The leaked draft version of the EU Water Resilience Strategy reveals a shockingly low level of ambition behind the Commission’s bold promises to promote low-input agriculture and tackle PFAS and pesticide pollution at their source. In fact, it contradicts the EU’s own legal obligations and years of work towards achieving sustainable agriculture.
“Adopting this draft is dangerous, as it effectively legitimises pesticide pollution and allows the continued contamination of our water resources with pesticide residues”, says Manon Rouby, Policy and Legal Officer at PAN Europe.
The draft proposes the following actions on agriculture, PFAS and pesticides:
- By 2030, ‘Water-saving’ measures will cover around 40% of the EU’s agricultural area, and practices for a sustainable use of pesticides and improved nutrient management will respectively cover at least 30% and 20% of the EU’s agricultural area (CAP support and CAP Strategic Plans);
- Between 2025-2026:
- include, in the next CAP, transition packages to support and reward farmers who engage in structural changes to improve their water performance,
- maximise the use of CAP Strategic Plans for water resilience through the relevant networks and better equip farmers through improved Farm Advisory Services’ capabilities;
- By 2026, launch a public-private partnership to support PFAS clean-up.
“This would be a major failure. EU law has, since 2014, required all European farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Reducing this to a mere 30% is not only dangerous, it is illegal,” adds Ms Rouby.
“We see no clear measures to phase out PFAS and tackle pollution at its source- despite the bold rhetoric. Limiting the strategy to remediation and clean-up is dangerous, as it does nothing to prevent further pollution of our water resources. We are facing a pollution crisis and see increasing levels of the forever -and reprotoxic- chemical TFA in our water. Urgent action to phase out both pesticides and PFAS is essential. Without it, Europe will fail to ensure clean water for its people, ecosystems, and future generations”.
The final version of the European Water Resilience Strategy is expected on 4 June 2025.
Read more:
- PAN Europe’s feedback to the call for evidence on Water Resilience Strategy
- PAN Europe’s work on banning PFAS pesticides and TFA
- Statement of support from over 450 scientists calling on the EU to swiftly update its water pollution standards
Contact:
- Manon Rouby, Policy Officer & Legal Adviser, manon [at] pan-europe.info, +336 43 24 33 79
- Dr Angeliki Lysimachou, Head of Science and Policy, angeliki [at] pan-europe.info, +32 496 39 29 30
- Tjerk Dalhuisen, Communications Officer, tjerk [at] pan-europe.info, +31 6 146 991 26
