Negotiators in the European Parliament and the EU Council have not concluded their work on the rewriting of the Drinking Water Directive (1998 Directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption), although the second meeting for interinstitutional negotiations took place in a constructive atmosphere (see EUROPE 12355/10).
The national ambassadors to the EU, meeting in Coreper, were briefed on Friday 25 October and approved the planned next steps to make progress on the revision of a text aimed at providing access to clean and safe water for all, in response to the ‘Right2water’ European citizens' initiative.
This second trilogue, devoted solely to water quality parameters, was not conclusive, particularly with regard to endocrine disrupters and microplastics, as well as the monitoring of these parameters.
The next trilogue has been confirmed for 19 November, but by then, a lot of work will have to be done at the technical level, which will require at least two meetings of the Environmental Working Group to accelerate progress.
The EU Council wishes to stick to international recommendations. WHO does not consider endocrine disrupters to be a factor that must be monitored for tap water quality, given the absence of scientific certainty, at this stage, on the danger they pose to humans.
It recommends that they be added to a watch list, which would be regularly reviewed by the Commission on the basis of scientific data demonstrating the need or recommendation for monitoring. Parliament, for its part, wishes not only to tighten the threshold values for certain endocrine disrupters (bisphenol A and beta-estradiol), but also to add them to the list of substances subject to monitoring as of now. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)