EU environment ministers welcome the October 2022 proposal to revise Directive 91/271/EEC on urban waste water treatment (see EUROPE 13051/2). However, their political debate at the Environment Council on Thursday 16 March showed that they are still struggling to agree on this text of the Zero Pollution Package, which is considered extremely demanding, with unrealistic timetables and considerable costs.
They thus confirmed the difficulties identified so far by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13136/3).
All ministers considered that the revision of a 30-year-old directive was welcome, to improve the protection of public health and of the environment by tackling residual pollution and emerging pollutants, such as micropollutants. They were therefore in favour of the level of ambition on which they were asked to vote, but they also pointed out that the timetables would be very difficult to honour.
Furthermore, the issue of financing the measures through an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system, which implements the ‘polluter pays’ principle for producers of pharmaceuticals and pesticides, is new in the sanitation sector, many delegations stressed, calling for clarification and an impact assessment to avoid an economic burden.
Given the scale of the investment required, many ministers have called for additional sources of funding, particularly at European level, to avoid an increase in the price of water for the end user.
The issue of energy neutrality of the wastewater treatment plant sector also poses problems.
“Certain details and the requirements of the proposed revised directive and the timetables will need to be clarified in the forthcoming technical work”, summarised Swedish Minister for the Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari, who chaired the session. She also took note of the delegations’ wish that the interaction between this future directive and other legislation be clarified and that national specificities be taken into account.
“The wastewater sector has great potential for improving energy efficiency and in the production of wind, solar and biogas. Stable sewage sludge production can provide a permanent flow of biogas that is ‘made in the EU’, reducing our dependence on gas imports. These investments will pay off very quickly”, assured the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, at the beginning of the debate.
Preempting the ministers’ concerns, he emphasised that ‘REPowerEU’ could provide some of the required funding. According to him, the pharmaceutical industry is already contributing in ten Member States to an approach that ensures long-term funding for waste water treatment to remove micropollutants “without increasing the bill for households and public finances”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)