Open Letter: Preserving water resilience, preventing the weakening of the Water Framework Directive

Water resilience is a central building block of climate adaptation; it is a prerequisite to Europe’s green, digital and economic transitions, food security and the fulfilment of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS). Our organisations have been supportive of the Commission’s European Water Resilience Strategy, but water resilience cannot be achieved without strong 
legal targets to work jointly towards.

Legal stability is crucial to drive the needed efforts and investments from water users, activities impacting water quality and quantity, and public authorities, and it relies on laws being constant, clear, and predictable. The new revision of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), only a couple of months after the provisional agreement amending the WFD, Groundwater Directive and Environment Quality Standards Directive, will slow progress at a moment when decisive action is more needed than ever.

We urge the Commission to refrain from reopening or amending the Water Framework Directive (WFD). This will almost certainly result in its weakening, whereas the focus should be on accelerating its implementation and enforcement, as indicated in the Water Resilience Strategy.