Filter by Themen
Abwasserbehandlung
Analytik & Hygiene
Digitalisierung
Energie
Events
Nachhaltigkeit & Umweltschutz
Netze
Wasseraufbereitung
Wassergewinnung
Wasserstress
Water Solutions
Filter by Kategorien
Advertorial
Branche
Events
Forschung & Entwicklung
Leute
News
People
Products & Solutions
Produkte & Verfahren
Publications
Publikationen
Sonstiges
Trade & Industry
Filter by Veranstaltungsschlagworte
abwasser
ACHEMA
Automatisierung
Digitalisierung
Emerging Pollutants
Energie
FDBR
Hydrologie
kanalnetze
Krankheitserreger
MSR
Spurenstoffe
Talsperren
trinkwasser
Wasser
wasseraufbereitung
wasserbau
Wassernetze
Wasserversorgung
FS Logoi

Water resources: special report about the polluter pays principle reveals inconsistency

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) recently published its Special Report ‘The Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) - Inconsistent application across EU environmental policies and actions’. It concludes that, although enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), the PPP is included in European legislative acts to varying degrees and its application remains patchy across the Union.

von | 27.07.21

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) recently published its Special Report ‘The Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) – Inconsistent application across EU environmental policies and actions’. It concludes that, although enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), the PPP is included in European legislative acts to varying degrees and its application remains patchy across the Union.

According to the ECA, the PPP ‘requires that polluters should bear the costs of their pollution including the cost of measures taken to prevent, control and remedy pollution and the costs it imposes on society’. ECA found out that polluters only partially bear the cost of contaminating our water resources, in particular when it comes to diffuse pollution.

EurEau has called for a wider implementation of the PPP for many years now. It should kick in when the Precautionary and the Control-at-Source Principles cannot fully address the release of certain pollutants in the environment.

We therefore welcome this ECA call for action. At the same time, we are encouraged to see that the European Commission is assessing the feasibility of implementing the PPP through extended producer responsibility schemes (EPR) under the future Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. This innovative approach responds to one of the ECA’s key conclusions: the need to address diffuse pollution. At the same time, making the polluters pay for extra treatment steps in waste water treatment plants (UWWTP) would ensure that households are not footing the full bill of water contamination they may not be able to control.

On the other hand, drinking water suppliers are left alone when they have to add resource- and cost-intensive treatment steps to remove nitrates, pesticides and PFAS from water resources to protect the health of water consumers. The ECA explicitly points at agriculture as the sector that pays the least for the pollution its causes. With this in mind, EurEau sees the need to implement the PPP in the Nitrates Directive and the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (currently under review).

As regards industrial pollution, the ongoing revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive should lead to the inclusion of smaller installations in its scope and strengthen polluter-pays-related provisions. If industrial installations are authorised to release industrial waste water into the urban sewer network, they should bear the costs of monitoring, extra treatment in UWWTP and remediation and management of contaminated sewage sludge.

When it comes to PFAS, only a far-reaching ban can protect our water resources from decades of contamination. The planned REACH restriction should include an EPR scheme, to make producers pay for extra treatment in drinking water works and WWTP. As a matter of example, while reverse osmosis can remove most PFAS from water, it will increase the annual drinking water bill of an average family by €100-200.

Obviously, this is not the way the ECA has in mind. The PPP should never be replaced by the water-consumer-pays principle. The ongoing revision of many water-related EU legislation offers the opportunity to provide a solid response to the ECA recommendations.

 

Jetzt Newsletter abonnieren

Stoff für Ihr Wissen, jede Woche in Ihrem Postfach.

Hier anmelden

Schwerste Flutkatastrophe in Spanien seit 30 Jahren
Schwerste Flutkatastrophe in Spanien seit 30 Jahren

Heftige Regenfälle führten in Teilen Spaniens zu einer verheerenden Flutkatastrophe: In nur einem Tag fiel so viel Niederschlag wie sonst in einem ganzen Jahr. Besonders betroffen ist die Provinz Valencia, wo mindestens 92 Menschen starben. Rettungskräfte kämpfen gegen unüberwindbare Hindernisse, während weiterhin zahlreiche Menschen vermisst werden.

mehr lesen
Stormwater Europe 2024 Exhibition & Conference
Stormwater Europe 2024 Exhibition & Conference

The Stormwater Europe 2024 Exhibition & Conference will take place on December 11-12 in Amsterdam (NL). With a focus on ‘Green Infrastructure,’ the event will give stormwater experts and environmental professionals the opportunity to explore new system solutions and discuss best management practices.

mehr lesen
New tool will allow ecosystems management on a global scale
New tool will allow ecosystems management on a global scale

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO, CH) recently announced the launch of the proof-of-concept of the Global Ecosystems Atlas, a harmonized resource dedicated to mapping and monitoring all the world’s ecosystems. According to GEO, the tool is the first of its kind and was developed to support the protection, restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems critical to addressing global environmental crises.

mehr lesen
Verbände bündeln Forderungen zum Düngegesetz
Verbände bündeln Forderungen zum Düngegesetz

Wie wir am 8. Oktober 2024 berichtet haben, liegt der aktuelle Entwurf für ein Düngegesetz seit Anfang Oktober 2024 beim Vermittlungsausschuss. An diesen richtet sich nun der Appell eines breiten Bündnisses aus Verbänden der Bereiche Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Wasserwirtschaft und einer Gewerkschaft, nach einer verursachergerechten, bürokratiearmen, umwelt- und gewässerschonenden Kompromisslösung zu suchen.

mehr lesen

Passende Firmen zum Thema:

Sie möchten die gwf Wasser + Abwasser testen

Bestellen Sie Ihr kostenloses Probeheft

Überzeugen Sie sich selbst: Gerne senden wir Ihnen die gwf Wasser + Abwasser kostenlos und unverbindlich zur Probe!

Finance Illustration 03