Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive
25.2.2025
Question for written answer E-000833/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Margarita de la Pisa Carrión (PfE)
On 12 December 2024, the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. As stipulated in the directive, producers of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products should cover 80 % of the additional costs of quaternary water treatment given that their products are considered to be ‘the main sources of micropollutants found in urban wastewater’.
However, some in these sectors have voiced their disagreement, as although the Commission has attributed 92 % of the toxic load of micropollutants to these sectors, it has not provided the methodology used to calculate this figure. Independent research suggests a much lower figure of around 10 %.
In view of the above:
- 1.Can the Commission provide more detail on the methodology used to calculate the percentage in question?
- 2.Is the Commission considering imposing a moratorium on the financial obligations incumbent on companies from these sectors under the ‘omnibus package’ until the pollution percentage has been correctly assessed?
Submitted: 25.2.2025