EU policies are failing to ensure sustainable water use by farmers, according to a report by the EU Court of Auditors published on Tuesday 28 September.
The impact of agriculture on water resources is undeniable. However, too many derogations from EU water policy are granted to farmers and run counter to efforts to ensure sustainable water use, say the auditors. Furthermore, the measures taken within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) too often encourage more consumption rather than better consumption.
Joëlle Elvinger, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the report, admitted at a press conference that EU farmers have reduced their water consumption by 28% compared to 1990. “But even with this 28% reduction, the volume of water used by agriculture is still unsustainable”.
Ms Elvinger considered that some Member States have made more progress than others in complying with the Water Framework Directive from 2000, which aims to achieve good quantitative status for all water bodies across the EU.
“EU support for agriculture is not aligned with the EU’s water policy objectives”, affirmed the court member. “EU policies, in their current form, cannot ensure that farmers use water sustainably”, Ms Elvinger added.
Farmers are major consumers of freshwater: a quarter of water abstraction in the EU comes from agriculture. Agricultural activities affect both water quality (due to pollution from fertilisers or pesticides) and water quantity.
Numerous derogations. The report stigmatises the derogations for water catchments granted by Member States for agricultural purposes. The auditors found that these derogations are generously granted to farmers, including in water-stressed areas. Furthermore, some national authorities rarely sanction the illegal use of water that they detect. The auditors lamented that the water consumption billed to farmers often does not correspond to the volume actually used.
CAP aid. Under the CAP, the payment of EU aid to farmers is generally not conditional on the fulfilment of obligations that promote water efficiency. Some payments support water-intensive crops such as rice, nuts and fruit and vegetables, without geographical restrictions, and therefore also in water-stressed areas. Moreover, the CAP cross-compliance mechanism (making payments conditional on compliance with certain environmental obligations) has little effect, the auditors found.
Furthermore, upgrading existing irrigation systems does not always result in saving water resources, as the water saved can be reused for irrigation of either crops requiring larger quantities of water or a larger area.
Thus, the auditors consider that, in general, the EU has undoubtedly financed farms and projects that do not respect the principle of sustainable water use. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)