Une nouvelle stratégie pourra-t-elle améliorer la gestion de l’eau en Europe ?
Un tiers de l’Union Européenne est touché par la pénurie d’eau. La pollution de l’eau et la forte demande en eau nécessite davantage d’investissements et d’innovations.
01:14The European Water Resilience Strategy aims to reduce water pollution,
01:17prevent waste and make water accessible to all.
01:21With this strategy, the European Commission promises to help member states
01:25better implement the 2000 Water Framework Directive
01:30and three related laws.
01:32Let's hear what Europeans think about the public management
01:35of this precious common good.
01:37The day of the EU can work very much
01:41as well as the consumption.
01:43Every year we can say that we can say
01:46one or two storms in the winter.
01:48If there are not these, we will face a certain problem
01:52and there is a great possibility
01:54to fall a large percentage of our business.
01:56J'espère que mes parents ont encore de l'eau de l'eau et de l'eau de l'eau pour pouvoir vivre.
02:04Je pense qu'il y a un rapport avec le niveau de l'eau de l'eau et de parler aussi avec les personnes qui traitent de l'eau, avec ces entreprises.
02:15Euronews reporter Amandine Es will help us decode this issue.
02:20One of the main topics that the European Commission wants to address is water pollution,
02:25particularly with chemicals called PFAS or forever pollutants. What is at stake?
02:31So PFAS are substances dubbed forever pollutants because they don't easily break down
02:36so they tend to accumulate over time in the environment.
02:39and the problem is that research has shown that exposure to certain types of PFAS causes serious health problems.
02:47So the Commission is planning to launch a public-private partnership to support innovation
02:52to clean up pollution from PFAS and other chemicals.
02:56The polluter pays principle will be applied so it means that public funding would be used only for the sites
03:03where it has not been possible to identify who is responsible for the pollution.
03:08Industry and agriculture are two sectors that use a lot of fresh water and also contribute to water pollution with chemicals.
03:16So will the strategy address those problems?
03:20So when it comes to water quantity, the Commission is calling Member States to improve water efficiency by at least 10% by 2030.
03:29So for instance in the agriculture sector, water efficiency could be improved through precision farming, drip irrigation,
03:36water reuse or by using more climate-resistant crops according to the strategy.
03:42And when it comes to the industry, the Commission is for instance looking at the water consumption of data centers
03:48and it's also planning to launch another public-private partnership to develop innovative methods for dry cooling.
03:57NGOs and Europe's Green Party say that this strategy is far from giving concrete answers to the problems.
04:04What are they suggesting to be done?
04:06So it's important to keep in mind that the Greens and some NGOs have criticized this strategy for lacking clear legal requirements
04:14since it is non-binding and for not providing dedicated funding. So that's one point.
04:19Second, they are stressing that it fails to tackle pollution at source. So they are calling for strict management of fertilizers and chemicals.
04:29According to the European Commission, around 55 billion euros is spent on water investments across Europe,
04:36but there's an annual gap of 23 billion euros to solve the problems.
04:40To address this gap, the EU's executive will allocate the larger share of the cohesion funds, which are intended for less wealthy regions, to water management.
04:50In addition, the European Investment Bank will launch a new program.
04:5415 billion euros will be available over the period between 2025 and 2027, and it aims to attract a further 25 billion euros from commercial investors.
05:05Our guest is Hildegard Bentele from Centre-Right EPP Group, who shares the MEP Water Group at the European Parliament.
05:14Welcome to EuroNews.
05:15One of the few concrete aspects of the European Water Resilience Strategy is increasing investment through the cohesion funds and the European Investment Bank.
05:27Will that money be enough?
05:29Well, we'll see, because the negotiations for the budget have just started.
05:34So it's important to have the priorities here, and everybody knows about the emergency and about the needs of investment into the sector.
05:44We have the figures so we can react with the budget and better use, as you said, the cohesion policy,
05:50because we have seen that funds have not been used even for investment, so we have to think about it.
05:57The European Commission proposes voluntary targets to improve water efficiency by 10% by 2030, but there is not a roadmap or an implementation mechanism foreseen, so isn't this just good intentions?
06:13It is a good intention, and it's also, I would say, a little bit modest, because 10% is not a lot, but at least it's on the agenda.
06:21And I think we can do more also, for example, through public procurement.
06:26If we prescribe that water efficient technologies have to be used, we have to take it serious, because the cheapest way to save money is to become more efficient.
06:38But first of all, we have to become more transparent, because people don't know how much water they waste, how much water they use in their households.
06:46Shouldn't also more concrete measures be foreseen, and even sanctions for less proactive member states, in terms of preventing and recovering from water-related disasters, whether droughts or floods.
07:03We have, for example, the Water Framework Directive, and this is legislation.
07:07If you do not comply with legislation, we could sanction there, because if member states don't meet the targets of legislation, they should be sanctioned.
07:14And we have a backlog. We haven't seen a lot of progress in the last 20 years, so we have to become faster.
07:21And I would also see that the Commission is getting more rigid on that in the coming years, also with the strategy.
07:27The European Commission is focusing on improving infrastructure and technological innovation.
07:34But environmentalists say that we need to protect nature more.
07:38They suggest that water management should include protection of moors and wetlands, as well as reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
07:48EU Decoded will continue to follow water protection efforts in Europe. Stay tuned.
