-Europe-Summary-and-Highlights.pdf

Removed:Recital 34 a (new): (34a) Member States should encourage synergies between the requirements of the relevant directives concerning both data collection and deployment of digital tools such as remote sensing technologies or earth observation (Copernicus services).

Removed:Recital 34 b (new): (34b) The competent authorities should support training, skills development programmes and investment in human capital to support the effective implementation of the best technologies and innovative solutions within the framework of the directives. Information should be accessible in the different national languages in order to strengthen accessibility to the relevant data across Europe for the relevant local actors and citizens.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – introductory part, Article 1 – point e – indent 4: (1) in Article 1, point (e), the fourth indent is replaced by the following:

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 30a: (30a) ‘Priority hazardous substances’ means priority substances which are marked as ‘hazardous’ on the basis that they are recognised in scientific reports, in relevant Union legislation, or in relevant international agreements, as being toxic, persistent and liable to bio-accumulate (PBT), or very persistent and very accumulative (vPvB), or persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) or very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) or as giving rise to an equivalent level of concern, where this concern is relevant to the aquatic environment, and for which measures need to be taken in accordance with Article 4, (1), point (a), point (iv).

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point d, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 35: (35) ‘Environmental quality standard’ means the concentration of a particular pollutant or group of pollutants in water, sediment or biota not to be exceeded in order to protect human health and the environment or a trigger value for the adverse effect on human health or the environment of such a pollutant or group of pollutants measured using an appropriate and scientifically established effect-based method.’;

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point d a (new), Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 37: (da) point (37) is replaced by the following: / "37. ‘Water intended for human consumption’ has the same meaning as under Directive (EU) 2020/2184."

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point d b (new), Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 40 – subparagraph 1: (db) in Article 2point (40), the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: / "40. ‘Emission limit values’ means the mass, expressed in terms of certain specific parameters, concentration and/or level of an emission, which may not be exceeded during any one or more periods of time. Emission limit values may also be laid down for certain groups, families or categories of substances, in particular for those identified in Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3, Article 3 – paragraph 4a: Member States shall notify other Member States that could be adversely affected by the relevant pollution incident. / To further improve cooperation and information exchange in the international river basin districts, for all international river basin districts arrangements for emergency communication and response shall be put in place.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point a, Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a – point iv: (iv) Member States shall implement the necessary measures to progressively reduce pollution, discharges, emissions and losses from priority substances and river basin specific pollutants, and to cease or phase out emissions, discharges and losses of priority hazardous substances within an appropriate timeline and, in any case, not later than 20 years after a given priority substance is listed as hazardous in Part A of Annex I to Directive 2008/105/EC. That timeline shall apply without prejudice to the application of stricter timelines in any other applicable Union legislation;

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point ba, Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point c – subparagraph 1 a (new): (ba) in point (c), the following subparagraph 1a is added: / Member States shall set stricter standards or threshold values if necessary to adequately protect the areas listed in Annex IV to this Directive, including special areas of conservation under Council Directive 92/43/EEC. Programmes and measures required in relation to such threshold values shall also apply to activities falling within the scope of Directive 91/676/EEC.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point a, Article 8 – paragraph 3: 3. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 20a supplementing this Directive by setting out technical specifications and standardised methods for analysis and monitoring of water status set out in Annex V. The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts for establishing formats for reporting monitoring and status data in accordance with paragraph 4. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 21(2).;

Removed:The adoption of technical specifications and standardised methods fulfils the criteria for delegated acts.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point a a (new), Article 8 – paragraph 3 a (new): (aa) The following paragraph is added: / "3a. By [two years after the entry into force of this Directive], the Commission shall publish a comprehensive assessment on the possible application of continuous, precise, and real-time (online) pollution monitoring systems of water quality measurements, including economic and technical feasibility aspects of such systems relevant to the Member States, as well the use of harmonised standards. / The Commission shall, if appropriate, adopt an implementing act, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 21(2), to set out harmonised standards for online water monitoring.”

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6 – point b, Article 8 – paragraph 4: 4. Member States shall ensure that the available individual monitoring data collected in accordance with point 1.3.4 and 2.4.3 of Annex V and the resulting status in accordance with Annex V are made available to the European Environment Agency (EEA) and, without undue delay and in an easily accessible manner, to the public at least once a year electronically in a machine-readable format in accordance with Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council*, Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council** and Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council***. For those purposes, Member States shall use the formats established in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7 a (new), Article 11 – paragraph 1: (7 a) Article 11 (1) is replaced by the following: / "1. Each Member State shall ensure the establishment for each river basin district, or for the part of an international river basin district within its territory, of a programme of measures, taking account of the results of the analyses required under Article 5, in order to achieve the objectives established under Article 4. Such programmes of measures shall prioritise source-control measures in accordance with relevant Union sectoral legislation on pollution. End-of-pipe measures shall be applied in addition to source control measures where there is a risk of source-control measures failing to achieve good status of the water bodies. Programmes of measures may make reference to measures following from legislation adopted at national level and covering the whole of the territory of a Member State. Where appropriate, a Member State may adopt measures applicable to all river basin districts and/or the portions of international river basin districts falling within its territory. The Commission shall develop guidance on best practices for source-control measures and the complementarity of end-of-pipe measures."

