Aqua Publica Europea welcomes the Commission’s decision to exclude the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD)—and especially its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) provisions—from the legislative package on environmental simplification published on 10 December. This decision provides the legal certainty needed to launch essential investments in advanced wastewater treatment to remove harmful pollutants, protect ecosystems and public health, while ensuring a fair distribution of the additional costs.

The Omnibus package, however, raises concerns in other areas. Proposals to accelerate environmental assessments and to reduce reporting requirements for some sectors under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) could make monitoring or protection from some potential sources of pollution more difficult to ensure. Simplifying procedures is beneficial, provided that it does not compromise environmental quality.

APE will monitor these developments closely to ensure that simplification does not come at the expense of environmental ambition. As the European Water Resilience Strategy itself emphasises, “Achieving water resilience will depend on enhanced implementation of the comprehensive EU water acquis.” This principle must guide the EU’s decisions moving forward as a condition for the future competitiveness of the Continent.