The plan lacks mandatory targets and dedicated funding to address pollution

At a glance

  • The European Commission’s strategy to tackle pollution from forever chemicals in water resources reaffirms the polluter pays principle but does not propose any enforcement mechanism

  • Experts say the strategy focuses on the remediation and clean-up of waterways, rather than on preventing the use of harmful chemicals at source

  • The EU executive has also announced an Ocean Pact to support the rollout of offshore wind and ocean energy technologies

The plan published by the European Commission on Tuesday aimed at improving the EU’s management of its water resources does not include preventive measures against pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

In her political guidelines for the current legislative cycle (2024–29), commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she intends to provide “clarity” on “forever chemicals”. EU experts are reviewing the use of PFAS under the bloc’s main chemical regulation — Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (Reach).

“We are disappointed by the absence of concrete actions on pollution prevention, which is essential for safeguarding water at its source,” says Natural Mineral Waters Europe secretary-general Patricia Fosselard. This is particularly true for pollution from persistent chemicals such as PFAS, the industry association adds.

The European Water Resilience Strategy seeks to maintain clean and affordable water in the face of more frequent extreme weather events, such as sudden floods, prolonged droughts and violent forest fires on account of climate change.

The plan proposes a series of voluntary measures, such as improving water retention on land, reducing water consumption, and addressing pollutants in drinking water, including PFAS.

The commission says the clean-up of forever chemicals should be based on the polluter pays principle, with public money only used to clean up “orphan sites where no liable entity could be found”.

Cleaning up PFAS is expensive. In the US, lawsuits alleging PFAS contamination have reached settlements amounting to billions of dollars, with disputes over liability for past pollution expected to rise.

To reduce the financial burden, the commission intends to promote PFAS remediation efforts through innovative technologies, which it says will be announced in its upcoming bioeconomy strategy, set to be adopted by the end of the year.

We are disappointed by the absence of concrete actions on pollution prevention, which is essential for safeguarding water at its source

Patricia Fosselard, NMWE

It also aims to establish a public-private initiative to find “feasible and affordable methods for the detection and remediation of PFAS and other persistent chemicals”. However, the initiative is dependent on whether private partners are found that are willing to invest alongside the EU.

The NMWE says the public-private initiative is a corrective rather than a preventive measure. Environmental non-profits have voiced a similar concern. Measures to address PFAS in water resources should also tackle upstream prevention by, for example, restricting their use in pesticides and fertilisers, argues the non-profit Living Rivers Europe.

It urges the commission to reinforce the polluter pays principle and to require polluting industries to bear the costs of monitoring, treating and repairing the damage caused by these chemicals, rather than placing the burden on water service providers or taxpayers.

Effective implementation

One of the main pillars of the strategy is to encourage member states to better implement and enforce existing EU water legislation, such as the legally binding Water Framework Directive and the Flood Management Directive.

The commission also says it will aim to improve water efficiency in the bloc by at least 10 per cent until 2030, but adds that member states can set their own targets “based on their territorial and national circumstances”.

Living Rivers Europe says this target is weak as it is not underpinned by a baseline, sectoral road map or enforcement mechanism.

While the strategy does not allocate specific financing or incentives to attract private capital, the commission says it will increase available cohesion policy funds for water projects and adopt a road map for nature credits.

Meanwhile, the commission says organic farming and agro-ecological approaches that retain water in the soil are set to be incentivised under its “vision for agriculture and food”.

Separately, the European Investment Bank will launch a water programme and sustainable water advisory facility, which will be able to rely on €15bn in planned financing from 2025 to 2027. 

Ocean Pact

Ahead of the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, the commission released its long-awaited Ocean Pact on June 5.

The pact is in response to “the fragmentation of policies” that has significantly reduced their impact, says EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis.

In addition to restoring the health of the world’s oceans, the pact also aims to spur an EU sustainable blue economy, targeting sectors such as shipping, tourism, fisheries and energy, including offshore wind and ocean energy technologies.

It will also be accompanied by an industrial maritime strategy and an EU ports strategy, whose publication date is yet to be announced

The commission says it intends to present an Ocean Act in 2027 based on the plan’s objectives, which should assist with implementation “while cutting red tape”.