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7 b (new), Article 11 – paragraph 3 – point c: (7 b) Article 11(3), point (c) is replaced by the following: / "(c) measures to promote an efficient and sustainable water use, including in agriculture, in order to avoid compromising the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 4;”

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new), Article 11 – paragraph 5 – indent 2: (8 a) Article 11 (5), indent 2 is replaced by the following: / "— relevant permits and authorisations are examined and reviewed and, in duly justified cases, suspended, as appropriate,"

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 12 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new): The Commission shall respond to any notification from a Member State within a period of six months. Where the issue concerns failure to meet good chemical status, the Commission shall act in accordance with Article 7a of Directive 2008/105/EC.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 12 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2: Member States shall respond to each other in a timely manner, and no later than 2 months after notification by another Member State in accordance with paragraph 1.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9 a (new), Article 13 – paragraph 4 a (new): (9a) in Article 13, the following paragraph is inserted: / "4a. The Commission shall reject the river basin management plans presented by Member States when these plans do not include the elements listed in Annex VII."

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9 a (new), Article 14 a (new): (9a) The following Article is inserted : / "Article 14a / Access to justice / 1. Member States shall ensure that members of the public, in accordance with national law, that have a sufficient interest or that allege the impairment of a right, have access to a review procedure before a court of law, or another independent and impartial body established by law, to challenge the substantive or procedural legality of all decisions, acts or omissions under this Directive concerning, inter alia: / (a) plans and projects which may be contrary to the requirements of Article 4, including to prevent the deterioration of the status of bodies of water and to achieve good water status, good ecological potential and/or good water chemical status, to the extent that those requirements are not already provided for under Article 11 of Directive 2011/92/EU; / (b) programmes of measures referred to in Article 11, Member State river basin management plans referred to in Article 13(1) and supplementary Member State programmes or management plans referred to in Article 13(5). / 2. Member States shall determine what constitutes a sufficient interest and the impairment of a right, in a manner that is consistent with the objective of providing the public with wide access to justice. For the purposes of paragraph 1, any non-governmental organisation that promotes environmental protection and meets the relevant requirements under national law shall be deemed to have rights capable of being impaired and…

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10, Article 15 – paragraph 3: deleted

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10a (new), Article 15 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2: (10a) in Article 15 (3) the following subparagraph is added: / The Commission shall adopt guidelines and templates concerning the content, structure and format of the interim reports referred to in the first subparagraph, no later than [six months after the entry into force of this Directive].

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 12 – point b, Article 18 – paragraph 4: deleted

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 18 a (new), Annex VII – Part A – point 7.7. a (new): (18a) In Annex VII, Part A, the following point is inserted: / “7.7a. a summary of the measures taken to digitise the monitoring aspects of the water sector; ”

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:AnnexX

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 20: (20) Annexes IX and X are deleted.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2, Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. This Directive establishes specific measures to prevent and control groundwater pollution with the aim of achieving the environmental objectives set out in Article 4(1), point (b), of Directive 2000/60/EC. The hierarchy of measures to be taken shall prioritise restrictions and other control-at-source measures, without prejudice to the importance of end-of-pipe measures, where appropriate. Those measures include the following:

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2, Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new): (ba) criteria for assessing the good ecological status of groundwater.

Removed:Criteria for assessment are needed to protect aquatic ecosystems and their biodiversity.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point a a (new), Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new): (aa) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is inserted: / The threshold values applicable to groundwater shall be 10-times lower than the corresponding EQS for surface water, except in cases, where the actual risk posed to the groundwater ecosystems can be established, it may be appropriate to set threshold values for groundwater at a different level.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point c, Article 3 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 a (new): Member States shall ensure that the residents of the concerned river basin district or of the part of the international river basin district falling within the territory of a Member State are adequately and timely informed.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point d, Article 3 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1: Member States shall amend the list of threshold values applied in their territories whenever new information on pollutants, groups of pollutants, or indicators of pollution, also taking into account the precautionary principle, indicates that a threshold value needs to be set for an additional substance, that an existing threshold value needs to be modified, or that a threshold value previously removed from the list needs to be re-inserted. If relevant threshold values are established or amended at Union level, Member States shall adapt the list of threshold values applied in their territories to those values.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 a (new), Article 3 – paragraph 7: (4a) Paragraph 7 is replaced by the following: / "7. The Commission shall publish a report on the national threshold values referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), one year after the Member States provide that information to ECHA in accordance with paragraph 5."

