EurEau newsletter - edition 11- February 2017
EurEau newsletter - edition 11- February 2017
EurEau Committees - winter meetings
February was a highly busy month for EurEau experts and the EurEau Secretariat.
The EurEau Committee on Drinking Water met in Lausanne, Switzerland at the beginning of the month. Our experts dicussed the upcoming revision of the DWD, materials and products in contact with drinking water and other issues such as agriculture and the challeges of climate change. Highlights of the meetings were the workshop on on Annex I of the Drinking Water Directive ‘Quality Parameters’, and a presentation from the Swiss Water Association VSA on their micropollutants action plan. Thanks to SVGW for organising this meeting, and the municipality of Lausanne.
The EurEau experts on Economic and Legal Affairs were warmly welcomed in Nis, Serbia, by the local water company Naissus. In this very productive meeting we discussed the need for investments in the water sector, water services governance, economic and regulatory issues linked to climate change and the implementation of the sustainable development goals.
EU2 (Waste Water) met in January.
The Maltese presidency of the Council of the EU
will organise a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean in April where they aim at adopting a Water Strategy for the Mediterranean. In the same month they will organise an informal meeting of the Ministers of the Environment of the Council of the EU where they will address climate change adaptation, ocean governance and environmental policy, environmental issues such as marine litter and the new plastic strategy in the wider context of the circular economy.
Drinking Water Directive: workshop on materials and products in contact with drinking water
The 3rd Symposium on material and products in contact with drinking water will be co-organised by EurEau and held in Brussels on 18 May 2017. Dr Claudia Castell-Exner will present for EurEau at this meeting. is the programme and the information to register.
Micropollutants
The European Commission published a roadmap on the ‘Analysis of the interface between chemicals, products and waste legislation and identification of policy options’. It will feed in the upcoming Strategy for a non-toxic environment expected by 2018. You can find it .
Another roadmap looking, inter alia, at microplastics was published concerning a ‘Strategy on Plastics in a Circular Economy’. It is available .
A , to which EurEau will submit its views, is also open on a ‘One Health Action Plan to support Member States in the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)’. The deadline is 28 April 2017.
A Communication from the Commission on ‘An Action Plan for nature, people and the economy’ is available
Common Agricultural Policy
The European Commission issued a roadmap on the on ‘Modernising and Simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy’.
A , to which EurEau will answer, is also open for stakeholders and citizens to submit their views by the 2nd May.
Circular Economy
Related to Water Reuse, the European Commission published the of the Joint Research Centre’s report on minimum quality requirement for water reuse in irrigation in agriculture and groundwater recharge on 3 February. The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) and the Scientific Committees Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) were consulted on this report; their opinions are expected in late Spring.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 8 March, the European Commission will hold a workshop on the open public consultation EurEau . More than 340 contributions were received. The purpose of this workshop is to share and discuss the draft analysis of the outcome of this consultation and collect additional contributions. Oliver Loebel and Bertrand Vallet from the secretariat will represent EurEau. Oliver will present our answer to the consultation as the starting point for the discussion.
Fertiliser Regulation
The reports from the and Committees were published on 2 February with a deadline for amendments on 7 March. The report from Committee was published on 14 February with a deadline for amendments on 28 March.We’re very happy to see some of our amendments in both reports. We continue to advocate our position to maximise our success on this file.
The EurEau position was published and is available on the .
Intergroup meetings
‘Water and Agriculture’ will be the topic of the next meeting of the working group of the Intergroup on climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development chaired by MEP Dantin. It will take place on Tuesday 21 March 2017 at 08.00 in the European Parliament Members Restaurant. EurEau Vice-President Dr Claudia Castell-Exner will give the water services perspective on how agricultural policy should be adapted to protect water resources.
Michel Dantin MEP hosted a meeting on ‘Water Governance Across Europe in Light of the Review of the EU Water Framework Directive’ on February 1. You can find more information about the meeting .
Environmental Implementation Review (EIR)
On 3 February the Commission adopted an . The website provides summary and detailed country reports covering all relevant environmental legislation.
Wet wipes
The wet wipes industry announced new disposal labelling code of practice. For more information see the Edana .
Roadmaps
News from members
Call to Register for the EBC’s International Benchmarking exercise 2017 - IB2016
In 2017 the European Benchmarking Co-operation organises the 11th edition of its programme of annual benchmarking exercises for drinking water- & wastewater utilities in Western Europe (IB2016). Registration is now open.
The exercises aim to assess the actual performance of drinking water- and wastewater utilities, determine strong points in which these utilities are leading and also identify performance gaps where utilities can learn from others to improve. Joining the EBC-programme is a commitment to asses, learn and improve!
This year, an interesting group of utilities from all over Europe (and beyond) is expected to participate in the exercise and join us at the annual benchmarking workshop, which will be hosted and co-organised by Water Services Corporation Malta.
Registration for the new benchmarking exercise (IB2016) is now open. More information on the exercise and the registration process can be found in the or on the website:
Out ‘n about
Bioanalytical Tools in Water: From Research to Implementation
EurEau President Bruno Tisserand opened a workshop on bioanalytical tools in water in Paris on 21-22 February.
EUROCITIES
Carla Chiaretti, from the EurEau Secretariat, is invited to share EurEau’s views with EUROCITIES’ water task-force on the developments of water policy at EU level at their meeting on the 15 March in Antwerp.
Water reuse
Oliver will be speaking at the stakeholders meeting on the outcome of the water reuse public consultation on 8 March in Brussels.
World Water Day
The UN celebrates WWD annually on March 22. This year’s theme is waste water.
AEAS encourages a treatment facility open day: The Spanish Association of Water Supply and Sanitation (AEAS) launched an initiative to encourage the urban water sector to organise an at the waste water collection and treatment facilities to inform citizens, in a practical way, on their functioning, as well as social and environmental importance.
AEAS encourages its members and all stakeholders to join this initiative to highlight the value these basic activities have for the society.
Communications and media
The EurEau Annual Report 2016 is now available. You can read it .
We published one media article and were extensively cited in two others this month. The first was written by Arne Haarr, the Chairman of our Working Group on Waste Water Resources and focussed on . We then featured in a news item about , also for EurActiv. Finally, our views were included in a piece by ENDs on.
We are finalising the ‘Water Matters’ publication that many of you contributed to. This is due for World Water Day on 22 March. Each of your organisations will receive copies to disseminate.
EurEau meets its members
On 22 February Oliver Loebel met with the Bulgarian Water Association in Sofia. Carla Chiaretti and Oliver Loebel met with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia in Belgrade on 24 February.
Events
You can see a list of events happening around Europe . The following are a selection. If you have events happening in your country, let us know, especially if you would like to get the EurEau perspective by having us represented at it!
Important dates
7 March: A public session on 'Water reuse’ will take place in the European Parliament.
7 March: Oliver Loebel will address the SME Union of the EU Parliament’s EPP group.
21 March: Intergroup breakfast meeting in the European Parliament on water and agriculture.
27 March: EurEau Vice President Dr Claudia Castell-Exner will represent EurEau at the Drinking Water expert group.
15-17 May: conference in Vienna.
18 May: Symposium on materials and products in contact with drinking water in Brussels. You can find out more .
24-26 May: AEAS - the XXXIV edition of the .
6-9 June: in Liege, Belgium.
20-22 June: IWA – conference in Trondheim June 2017
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