Roswall: Implementation Water Resilience Strategy on track

The implementation of the Water Resilience Strategy, which was presented in June last year, is on track. This was stated by European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall on 25 June during the Environment Council in Luxembourg. During the meeting, representatives of national governments from all EU Member States gathered to discuss the progress of the Water Resilience Strategy.

During her speech (video 12:17–12:21), Roswall said that significant progress is being made on the three main objectives of the Water Resilience Strategy. First, the Commissioner highlighted the objective of reducing water use by 10% by 2030. “Work is well underway. Methodologies are being developed and benchmarks are being made and we have noticed there are many differences between Member States.”

Digitalisation

Progress has also been made on the second objective, digitalisation. “A call for evidence on digitalisation closed on 24 June. The European Commission is now investigating ‘how we can best support measures and solutions that actually work on the ground’. Roswall emphasized that ‘we must unlock the full potential of modern technologies in support of more sustainable water management’.

Finance and investment

Another key instrument to improve water resilience in the EU is finance and investment. “Many Member States have now prioritised water investments in their mid-term cohesion policy programmes, with €3.1 billion allocated. The European Investment Bank (EIB) water programme has allocated €5 billion in 2025.” Roswall said it is well understood that public investment alone will not be sufficient. She announced that the European Commission will launch a Water Resilience Investment Accelerator to support pilot projects.

Four Member States against reopening Water Framework Directive

During the meeting, all Member States were given the opportunity to contribute to the debate. France, Spain, Hungary and Denmark voiced their opposition to the Commission’s intention to revise the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and announced that they would send a non-paper to Roswall. According to these four Member States, the Water Framework Directive already provides sufficient flexibility to allow mining projects within the existing legal framework.

Guidance document is sufficient

The European association of water service providers, EurEau, supports the initiative of the four Member States. According to EurEau, the publication of the guidance clarifying European water legislation last month demonstrated that a revision of the WFD is unnecessary. If the Directive were to be reopened, it could weaken water protection standards and shift costs from polluters to taxpayers and water consumers, without addressing the real bottlenecks.

Broad oppostion

This summer, the European Commission will present a proposal to adapt the Water Framework Directive (WFD) to facilitate mining activities. This plan is facing a broad opposition and calls to leave the recently revised WFD unchanged are growing louder. Members of the European Parliament, environmental organisations, citizens, water sector umbrella organisations, four Member States, and numerous individuals are raising concerns.