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2: The watch list shall contain a minimum of five substances or groups of substances of emerging concern selected from amongst those substances for which the information available, also in accordance with sub-paragraph four below, indicates that they may pose a significant risk at Union level to, or via, the aquatic environment, and for which the monitoring data are insufficient, except where the number of substances or groups of substances for which the information available indicates that they may pose a significant risk to, or via, the aquatic environment to be selected from is less than five, in which case the watch list shall contain all of those substances. / In addition to the minimum number of substances or group of substances, the watch list may also contain indicators of pollution. / The watch list shall specify the monitoring matrices and the possible methods of analysis for each substance. Those monitoring matrices and methods shall not entail excessive costs for the competent authorities.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3: Suitable monitoring methods for micro-plastics and selected antimicrobial resistance genes shall be identified as soon as possible and no later than [the first day of the month following 18 months after the date of entry into force of this amending Directive]. As soon as those monitoring methods are identified, micro-plastics and selected antimicrobial resistance genes shall be included in the watch list in accordance with Article 6a(2)(1). The Commission shall also consider whether including sulfates in the first watch list is necessary to improve availability of data on their presence with regard to the scope of this directive.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 4 – introductory part: ECHA shall prepare scientific reports to assist the Commission in selecting the substances and indicators of pollution for the watch list, taking into account the following information:

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 4 – point f: (f) research projects and scientific publications and evidence, including information on the impact of material and thermal contaminants as well as impacts of aboveground and underground extractive and infrastructure activities on groundwater ecosystems and groundwater-dependent ecosystems and their biodiversity, information on trends and forecasts based on modelling or other predictive assessments, as well as information and data collected by remote sensing technologies, Earth observation (Copernicus services), in situ sensors and devices, or citizen science data, taking advantage of the opportunities opened by artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis and processing;

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1: A first watch list shall be established by .. [OP please insert the date = the first day of the month following 24 months after the date of entry into force of this Directive]. The watch list shall be updated at the latest every 36 months thereafter or more frequently if new scientific evidence emerges that would necessitate the list being updated in the interim period between individual reviews.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new): Member States shall evaluate every two years the impact on water quality of industrial activities related to the energy transition and inform the Commission of newly identified threats so that it can update the watch list accordingly. The evaluation shall be easily accessible to the public.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 6a – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2: Each Member State shall select at least two monitoring stations, plus the number of stations equal to its total area in km2 of groundwater bodies divided by 30 000 (rounded to the nearest integer).

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6 a (new), Article 6a a (new): (6a) The following Article is inserted: / 'Article 6aa / Improving protection of groundwater ecosystems / The Commission shall, not later than [OP: please insert the date = four years after the date of entry into force of this Directive], publish an assessment of the impacts of physico-chemical elements, like pH, oxygenation, and temperature, on health of groundwater ecosystems, accompanied, where appropriate, by a legislative proposal to revise this Directive accordingly, in order to set the corresponding parameters, provide for harmonized monitoring methods, and define what would constitute a “good ecological status” for groundwater.'

