The trouble is, it’s not working. According to the EEA’s State of the Water report last year, nitrate levels in groundwater have remained the same since the beginning of the century. For surface water there was a small improvement at first, but over the last 15-odd years progress has stalled.

Ask experts why it’s not working and you get a range of answers. Some blame exemptions granted to countries. Others blame rule-breaking by farmers and poor enforcement by member countries. Others say the rules simply aren’t strong enough.

Caroline Whalley, manager of water industries and pollution at the EEA, says pollution from agriculture is by its nature difficult to monitor and control.

“When you’ve got a pipe coming out of a factory and you’ve got a pollutant that comes from that factory, you can say, ‘Do something about it.’” she said. “But things like nitrates and pesticide are spread on the land. Some farmers may be doing a great job. Some areas may not be very susceptible to pollution … and in other areas … it’s very difficult to say, ‘It was you!’ because with nitrate everyone is using it. It’s very difficult to identify an owner.”

Sara Johansson, a water expert at the European Environmental Bureau NGO, says poor implementation is a key problem, as is the EU’s willingness to grant exemptions — or “derogations” in Brussels jargon — to certain countries that request them, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Denmark, she says, has said it will no longer seek derogations. But Ireland and the Netherlands “are fiercely holding onto their derogations and renewing them. But they are also trying to find a way to get round the rules so they can continue keeping unsustainably high livestock numbers.” The Netherlands, a nitrate-pollution hotspot, last month announced it would push back its nitrogen targets by five years, in defiance of EU law.

The European Commission said on Friday it would axe a law designed to outlaw unfounded claims about the environmental or climate friendliness of companies or their products, in line with a demand from the centre-right European People’s Party.

The legislation, known as the Green Claims Directive, was proposed in 2023 and intended prevent companies from making unsubstantiated assertions about their carbon footprint and other environmental impacts.

“The Commission intends to withdraw the green claims proposal,” said a spokesperson for the executive on Friday, without elaborating a reason, just days before final informal talks to conclude the law were scheduled to take place.

On Wednesday, the centre-right EPP group told the executive to kill the law, as Euractiv reported. The demand was later echoed by the nationalist ECR.

The law was long opposed by business groups, who complained of increased administrative work, and faced hefty fines if caught ‘greenwashing’ if the law were to be adopted in line with the demands of environmental groups and progressive MEPs.

“Industry, environmental, and consumer organisations have all criticised the proposal, which lacks an impact assessment and contradicts the core principle of better regulation,” said centre-right EPP lawmaker Arba Kokalari in a statement.

It is the prerogative of the European Commission to propose EU legislation, and it can withdraw a bill at any moment, even if governments and MEPs are close to agreeing a final text.

The final round of talks on the Green Claims Directive was scheduled for 23 June, but the EPP had vowed to reject the legislation whatever the outcome.

(rh/om)

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The European Commission plans to launch a vast operation to clean up PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), also known as “forever chemicals” in water through the creation of public-private partnerships.

These were the conclusions of the European Water Resilience Strategy, adopted on Wednesday in Brussels.

In 2022, out of 1,300 monitoring sites in Europe, 59% of rivers, 35% of lakes and 73% of coastal waters exceeded the environmental quality standard for perfluorooctanesulphonic acid (PFOS), a type of PFAS, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).

In Europe, only 37% of surface waters are in good or very good ecological health and 29% have achieved good chemical status, according to the agency.

Environmental associations, which are campaigning for a ban on PFAS at the source, are denouncing this as a “missed opportunity”.

“We expected to see more ambition to reduce pollution at the source,” said Angeliki Lyssimachou, head of science and policy at the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe.

‘Forever chemicals’

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they don’t easily break down in the environment and accumulate in humans and animals over time.

Health costs are estimated at €52 to €84 billion a year and some of the chemicals have been classified as carcinogenic.

These chemical compounds are non-stick, waterproof and resistant to high temperatures. They are also present in many everyday items such as non-stick frying pans, fire-fighting foams and medical devices.

Jessika Roswall, the European Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resilience said she was in favour of banning PFAS in consumer products such as cosmetics and food packaging. However, she stressed that it would be difficult to ban all PFASs, as some do not yet have an effective alternative.

“The problem is that we need PFASs for many different products. For example, medical products like inhalers (…) or many things for which there is no substitution. In terms of the ecological transition, semiconductors, digitisation or the defence industry,” Roswall told Euronews.

In a leaked document, the Commission’s estimated range for the annual cost of PFAS decontamination in Europe was wide, at anywhere from €5 all the way to €100 billion. For the water sector alone, the cost could increase to up to €18 billion annually for drinking water treatment.

For some pollutants, such as TFA (trifluoroacetic acid, a type of PFAS), the clean-up is not so simple.

“According to the water companies, it’s a very expensive process that involves extracting all the minerals from the water and adding them back. At the end of the day, you’re going to lose a lot of water,” says Angeliki Lyssimachou. “So you’re going to consume a lot more energy.

The Commission wants to apply the “polluter pays” principle and reserve public funding for sites where it has not been possible to identify who is responsible.

