Changes from plenary report to plenary report

AddedANNEX TO THE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

RemovedRecital 2 a (new): (2a) In line with the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 2 December 2015 entitled “Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy”, this Directive should strive to encourage water resource efficiency and sustainability, thereby meeting circular economy goals.

AddedDECLARATION BY THE COMMISSION ON DELEGATED ACTS IN THE DRINKING WATER DIRECTIVE

RemovedRecital 2 b (new): (2b) The Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS) was recognised as a human right by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 28 July 2010 and thus, access to clean, potable water should not be restricted due to unaffordability by the end user.

AddedThe Commission regrets the decision of the co-legislators to limit its empowerment to modify the annexes of the revised Drinking Water Directive to Annex III, whereas the Commission had sought an empowerment to modify Annexes I to IV in its original proposal.

RemovedRecital 2 c (new): (2c) Coherence between Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council1a and this Directive is necessary. / 1a Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1).

AddedThe Commission specifically regrets that the co-legislators did not agree on an empowerment to amend Annex II, which is particularly necessary in light of the need to update the monitoring requirements set out in Annex II to scientific and technical progress.

RemovedRecital 2 d (new): (2d) The requirements set out in this Directive should reflect the national situation and conditions of the water suppliers in the Member States.

AddedDECLARATION BY THE COMMISSION ON THE PROCEDURE OF ADOPTION OF IMPLEMENTING ACTS

RemovedRecital 3: (3) It is necessary to exclude from the scope of this Directive natural mineral waters and waters which are medicinal products, since these waters are respectively covered by Directive 2009/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council68 and Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council69. However, Directive 2009/54/EC deals with both natural mineral waters and spring waters, and only the former category should be exempted from the scope of this Directive. In accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 9(4) of Directive 2009/54/EC, spring waters should comply with the provisions of this Directive. However, that obligation should not extend to the microbiological parameters set out in Part A of Annex I to this Directive. In the case of water intended for human consumption from public water supply or private wells put into bottles or containers intended for sale or used in the commercial manufacture, preparation or treatment of food, the water should, as a matter of principle, continue to comply with the provisions of this Directive until the point of compliance, and should afterwards be considered as food, in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council70. Where applicable food safety requirements are met, competent authorities in the Member States should have the power to authorise the reuse of water in food processing industries. / 68 Directive 2009/54/EC of …

AddedThe Commission underlines that it is contrary to the letter and to the spirit of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 to invoke point (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 5(4), without proper justification. Recourse to this provision must respond to a specific need to depart from the rule of principle, which is that the Commission may adopt a draft implementing act when no opinion is delivered. Given that it is an exception to the general rule established in Article 5(4), it cannot be simply seen as a "discretionary power" of the Legislator, but must be interpreted in a restrictive manner and thus must be justified.

RemovedRecital 4: (4) Following the conclusion of the European citizens' initiative on the right to water (Right2Water)71 which called on the Union to increase its efforts to achieve universal access to water, a Union-wide public consultation was launched and a Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) Evaluation of Directive 98/83/EC was performed72 . It became apparent from that exercise that certain provisions of Directive 98/83/EC needed to be updated. Four areas were identified as offering scope for improvement, namely the list of quality-based parametric values, the limited reliance on a risk-based approach, the imprecise provisions on consumer information, and the disparities between approval systems for materials in contact with water intended for human consumption and the implications this has for human health. In addition, the European citizens' initiative on the right to water identified as a distinct problem the fact that part of the population, among vulnerable and marginalised groups, has limited or no access to affordable water intended for human consumption, which is also a commitment made under Sustainable Development Goal 6 of UN Agenda 2030. In this context, the European Parliament recognised a right of access to water intended for human consumption for all in the Union. A final issue identified is the general lack of awareness of water leakages, which are driven by underinvestment in maintenance and renewal of the water infrastructure, as also pointed out in the European C…