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6 b (new), Article 6a b (new): (6b) The following Article is inserted: / ‘Article 6ab / Specific treatment for areas of high ecological value, vulnerability or pollution / The Commission shall,... [not later than four years after the entry into force of this Directive], publish an assessment of the chemical status of areas characterised by high ecological value, vulnerability or pollution, such as caves and karst areas, former industrial sites and other areas with known historical contamination, accompanied, where appropriate, by a legislative proposal to revise this Directive.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6 c (new), Article 6a c (new): (6c) The following Article is inserted: / Article 6ac / No later than... [one year after the date of entry into force of this Directive], the Commission shall present an impact assessment examining the inclusion in this Directive of an extended producer responsibility mechanism, ensuring that producers that place on the market products containing any of the substances or compounds listed in Annex I, as well as substances of emerging concern included in the watch list under this Directive, contribute to the costs for monitoring programmes designed under Article 8 of Directive 2000/60/EC. The impact assessment shall be accompanied, where appropriate, by a legislative proposal to revise this Directive.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6 d (new), Article 6a d (new): (6d) The following Articleis inserted: / Article 6ad / European monitoring facility / The Commission shall,... [one year after the date of entry into force of this Directive], set up a joint monitoring facility for managing the monitoring requirements when so requested by the Member States. / The Commission shall define the functioning of the monitoring facility, which shall cover, inter alia, the following: / (a) the voluntary nature of the use of the monitoring facility, which shall be without prejudice to arrangements already put in place by the Member States; / (b) the operational procedures for Member States that intend to make use of the monitoring facility, which shall, inter alia, include the required notification to the Commission of their exact monitoring needs or capabilities, the exact protocols for samples managing, as well as the length of time they intend to remain part of the mechanism; / (c) the sources of funding, which may include relevant Union structural funds and programmes, as well as contributions from the private sector, including under the extended producer responsibility mechanism, once put in place in accordance with Article 6ac.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 1: 1. The Commission shall review, for the first time by … [OP: please insert the date = four years after the date of entry into force of this Directive] and every four years thereafter, the list of pollutants set out in Annex I and the quality standards for those pollutants set out in that Annex, as well as the list of pollutants and indicators set out in Part B of Annex II.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 2: 2. Based on the review, the Commission shall, where appropriate, come forward with legislative proposals to amend Annex I to adapt it to technical and scientific progress by adding or removing groundwater pollutants and quality standards for those pollutants set out in that Annex. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 8a, to amend Part B of Annex II in order to adapt it to technical and scientific progress by adding pollutants or indicators for which Member States have to consider establishing national thresholds.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 4: 4. When adopting legislative proposals and delegated acts as referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, the Commission shall take the scientific reports prepared by ECHA pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article into account.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 6 – point f: (f) Union research programmes and scientific publications, including up-to-date information resulting from remote sensing technologies, earth observation (Copernicus services), in-situ sensors and devices and/or citizen science data, leveraging the opportunities offered by best available techniques which could include artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis and processing;

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 6 – point g: (g) comments and information from relevant stakeholders, including national regulatory authorities and other relevant bodies.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. By 12 January 2025, the Commission shall establish technical guidelines regarding methods of analysis for monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the parameters ‘PFAS Total’ The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 8a amending this Directive by setting a quality standard for 'PFAS total' and amend Annex I accordingly. The Commission shall adopt these delegated acts by 12 January 2026.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8 – paragraph 7: 7. ECHA shall, every four years, prepare and make publicly available a report, summarizing the findings of the review referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3. The first report shall be submitted to the Commission on … [OP: Please insert the date = three years after the date of entry into force of this Directive].

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8, Article 8a – paragraph 2: 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 8(2), (3) and (6a) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 6 years from [date of entry into force of this Directive]. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the 6 year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8, Article 8a – paragraph 3: 3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 8(2), (3) and (6a) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament and the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8, Article 8a – paragraph 4: 4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8, Article 8a – paragraph 6: 6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 8(2), (3) or (6a) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 14, Annex IV – part B – point 1 – introductory part: the starting point for implementing measures to reverse significant and sustained upward trends, including seasonal upward trends caused, inter alia, by low discharge of a water body, will be when the concentration of the pollutant reaches 75 % of the parametric values of the groundwater quality standards set out in Annex I and of the threshold values referred to in Article 3(1), points (b) and (c), unless:.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new), Article 1: (1a) Article 1 is amended as follows: / "Article 1 / This Directive lays down environmental quality standards (EQS) for priority substances and priority hazardous substances, with the aim of achieving good surface water chemical status and in accordance with the provisions and objectives of Article 4 of Directive 2000/60/EC."

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 5 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: On the basis of the information collected in accordance with Articles 5 and 8 of Directive 2000/60/EC, and with Regulation (EU).../... of the European Parliament and of the Council1a, and other available data, Member States shall establish an inventory, including maps, if available, of emissions, discharges and losses of all priority substances listed in Part A of Annex I to this Directive and all pollutants listed in Part A of Annex II to this Directive for each river basin district or part of a river basin district lying within their territory, including their concentrations in sediment and biota, as appropriate. / 1a OP: Please insert in the text the number of the Regulation contained in document COM (2022) 157

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 5 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new): The inventories of emissions shall be made available in an electronic database that is updated regularly and is easily accessible to the public.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 5 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2: deleted / (deleted)

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point c, Article 5 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1: Member States shall update their inventories as part of the reviews of the analyses specified in Article 5(2) of Directive 2000/60/EC and shall ensure that the emissions, including those reported to the Industrial Emissions Portal established under Regulation (EU) .../…++, are published in their river basin management plans as updated in accordance with Article 13(7) of that Directive.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point c, Article 5 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 3: deleted

