On the implementation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) and risks to the security of supply of medicines

B100281/2026

European Parliament resolution on the implementation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) and risks to the security of supply of medicines

(2026/2652(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/3019 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 concerning urban wastewater treatment (the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive),

–having regard to Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in particular the ‘polluter pays’ principle,

–having regard to the Commission staff working document of 26 October 2022 entitled ‘Impact Assessment’ (SWD(2022)0541), accompanying the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning urban wastewater treatment (COM(2022)0541),

–having regard to the report of 10 December 2025 by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre entitled ‘Updated estimation of the costs of quaternary wastewater treatment in the EU’,

–having regard to the orders of the General Court in Cases T-169/25 (Cosmetics Europe v Parliament and Council) and T-158/25 (EFPIA v Parliament and Council), and in Joined Cases T-156/25, T-157/25, T-159/25 to T-168/25, T-170/25 and T-171/25, which dismissed actions brought by industry against the extended producer responsibility (EPR) provisions of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive as inadmissible owing to lack of individual concern, thereby confirming that such legal challenges do not suspend or affect the implementation of the directive,

–having regard to the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on EPR, including its policy guidance on EPR, which identifies EPR as a key tool for shifting environmental responsibility from municipalities and consumers to producers and for promoting eco-design and sustainable product life cycles,

–having regard to the need to ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment,

–having regard to the question to the Commission on the implementation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and risks to the security of supply of medicines (O-000013/2026 – B10-0008/2026),

–having regard to Rules 142(5) and 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas the micropollutants in wastewater, which predominately originate from pharmaceuticals and personal care products, are not effectively removed by conventional wastewater treatment and pose severe and well-documented risks to human health and the environment;

B.whereas many municipalities and communities in the EU rely on bank filtration for their drinking water, resulting in water supplies that are increasingly contaminated with those micropollutants;

C.whereas the introduction of a quaternary treatment as an additional and advanced treatment of urban wastewater in order to eliminate the broadest possible spectrum of micropollutants is indispensable for drastically reducing these pollutants and protecting public health and the environment;

D.whereas the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive introduced EPR, requiring that at least 80 % of the costs of removing micropollutants at the quaternary treatment stage be covered by the sectors responsible for 92 % of these pollutants, namely the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, in line with the polluter pays principle set out in Article 191 TFEU;

E.whereas the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive was adopted with overwhelming majorities by the EU’s co-legislators, demonstrating broad political support and democratic legitimacy, which should provide public authorities, water operators and industry stakeholders with legal certainty in the implementation of its provisions;

F.whereas the polluter pays principle is a binding cornerstone of EU environmental law, ensuring that those responsible for causing and profiting from pollution are also those required to cover the costs of its damage, and it must not be weakened under political or industrial pressure;

G.whereas no robust, evidence-based analysis demonstrates that EPR under the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive will lead to medicine shortages or significant price increases;

H.whereas recital 21 of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive explicitly recognises that Member States may apply proportionate measures and flexibilities to ensure that EPR obligations do not compromise the availability and affordability of essential medicines, including generics, thereby balancing public health objectives with environmental responsibilities;

I.whereas the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive already provides for the monitoring of impacts on medicine prices and wider effects, and Article 30 thereof requires the Commission to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the directive by 31 December 2033 and again by 31 December 2040, providing a legal basis for assessing real-world effects and, if necessary, proposing adjustments;

J.whereas the Commission estimates that, even in a scenario of full cost pass-through, the impact on medicine prices would amount to EUR 2.64 to EUR 3.20 per person per year by 2045, an estimate that was reconfirmed by the Joint Research Centre’s second study on the subject , published in December 2025, which took into account the final text adopted by the co-legislators;

K.whereas while acknowledging the comparatively lower profit margins of the generics industry and recognising that this sector is expected to bear a significant share of the costs associated with quaternary treatment, the staged deadlines under Article 8 of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, requiring 20 % coverage by 2033, nonetheless provide Member States with sufficient time to adjust the pricing of contracts through new tendering procedures with generics companies so as to accommodate the additional estimated cost of EUR 0.53 to EUR 0.64 per person per year in a scenario of full cost pass-through, thereby allowing companies to absorb these costs while preserving meaningful profit margins;

L.whereas even under a scenario of full cost pass-through, the resulting increase in the price of medicines remains marginal when compared to the substantial long-term healthcare expenditures associated with diseases linked to micropollutant exposure, such as cancer and reproductive disorders, which already impose a significantly increased burden on public healthcare systems;

M.whereas the argument, brought forward by the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, that EPR would undermine the competitiveness of the EU’s pharmaceutical sector, is unfounded, as the obligation applies uniformly to all companies placing products on the EU market, whether produced within or outside the EU, ensuring a level playing field and preventing unfair competitive advantages;

N.whereas public healthcare systems in the Member States are fully capable of adapting reimbursement mechanisms in order to guarantee access to essential medicines;

O.whereas the directive provides significant flexibility to the Member States in designing EPR schemes and calculating contributions, including mechanisms to ensure that contributions are proportionate and transparent;

P.whereas the transposition deadline of 31 July 2027 and the application of EPR obligations from 31 December 2028 onwards provide sufficient time for careful and balanced national implementation, and the staged deadlines for quaternary treatment under Article 8, requiring 20 % coverage by 2033, 60 % by 2039, and full coverage by 2045, reflect a gradual, realistic roll-out based on technical and financial capacity;

Q.whereas any weakening or removal of EPR would shift billions of euro in costs onto municipalities and citizens, exacerbating social inequalities and placing an unfair burden on households, including the most vulnerable ones;

R.whereas EPR creates essential incentives for eco-innovation, encouraging the development of less polluting and more biodegradable products, thereby reducing costs over time;

S.whereas any delay, suspension or weakening of EPR would create legal and financial uncertainty, risk delaying urgently needed investment in wastewater infrastructure and undermine environmental and public health objectives;

1.Reaffirms its unequivocal support for the full, timely and ambitious implementation of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive;

2.Strongly defends EPR as a non-negotiable application of the polluter pays principle and rejects any attempt to dilute, delay or dismantle it;

3.Firmly rejects the spreading of alarmist and unsubstantiated narratives by parts of the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries regarding alleged risks to the security of supply of medicines;

4.Calls on the Commission to resist political and industrial pressure and to uphold the integrity of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive in its entirety;

5.Demands that any assessment of impacts on medicine availability be strictly evidence-based, transparent and performed by independent scientific bodies;

6.Calls on the Member States and the Commission to make full use of existing flexibilities within the directive to address specific and duly justified concerns related to generic medicines, without undermining EPR;

7.Calls on the Member States to proactively take the necessary measures to ensure that the staged implementation of Article 8 of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is coordinated with contractual arrangements with generic pharmaceutical companies, so as to allow these companies to absorb the additional costs while maintaining viable profit margins, to anticipate these costs in national healthcare budgets, and to provide guidance or support where needed to facilitate fair cost allocation and ensure market stability;

8.Stresses that access to medicines and the protection of human health and the environment are not mutually exclusive and must be pursued simultaneously, without allowing one to be used as a pretext for weakening the other;

9.Calls on the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries to assume their responsibility, cease obstructionist lobbying practices and invest in the development of substances in their products that do not generate micropollutants and that biodegrade rapidly;

10.Warns that shifting costs to municipalities would lead to significant increases in water tariffs, disproportionately affecting low-income households, small businesses and farmers;

11.Reiterates that undermining EPR would constitute a direct violation of the polluter pays principle as enshrined in the Treaties and a step backwards for EU environmental and public health policy;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.