In the early morning hours on Tuesday 3 December, the European Parliament and EU Council negotiators reached an interim Interinstitutional Agreement on the future Regulation which will establish minimum standards for the safe reuse of urban waste water for agricultural irrigation.
The text still needs to be consolidated and submitted to the Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on 18 December before it can be endorsed by the EU Council. This agreement, which was reached at the height of COP25, was welcomed by the Finnish Presidency as a step forward in the sustainable management of water resources.
Under the new legislation, treated urban wastewaters, which have already undergone certain treatments under the rules of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, would be subjected to further treatment to meet the new minimum quality parameters and thus become suitable for use in agriculture.
Also planned: - harmonised minimum monitoring requirements; - risk management provisions to assess and address potential additional health risks and possible environmental risks; - a permitting procedure and provisions on transparency, whereby key information about any water reuse project would be made publicly available.
“We have defined, for the first time, harmonised requirements at European level for the reuse of reclaimed water for agricultural purposes, strengthening the safety of food products marketed in the EU and adding an important element for the transition to a circular economy”, said Simona Bonafè (S&D, Italy), Parliament negotiator.
“We are equipping the EU with a powerful tool to tackle some of the challenges posed by climate change. Together with water savings and efficiency measures, the use of reclaimed water in the agriculture sector can play an important part in addressing water stress and drought, while fully guaranteeing the safety of our citizens”, commented European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)