06/10/23 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 5 October, EurEau, which represents 37 associations of public and private water service providers in 32 European countries, had a mixed reaction to the European Parliament vote on the revision of the urban wastewater treatment directive (see EUROPE 13265/22), deploring in particular “a missed opportunity” for the extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme. “The ambition of EPR and the implementation of the Polluter Pays Principle have been watered down by including a co-financing model for the costs of quaternary treatment for the removal of micro-pollutants, which will lead to an increase in the water tariffs for water consumers across Europe”, commented EurEau. The organisation did, however, welcome the MEPs pragmatic approach to energy neutrality, believing that they had duly recognised “the challenges and the reality of the wastewater sector”. See the text voted in by the European Parliament: https://aeur.eu/f/8xr (AN)