The interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogues’) for the revision of the legislation on the protection of groundwater against pollution and on environmental quality standards in the field of water began on Tuesday 28 January with the first trilogue.
“We’'re continuing to fight for a cleaner, healthier planet – so let’s get started!”, said Javi Lopez (S&D, Spanish), who is the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the text.
The aim of this update of the Water Framework Directive and two daughter directives (the Groundwater Directive and the Surface Water Directive) is to revise the lists of pollutants that must be monitored and controlled (see EUROPE 13211/27).
The areas over which the European Parliament and the EU Council disagree include the scope of groundwater that has been identified as being of concern, the deadline for achieving good chemical status of groundwater and surface water (2039 for the Council, 2033 for the Parliament), the application of the ‘polluter pays’ principle for producers and sellers of products that contain polluting chemical substances, and how to regularly update the list of pollutants (see EUROPE 13538/2).
The next trilogue is due to take place in April, according to the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)