Evaluation of EU legislation on urban waste water treatment finds that it is fit for purpose but its effectiveness could be improved

The evaluation assessed whether the almost 30 year old Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive is still fit for purpose. This was done by examining its performance against five criteria set out in the Commission’s Better Regulation agenda: effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value.

The findings of the Evaluation draw on the results of an extensive consultation process with stakeholders and the public, an extensive modelling exercise carried out by the Joint Research Centre, the work by the European Environment Agency and a support study including a large literature review, and other sources. The Evaluation was carried out in parallel to the Fitness Check of the Water Framework Directive and the Floods Directive.

The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (Directive 91/271/EEC) has the important objective of protecting citizens and the environment from adverse effects of waste water discharges from urban areas and certain industrial sectors. Findings of both the Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency demonstrate that its implementation has resulted in an improved aquatic environment in the EU by decreasing nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to rivers and seas by 32% and 44 % respectively. It is now important to address remaining pollution from storm water overflows, small agglomerations and other sources, as well as address under-performing individual waste water systems.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries: “The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive is generally strong EU legislation that has led to visible improvements to our water bodies. Now it is time to deal with the remaining pollution that is not yet sufficiently addressed by this Directive. As also identified in the recent Water Fitness Check, we need to find ways to deal with contaminants of emerging concern such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics that reach our water bodies – often through disposal by households - but also through urban runoff or industrial emissions.”

The Evaluation shows that, although the Directive is expensive to implement, the benefits clearly outweigh the costs. EU Member States struggling with its implementation have received technical support and substantial EU funding to reach compliance, through the delivery of infrastructure, whilst avoiding water affordability issues. Since the Directive was introduced, EUR 38.8 billion of Cohesion funding has been allocated to the waste water sector. Implementing this Directive moreover continues to be essential to support meeting the objectives of other EU legislation, including the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. It also forms a strong base for EU business leadership, with 8 of the 15 biggest global water companies being based in the EU.

The fitness check identifies outstanding issues that should be addressed. The rate of implementation needs to improve to increase compliance levels in a number of Member States. Storm water overflows are a significant pressure on water bodies and, with further urbanisation and climate change effects, will be an increasingly important source of pollution. Individual and other non-centralised collection systems can be an environmental issue if unmonitored or unmanaged. Small agglomerations or non-connected dwellings are a significant pressure on 11% of the EU’s surface water bodies.

As well as these gaps, the Directive – given that it came into force in 1991 – does not adequately deal with emerging concerns such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics, that often reach water bodies through the waste water system; this weakness was previously identified in the Strategic Approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment and the Plastics Strategy. The analyses also show that the waste water sector is capable of contributing further to reaching EU-wide climate and energy targets. The waste water treatment sector uses 0.8% of all EU energy consumption. At the same time there are already treatment plants that are energy neutral or energy producing. In addition, there is potential to align the Directive better with the circular economy through improved resource recovery.

A last and important focus is on the reporting and information to the public requirements of the Directive and how they are implemented at Member State level. These requirements are now rather outdated, and there is a real opportunity to deliver data and messages more efficiently and effectively.