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 7a – paragraph 1: 1. For priority substances that fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, Regulation (EU) No 528/2012, Regulation (EU) 2019/6 of the European Parliament and of the Council*, or within the scope of Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council**, Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council*** or Directive 2010/75/EU, the Commission shall, every two years, assess whether the measures in place at Union and Member State level are sufficient to achieve the EQS for priority substances and the cessation or phasing-out objective for discharges, emissions and losses of priority hazardous substances in accordance with Article 4(1), point (a), of Directive 2000/60/EC.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 7a – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1a (new): The hierarchy of measures to be taken shall prioritise restrictions and other control-at-source measures. In this regard, the Commission shall, where appropriate, present proposals to amend Union legal acts to ensure that discharges, emissions and losses of priority substances are halted at the source.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 4 a (new), Article 7a – paragraph 2: (4 a) In Article 7a, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: / "2. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the outcome of the assessment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article no later than six months after its assessment and shall accompany its report with any appropriate proposals including for control measures."

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 8 – paragraph 1: 1. The Commission shall review, for the first time by … [OP: Please insert the date = four years after the date of entry into force of this Directive] and every four years thereafter, the list of priority substances and the corresponding EQS for those substances set out in Part A of Annex I and the list of pollutants set out in Part A of Annex II.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 8 – paragraph 2 – introductory part: 2. Based on the review, the Commission shall, where appropriate, come forward with legislative proposals, having regard to the scientific reports prepared by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article, to amend Annex I in order to adapt it to scientific and technological progress by:

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 8 – paragraph 4 – point a: (a) the risk posed by the pollutants, including their hazard, their environmental concentrations and the concentration above which effects might be expected, including their cumulative effects;

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 8 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. By 12 January 2025, the Commission shall establish technical guidelines regarding methods of analysis for monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the parameters ‘PFAS Total’. By 12 January 2026, the Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 9a amending this Directive by settting a quality standard for 'PFAS total' and amending Annex I accordingly.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 8 – paragraph 6 b (new): 6b. By... [two years after the entry into force of this Directive], the Commission shall establish technical guidelines regarding methods of analysis for monitoring of bisphenols, including at least bisphenol-A, bisphenol-B and bisphenol-S, under the parameter ‘Bisphenols Total’. By... [three years after the entry into force of this Directive] the Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 9a amending this Directive by setting an EQS for ‘Bisphenols Total’ using a relative potency factor approach and amending Annex I accordingly

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 8 – paragraph 7: 7. ECHA shall every four years prepare and make publicly available a report summarizing the findings of the scientific reports established under paragraph 6. The first report shall be submitted to the Commission on … [OP: Please insert the date = three years after the date of entry into force of this Directive].

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 8a – paragraph 1– subparagraph 2: Member States shall present the extent of any deviation from the EQS value for the substances referred to in the first subparagraph, points (a), (b) and (c), in the river basin management plans produced in accordance with Article 13 of Directive 2000/60/EC. Member States providing additional maps as referred to in the first subparagraph shall seek to ensure their inter-comparability at river basin and Union level and shall make the data available in accordance with Directive 2003/4/EC, Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council* and Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council**.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 8a – paragraph 2: 2. Member States may monitor substances identified in Part A of Annex I as substances behaving like ubiquitous PBTs and which are no longer authorised and used in the Union less intensively than is required for priority substances in accordance with Article 3(4) of this Directive and Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC, provided that the monitoring is representative and a statistically robust baseline is available regarding the presence of those substances in the aquatic environment. As a guideline, in accordance with Article 3(6), second subparagraph, of this Directive, monitoring should take place every three years, unless technical knowledge and expert judgment justify another interval.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 8a – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. The Commission shall, within 12 months of the two-year period referred to in paragraph 3, publish a report on the reliability of the effect-based methods by comparing the effect-based results with the results obtained using the conventional methods for monitoring the three estrogenic substances listed in paragraph 3 in anticipation of a possible setting of effect-based trigger values in the future. / Once effect-based methods are ready to use also for other substances, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 9a to supplement this Directive by adding a requirement for the Member States to use the effect-based methods, in parallel with conventional monitoring methods, to carry out monitoring to assess the presence of those substances in water bodies.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8b – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2: The watch list shall contain a minimum of five substances or groups of substances of emerging concern selected from amongst those substances for which the information available, also in accordance with the fourth subparagraph, indicates that they could pose a significant risk at Union level to, or via, the aquatic environment, and for which the monitoring data are insufficient, except where the number of substances or groups of substances for which the information available indicates that they could pose a significant risk to, or via, the aquatic environment to be selected from is less than five, in which case the watch list shall contain all of those substances. / In addition to the minimum number of substances or group of substances, the watch list may also contain indicators of pollution. / The watch list shall specify the monitoring matrices and the possible methods of analysis for each substance. Those monitoring matrices and methods shall not entail excessive costs for the competent authorities.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8b – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3: Suitable monitoring methods for micro-plastics and selected antimicrobial resistance genes shall be identified as soon as possible and no later than [the first day of the month following 18 months after the date of entry into force of this amending Directive]. As soon as those monitoring methods are identified, micro-plastics and selected antimicrobial resistance genes shall be included in the watch list in accordance with paragraph 2. The Commission shall also consider whether including sulfates, xanthates and non-relevant metabolites of pesticides (NrMs) in the watch list is necessary to improve availability of data on their presence with regard to the scope of this directive.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8b – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 4 – introductory part: ECHA shall prepare scientific reports to assist the Commission in selecting the substances and indicators of pollution for the watch list, taking into account the following information:

