European Parliament to vote on Right2water in Drinking Water Directive

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(7 September 2018) On Monday the European Parliament will decide its position on  the Drinking Water Directive. This is the first legislative response to the ECI right2water. EPSU continues calling for the  full implementation of the Right to Water in the European Commission’s proposal.

While the European Parliament is set to adopt its position on Monday, heated discussion is still ongoing on two major issues: the scope of the Directive and the set of measures needed to guarantee access to safe drinking water to all European  inhabitants.  

EPSU insists that broadening the Directive’s scope is a very important if the European Parliament wants to be serious when it comes to universal access to water for all Europeans. Providing universal access to water intended for human consumption should be a key objective of the revised Directive.

Beyond the Directive’s scope, it is essential to strengthen provisions in Article 13 on access to water intended for human consumption. The European Commission, in introducing this Article into the Directive, has taken made a major step forward in realising universal access to water in Europe.  It is now in the European Parliament’s hands to turn the European Commission’s good intentions into ambitious measures. Member States must  be obliged to take all necessary measures to provide universal access to water.  Please see here a document that explains the differences between the EC proposal, the proposal of the rapporteur, MEP Dantin, and the alternative proposal of the opposition that we are supporting.

The European Parliament is now in a position to ensure universal access to safe drinking water in Europe. By doing so, it can demonstrate that the EU cares about its most vulnerable people while giving a positive feedback to the almost two million European citizens who signed the Right2Water European Citizenship Initiative.  We call upon all MEPs to support the alternative compromise amendments on Article 1 and Article 13.