On Wednesday 19 June, the Council of the European Union agreed its negotiating mandate on the updating of priority substances and environmental quality standards in surface water and groundwater.
The Priority Substances Directive will amend the Water Framework Directive and its daughter directives on “groundwater” and “environmental quality standards” (surface water).
This proposal meets the EU’s legal obligation to regularly revise the lists of pollutants that affect surface water and groundwater. Setting these environmental standards also contribute to the ambition of the ‘European Green Deal’.
New pollutants have been added to the list, including certain per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
Member States are requesting that the European Commission draw up lists of known pesticides and individual pharmaceutical products that should be monitored.
In order to better signal the progress that has been made, the EU Council wants to put an end to the “one-out-all-out” principle that states all ecological and chemical indicators should meet the quality standards set in EU legislation. Member States are therefore asking the European Commission to set indicators to “measure progress in a uniform way”.
Another area where things will become easier within the standards, is the clarification of the concept of ‘deterioration’. This is where Member States can, in relation to bodies of water that are deemed to have deteriorated, exclude “short-term activities effects without lasting consequences”, “pollution relocation within or between waterbodies ” and cases that “do not produce an overall increase in pollution”.
Several deadlines have been extended. Member States want to extend the deadline for achieving good groundwater chemical status until 2039. The European Commission and European Parliament had set a goal of 2033. Member States have also been given two years to transpose the directive, instead of the 18 months proposed by the Commission.
Finally, the EU Council is of the opinion that the relevant pollutants list of substances to be monitored should be updated according to the ordinary legislative procedure rather than by delegated acts, in order to ensure the European Commission is not able to override the wishes of Member States.
Once agreement has been reached on the negotiating mandate, discussions on the final text can begin with the European Parliament, which adopted its position on 24 April. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)