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8b – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 4 – point e: (e) research projects and scientific publications and evidence, including information on trends and forecasts based on modelling or other predictive assessments, as well as information and data collected by remote sensing technologies, Earth observation (Copernicus services), in situ sensors and devices, or citizen science data, taking advantage of the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis and processing;

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8b – paragraph 2: 2. The watch list shall be updated by X [OP please insert date = the last day of the twenty-third month after the date of entry into force of this Directive], and at the latest every 36 months thereafter or more frequently if new scientific evidence emerges that would necessitate updating the list in the period between individual reviews. / Member States shall evaluate every two years the impact on water quality of industrial activities related to the energy transition and inform the Commission of newly identified threats so that it may update the watch list accordingly. The evaluation shall be easily accessible to the public. / When updating the watch list, the Commission shall remove any substance from the existing watch list for which it considers it possible to assess its risk for the aquatic environment without additional monitoring data. When the watch list is updated, an individual substance or group of substances may be kept on the watch list for another period of maximum three years where additional monitoring data are needed to assess the risk to the aquatic environment. Each updated watch list shall also include one or more new substances for which the Commission considers, on the basis of the scientific reports of ECHA, that there is a risk for the aquatic environment.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 8b – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 3: In selecting the representative monitoring stations, the monitoring frequency and the seasonal timing for each substance or group of substances, Member States shall take into account the use patterns and possible occurrence of the substance or group of substances. The monitoring frequency shall be no less than twice per year. The frequency shall be higher, as set out in the implementing act establishing the watch list adopted pursuant to paragraph 1, for substances that are sensitive to climatic variations, including rainfall, and for substances whose concentration is likely to peak over short periods as a result of seasonal fluctuations in the use of those substances.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7 a (new), Article 8b a (new): (7a) The following Article 8ba is inserted : / ‘Article 8ba / No later than... [one year after the date of entry into force of this Directive], the Commission shall present an impact assessment examining the inclusion in this Directive of an extended producer responsibility mechanism which ensures that producers that place on the market products containing any of the substances or compounds listed in Annex I, as well as substances of emerging concern included in the watch list under this Directive, contribute to the costs for monitoring programmes designed under Article 8 of Directive 2000/60/EC. The impact assessment shall be accompanied, where appropriate, by a legislative proposal to revise this Directive.’

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 7 b (new), Article 8b b (new): (7b) The following Article is inserted: / “Article 8bb / European monitoring facility / The Commission shall by... [one year after the date of entry into force of this Directive], set up a joint monitoring facility for managing the monitoring requirements when so requested by the Member States. / The Commission shall define the functioning of the monitoring facility, which shall cover, inter alia, the following: / (a) the voluntary nature of the use of the monitoring facility, which shall be without prejudice to arrangements already put in place by the Member States; / (b) the operational procedures for Member States that intend to make use of the monitoring facility, which shall, inter alia, include the required notification to the Commission, their exact monitoring needs or capabilities, the exact protocols for samples management, as well as the length of time they intend to remain part of the mechanism; / (c) the sources of funding, which may include relevant Union structural funds and programmes, as well as contributions from the private sector, including under the extended producer responsibility mechanism, once put in place in accordance with Article 8ba.”

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 8, Article 8d – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. In setting and applying for EQS for the river basin specific pollutants, Member States may take into account metal bioavailablility.

Removed:It is important that adequate measuring tools are used.

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new), Article 9a – paragraph 2: (8 a) In Article 9a, paragraph 2 is amended as follows: / "2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 3(8), Article 8(3), (6a), (6b) and 8a(3a) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 6 years from [OP please insert the date = the date of entry into force of this Directive]. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power at the latest 9 months before the end of the 6 year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period."

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 8 b (new), Article 9a – paragraph 3: (8b) In Article 9a, paragraph 3 is amended as follows: / "3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 3(8), Article 8(3), (6a), (6b) and 8a(3a) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force."

