A step was taken on Wednesday 18 December towards the adoption of European legislation that will both save water and promote the circular economy.
The Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) approved the provisional Interinstitutional Agreement reached on 3 December on the Regulation on the safe reuse of urban waste water for agricultural irrigation purposes (see EUROPE 12382/6).
Once confirmed by Parliament, the Regulation can be adopted next year under the Croatian Presidency.
It contains strict requirements for the quality of reclaimed water and its monitoring to ensure that human and animal health as well as the environment are protected. It will be up to the Commission to assess whether the minimum requirements for treated water should be reviewed in the light of the implementation of this Regulation and technical and scientific progress.
Urban waste water, which has already undergone certain treatments under the rules of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, will be subjected to further treatment to meet the new minimum quality parameters and thus become suitable for use in agriculture.
One of the key elements of the compromise, on which the negotiators eventually agreed, is Article 2 (2), which gives Member States flexibility. Thus, those who consider that water reuse is not appropriate in one or more of their river basin districts will be able to make their decision taking into account the four listed criteria, and not all criteria.
The Regulation also provides that Member States will be free to reuse reclaimed and treated water for industrial, amenity-related or environmental purposes.
In addition, the Finnish Presidency obtained from Coreper a revised mandate for the fifth ‘trilogue’ on reshaping the Drinking Water Directive, which was to take place on Wednesday 18 December in the evening, (see EUROPE 12385/16). The Finnish Presidency was hoping for an agreement. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)