At 1:00 on Thursday morning, 19 December, Parliament and EU Council negotiators, assisted by the Commission, reached a provisional agreement on recasting the 1998 Drinking Water Directive to ensure access to safe tap water for all. The wish of the outgoing Finnish Presidency was therefore granted at the end of this fifth trilogue (see EUROPE B12385A16).
On the most difficult points, the compromise reached sets stricter limit values for contaminants such as lead, introduces new rules for...