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 8 c (new), Article 9a – paragraph 3 a (new): (8c) In Article 9a, paragraph 3a is inserted: / "3a. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making."

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 8 d (new), Article 9a – paragraph 5: (8d) In Article 9a, paragraph 5 is amended as follows: / "5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 3(8), Article 8(3), (6a), (6b) or 8a(3a) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council."

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 10 a (new), Annex V – point 1.3.4. – paragraph 4: (10a) In point 1.3.4, paragraph 4 is amended as follows: / "Monitoring frequencies shall be selected, and increased if necessary, to take account of the variability in parameters resulting from both natural and anthropogenic conditions. Furthermore, the times at which monitoring is undertaken shall be selected so as to take account of the impact on the status assessment of seasonal fluctuations in substance use and of variation in water levels and thus ensure that the results reflect changes in the water body caused by anthropogenic pressure and by climatic variation. As regards priority substances that are sensitive to climatic variations and priority substances whose concentration is likely to peak over short periods as a result of seasonal fluctuations in the use of these substances, the monitoring shall be carried out more frequently than for other substances."

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 18, Annex V – point 2.4.5 – subparagraph 4: Member States shall also indicate by a black dot on the map, those groundwater bodies which are subject to significant and sustained upward trends, including seasonal upward trends caused, inter alia, by a low discharge of a water body, in the concentrations of any pollutant resulting from the impact of human activity. Reversal of a trend shall be indicated by a blue dot on the map.

Removed:Directive 2000/60/EC

Removed:Annex II – paragraph 1 – point 1, Annex VIII – point 10: 10. Materials in suspension, including micro/nanoplastics, as well as materials known to give rise to micro- or nanoplastics;

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Annex III, Annex I – introductory part: Note 1: The QS for the pollutants listed under entries 3 to 7 shall apply from … [OP: please insert the date = the first day of the month following 6 months after the entry into force of this amending Directive], with the aim of achieving good water chemical status at the latest by 22 December 2033.

Removed:the good chemical status is to be achieved after the 3rd river basin management plan, one after the current one 2022-2027. the QS should be established as soon as possible so that the measures are properly considered in the 3rd RBMP, as well as in relation to the Industrial Emissions Directive for industrial pollutants, etc.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Annex III, Annex I – paragraph 1 a (new): Where, for a given body of groundwater, in particular one situated in the ecological network of special areas of conservation under Council Directive 92/43/EEC, it is considered that the groundwater quality standards could result in a failure to achieve the environmental objectives specified in Article 4 of Directive 2000/60/EC for associated bodies of surface water, or in any significant deterioration of the ecological or chemical quality of such bodies, or in any significant damage to groundwater or terrestrial ecosystems which depend directly on that body of groundwater, more stringent threshold values shall be established in accordance with Article 3 and Annex II to this Directive. Programmes and measures required in relation to such threshold values shall also apply to activities falling within the scope of Directive 91/676/EEC.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:It is not appropriate to set the same quality standard for groundwater as for surface waters. In general, the quality standard for groundwater should be ten times lower as for surface water. As the EQS for carbamazepine in surface water has been set at 0,25 µg/l, the quality standard for carbamazepine in groundwater should be set at 0,025 µg/l.

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Directive 2006/118/EC

Removed:Annex IV – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new), Annex II – Part B – title: (1a) in part B, the title is replaced by the following: / "Minimum list of pollutants and their indicators for which Member States have to establish threshold values in accordance with Article 3"

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Directive 2008/105/EC

Removed:Annex VI, Annex II – Part A – point 10: 10. Materials in suspension, including micro/nanoplastics, as well as materials known to give rise to micro/nanoplastics;

Removed:Directive 2008/105/CE

Removed:Annex VI, Annex II – Part B – point d a (new): (da) when setting EQS for metals, bioavailability models shall be considered to account for various water quality parameters that affect bioavailability of metals.

Removed:Sound measuring tools must be used by Member States' competent authorities

Removed:Increasing chemization of the natural environment predominantly due to industrial, chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and other market-induced activities can lead to chemical pollution of surface and groundwater. As such, it poses a threat to human health as well as to the aquatic environment seriously affecting loss of habitats and biodiversity. This new legislative proposal presented by the European Commission brings forward a revision of the Water Framework Directive together with its two ‘daughter’ Directives, the Groundwater Directive and the Environmental Quality Standard Directive with the purpose to improve the EU water legislation towards achieving its overarching objective of protecting human health and natural ecosystems from toxic pollutants. Being an integral part of the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Rapporteur is confident the revision of the water legislation concerned should contribute to the implementation of the zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment in the EU.

