Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive: a decision to revise after 30 years of operation

photo: Rebecca Bliklen

On January 29, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU signed a political agreement on the European Commission's proposal to revise the Urban Wastewater Directive. The revision of the Directive will significantly strengthen the protection of human health and the environment from harmful discharges of urban wastewater, new standards will be applied to micropollutants. The Directive will now apply to more areas, as it will also cover smaller agglomerations with a population of 1,000 or more inhabitants.

According to the "polluter pays" principle, the new law ensures that protection costs will be partially covered by the responsible industry, not by water tariffs or the state budget. In addition, it will encourage the wastewater sector to be energy and climate neutral. It will also improve wastewater management, which is becoming increasingly important given the increase in precipitation due to climate change.

Most importantly, the updated Directive will ensure access to sanitation in public places for two million of the most vulnerable and marginalized people in the EU. This is in line with the recently adopted revised Drinking Water Directive, which requires access to water for everyone.

We'll remind that the European Commission adopted a proposal to revise the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive on October 26, 2022. The Directive is a key element of the European Green Deal and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

In general, the 1991 Directive has been implemented in all EU Member States. However, after more than 30 years of existence, the Directive needed a general revision to take into account new sources of urban pollution that have now started to prevail (e.g. smaller cities, decentralized facilities or wastewater). New pollutants such as microplastics or pharmaceuticals and cosmetics have also emerged.

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU must now formally adopt the new Directive before it enters into force 20 days after publication in the EU's Official Journal. After that, Member States will need to start working on implementing the requirements and submit the first updated national implementation programs in 2026.