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Quality of water intended for human consumption ***II

Document TA-9-2020-0344 · P9_TA(2020)0344 · PE660.303

Kind: Adopted text TA-9-2020-0344
Date: 15 December 2020
Dossier: 2017-0332

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Formats: Official page PDF Word
Subject matter: SANT, ENV

Formats: Official page PDF Word
Subject matter: SANT, ENV

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In short

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Parliament approves the Council's first-reading position on a recast directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption, so the act is adopted in that form. Parliament takes note of two Commission statements annexed to the resolution, on delegated acts and on the procedure for adopting implementing acts. In the first statement, the Commission regrets that its power to modify the directive's annexes was limited to Annex III, and that no power was agreed to amend Annex II on monitoring requirements. In the second, the Commission says invoking point (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 without justification goes against that regulation and must be interpreted restrictively.

Key points

Parliament approves the Council position at first reading on the recast directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption.
Parliament notes that the act is adopted in accordance with the Council position.
Parliament takes note of the Commission statements annexed to the resolution.
The Commission regrets that the co-legislators limited its power to modify the annexes of the revised Drinking Water Directive to Annex III, while it had sought power over Annexes I to IV.
The Commission regrets that no power was agreed to amend Annex II, which it says is needed to update monitoring requirements to scientific and technical progress.
The Commission states that invoking point (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 without proper justification is contrary to that regulation.
The Commission says that provision is an exception to the general rule and must be interpreted restrictively and justified, not treated as a discretionary power of the legislator.

Who is affected

The Commission, whose two statements on delegated acts and implementing acts are annexed to the resolution.
The Council and the Commission, which receive Parliament's position.
National parliaments, which receive Parliament's position.

Legal basis. Article 294(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

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Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

European Parliament legislative resolution of 15 December 2020 on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast) (06230/3/2020 – C9-0354/2020 – 2017/0332(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

–having regard to the Council position at first reading (06230/3/2020 – C90354/2020),

–having regard to the reasoned opinions submitted, within the framework of Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by the Czech Chamber of Deputies, the Irish Houses of the Oireachtas, the Austrian Federal Council and the United Kingdom House of Commons, asserting that the draft legislative act does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity,

–having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 12 July 2018,

–having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 16 May 2018,

–having regard to its position at first reading on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2017)0753),

–having regard to Article 294(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–having regard to the provisional agreement approved by the committee responsible under Rule 74(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

–having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

–having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A9-0241/2020),

1.Approves the Council position at first reading;

2.Takes note of the Commission statements annexed to this resolution;

3.Notes that the act is adopted in accordance with the Council position;

4.Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council, in accordance with Article 297(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

5.Instructs its Secretary-General to sign the act, once it has been verified that all the procedures have been duly completed, and, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

6.Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Back matter, 1

Parts that accompany the text rather than belong to it: explanatory statement, annexes, opinions appended by other committees. Collapsed.

Annex to the legislative resolution 5 blocks

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

The 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.

The 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.

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

The 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.

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Permalink: https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/TA-9-2020-0344
Official source: The text on the European Parliament’s website
Data source: EP Open Data API: document record
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Retrieved: 26 September 2026

Cite as

European Parliament (2020). “Quality of water intended for human consumption ***II”. Text, 15 December 2020. docId TA-9-2020-0344, reference TA9-0344/2020. EU Parl Watch Research. https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/TA-9-2020-0344 (retrieved 26 September 2026). Official source: The text on the European Parliament’s website, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0344_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: document record, https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2/documents/TA-9-2020-0344 (CC BY 4.0).

BibTeX

@misc{epw-text-ta-9-2020-0344,
  author = {{European Parliament}},
  title = {{Quality of water intended for human consumption ***II}},
  year = {2020},
  date = {2020-12-15},
  howpublished = {\url{https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/TA-9-2020-0344}},
  url = {https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/TA-9-2020-0344},
  urldate = {2026-09-26},
  publisher = {EU Parl Watch Research},
  note = {Text. docId TA-9-2020-0344, reference TA9-0344/2020. Official source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0344\_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: document record (CC BY 4.0)}
}