Removed:The Rapporteur acknowledges the conclusions of the 2019 Fitness Check evaluation of the EU water legislation with an overall assessment that the respective Directives are fit for purpose and have led to a higher level of protection for water bodies, while the fact that the WFD’s environmental objectives have not been achieved even if the deadline has been extended twice in this regard is largely due to insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation. The Rapporteur notes also the findings in the evaluation that point at possible areas of improvement of the legislation especially in terms of enhanced protection of ecosystems and human health from risks posed by chemical pollutants as well as overcoming the implementation deficits, and it thereby welcomes how these have been translated into policy options feeding into the revised legislation text as proposed by the Commission.

Removed:The Rapporteur, therefore, sees no need for amending the unchanged parts of the respective basic acts. However, he suggests to supplement further certain segments with the purpose to ensure the legislation lives up to the challenges posed by the new and emerging substances, supports non-conventional monitoring methods to better measure the effects of chemical mixtures, enables measures for cessation of pollution, applies a precautionary principle in setting the environmental quality standards for controversial substances like glyphosate, enhances monitoring programmes in line with the polluter pays principle, and ensures effective access to justice in case of breaches of the WFD.

Removed:In this regard, the following elements are of the main concern for the Rapporteur:

Removed:Emerging and new substances

Removed:The watch lists are established for surface and groundwater pollutants of emerging and new nature as a monitoring pre-phase before those substances are listed as priority substances. Considering the fast evolving pace of chemicals that appear in the natural environment and have the potential, as pollutants, to cause significant risks to human health and the aquatic life, the extent of substances to appear on those watch lists should not be limited. In addition, taking into consideration the potential risks micro-plastics and antimicrobial resistance genes, both as emerging substances, present to human health, a deadline should be determined for identifying suitable monitoring methods for those substances in order to include those substances on the watch lists.

Removed:EBM

Removed:The Rapporteur supports the intent to deploy advanced monitoring methods like the effect-based monitoring (EBM) which is more efficient in determining the impact of complex mixtures of chemicals on water quality. However, considering that important advancement have already been made in applying these methods and that under the present revision further comparison between this new methodology and the conventional ones is expected to determine the EBM as a reliable screening method, the Rapporteur suggests specific provisions that will enable extension and application of the EBM also to additional groups of substances whose combined effects of toxicants co-occurring in the environment shall be assessed and trigger values established using the effect-based monitoring methods.

Removed:EQS for glyphosate

Removed:Glyphosate is the most frequently used herbicide within the Union for agricultural use. As an active substance it has raised serious concerns in terms of its impact on human health and aquatic toxicity. The market authorisation for glyphosate has been temporarily extended until December 2023, while the European Food Safety Authority is about to release a complex and thorough reassessment of this active substance in July 2023. Various recent scientific studies emphasize the introduction of an EQS that is considerably lower than the threshold value determined in the amending Directive. Taking into consideration these circumstances and with the purpose to ensure the good chemical status of the majority of Union waters, the following EQS for glyphosate should be adopted based on a precautionary principle: a common and unified AA-EQS of 0,1 μg/L for inland surface waters; AA-EQS of 0,01 μg/L for other surface waters.

Removed:Phase-out of priority hazardous substances

Removed:The Rapporteur sees revoking the current provision in the Article 16(6) WFD on the 20-year deadline for the phase-out of priority hazardous substances as an unnecessary backtrack. The Rapporteur is confident that the phasing out obligation is one of the main objectives of the WFD and it is only enforceable if it is linked to a clear deadline. The provision as such should therefore remain intact.

Removed:Extended producer responsibility

Removed:Introducing the provision on extended producer responsibility would, similarly to the one included already in the Urban Waste Water Directive, ensure the respective legislation lives up to the polluter pays principle particularly when it comes to financing of monitoring programmes, which, for the time being, rest solely on the national budgets. The application of such a provision is relevant furthermore, when it comes to providing monitoring for emerging and new pollutants as well as in deploying more advanced and non-conventional monitoring methods.

Removed:Access to justice

Removed:The Rapporteur proposes to enhance the provision on access to justice in environmental matters by concretely defining this right within the relevant legislation and thereby ensuring national courts across the Union abide by this provision making possible for the applicants to be able to rely on national laws when challenging decisions by public authorities that are in breach of the WFD. Such an endeavour would contribute to the actual implementation of the Commission’s commitments, under its communication from 14 October 2020 on improving access to justice in environmental matters, to take action to improve access to justice before national courts in all Member States for citizens and environmental NGOs who have specific concerns about the compatibility with environmental law of administrative acts with effects on the environment.