European strategy

The European Water Resilience Strategy aims to restore the water cycle and ensure access to clean, affordable water at a time when Europe is facing extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. 34% of the EU is affected by water shortages.

“Water is life. Water resilience is essential for our citizens, our farmers, the environment and businesses. The Commission’s Water Resilience Strategy sets out the path towards a sustainable, resilient, smart and competitive water economy. We must act now to protect this resource,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement.

The European action plan also includes raising awareness for these issues through public debates, increasing European funding for infrastructure modernisation, supporting digitisation through the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation programme, and supporting innovation.

Air pollution emissions have declined in the last two decades, resulting in better air quality. Between 2005 and 2022, the number of deaths in the EU attributable to PM 2.5 fell by 45%, moving the EU closer to achieving the 55% reduction target outlined in the zero pollution action plan for 2030. Despite this improvement, air pollution remains the largest environmental health risk in Europe. Exposure to fine particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide levels above the World Health Organization recommendations cause an estimated 239,000, 70,000 and 48,000 premature deaths, respectively, in 2022. These pollutants are linked to asthma, heart disease and stroke.

Air pollution also causes morbidity. People live with diseases related to exposure to air pollution; this is a burden in terms of personal suffering as well as significant costs to the healthcare sector.

Society’s most vulnerable are more susceptible to air pollution impacts. Lower socio-economic groups tend to be exposed to higher levels of air pollution, while older people, children and those with pre-existing health conditions are more susceptible. Over 1,200 deaths in people under 18 years of age are estimated to be caused by air pollution every year in EEA member and collaborating countries.

Besides health issues, air pollution can considerably impact Europe’s economy due to increased healthcare costs, reduced life expectancy, and lost working days across sectors. It also damages vegetation and ecosystems, water and soil quality, and local ecosystems.

Europe’s bathing waters safe for summer swimming Press release Image photy by Karli Cumber on Unsplash

From Europe’s coastal waters to its inland bathing sites, a large majority of Europe’s waters are safe to swim in, according to the latest European bathing water assessment for the 2024 bathing season, published today. It found that over 85% of monitored locations met the European Union’s most stringent ‘excellent’ bathing water quality standards last year, while 96% of all officially identified bathing waters in the EU met the minimum quality standards.

The assessment and the interactive map, put together by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the European Commission, highlight where swimmers can find well managed bathing sites in Europe. The assessment inspects water suitability for bathing, focusing on monitoring bacteria which can cause potentially serious illnesses. Overall, over 22,000 bathing water sites across all 27 EU Member States, plus Albania and Switzerland were assessed. In five countries — Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria and Croatia — 95% or more of bathing waters were of excellent quality. Only 1.5% of the EU’s bathing waters were found to be of poor quality.

The quality of coastal bathing waters is generally better than that of rivers and lakes. In 2024, around 89% of coastal bathing waters in the EU were classified as excellent, compared with 78% of inland bathing waters.

Enjoying time at the beach or swimming in lakes and rivers is for many a symbol of holidays and relaxation, as we look forward to the approaching summer. The results published today show that Europeans can confidently bathe in the vast majority of the EU’s bathing sites that meet the EU’s bathing quality standards. I am committed to continuing to work to ensure high quality water for people and the environment, as part of our EU Water Resilience Strategy. Jessika Roswall,

Commissioner for Environment,

Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy

We can all be glad that a vast majority of our bathing waters are clean enough to swim in. This is thanks to systematic work under EU rules which has steadily improved the health of our waters. It shows that monitoring and coordination at the European level benefits every one of us. Of course, there is more to do to improve the cleanliness of our waters and their resilience to withstand new challenges posed by climate change and over-use. Leena Ylä-Mononen,

EEA Executive Director

Steady improvements over recent decades

Bathing water quality in Europe has improved markedly over recent decades largely thanks to EU legislation. The combined effect of systematic bacteriological monitoring pursuant to the EU’s Bathing Water Directive and large investments in urban wastewater treatment plants led to a drastic reduction in pathogens that were previously being released. Thanks to these continued efforts, bathing is now also possible in many urban areas.

While most of Europe’s bathing waters are in excellent condition from a bacteriological perspective, chemical pollution of surface and groundwaters remains significant and may be exacerbated by the changing climate. Improving water resilience for people and for the environment is therefore crucial.

Other challenges to water quality like toxic cyanobacterial blooms, which are not part of monitoring prescribed by EU bathing water rules, frequently result in bathing warnings and restrictions.

Background

Overall water quality is monitored and assessed under the EU’s Water Framework Directive and covers a broad spectrum of chemical pollutants in surface and groundwater. Chemical pollutants are not covered by bathing water monitoring even when they exceed legal thresholds that are in place to prevent environmental damage.

The assessment for today’s briefing is based on the monitoring of bathing sites across Europe that were reported to the EEA for the 2024 season. This includes sites in all EU Member States, Albania and Switzerland.

Alongside this year’s Bathing Water Briefing, the EEA has also released an updated interactive map showing the performance of each bathing site. Updated country fact sheets are also available, as well as more information on the implementation of the Directive in assessed countries.

For more information