On 23 September 2025, the co-legislators reached a provisional agreement on a Commission proposal to update the chemical pollutants listed for monitoring and control in EU freshwater bodies, and the associated environmental quality standards. The directive, which was put forward on 26 October 2022 under the European Green Deal's zero pollution action plan, amends the Water Framework Directive, the Environmental Quality Standards Directive and the Groundwater Directive.

The text agreed in trilogue was approved by Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI), responsible for the file, on 20 October 2025, with 61 votes in favour, 16 against and 7 abstentions. It was formally adopted by the Council on 17 February 2026. It now awaits a vote in plenary during the session of 25-26 March 2026.

The agreed directive adds new pollutants with related quality standards to the list of priority substances (pollutants that pose the greatest concern and risk to and via the aquatic environment across the EU, which Member States must monitor and control in surface waters). Those include pesticides such as glyphosate, some pharmaceuticals, bisphenol A, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, known as ‘forever chemicals’). The co-legislators decided to add trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) to the sum of 24 PFAS originally proposed by the Commission as quality standard. For groundwater, the agreed directive does not retain the Commission proposal to include the same sum of 24 PFAS as in surface waters. Instead, it aligns the PFAS requirements with the parametric value defined in the Drinking Water Directive (currently setting a quality standard for a sum of 20 PFAS), which implies that any updates done for drinking water would automatically apply to groundwater. A separate quality standard is set for the sum of 4 PFAS (PFHxS, PFOS, PFOA and PFNA). Three pharmaceutical substances, as well as non-relevant metabolites of pesticides are included as pollutants of EU-wide concern in groundwater, with related quality standards.

In the next review, the Commission should consider establishing a quality standard for TFA in groundwater (either separately or as part of a sum); a separate quality standard for TFA in surface waters; and quality standards for PFAS total in both groundwater and surface waters. The setting of quality standards for sums of and/or totals for other families of substances (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, bisphenols) should also be investigated as part of the review process.

The Commission proposal to use delegated acts for future amendments to the list of pollutants and related quality standards in surface and groundwater was not retained. Such amendments should thus remain subject to the ordinary legislative procedure.

Under the agreed directive, a mandatory 'watch list' mechanism, aimed to improve the information available to identify the substances of greatest concern for regulation, is established for groundwater, as was already the case for surface waters. The watch lists are capped (at a maximum of 5 substances or groups of substances for groundwater, 10 for surface waters). Microplastics and antimicrobial resistance genes should be added to future watch lists once suitable monitoring methods have been developed.

The agreed directive requires Member States to apply effect-based monitoring methods (EBMs) to assess the cumulative effects of estrogenic substances in surface waters over a period of at least two years. The Commission will assess results of EBMs as screening methods within 18 months of Member States’ reporting. The possibility of setting a trigger value for estrogens for screening purposes and for the assessment of chemical status, and of applying effect-based methods and related trigger values to other groups of substances will be considered in the context of future reviews.

To help Member States cope with the monitoring requirements and ease the associated financial and administrative burdens, the Commission is required to investigate the options for setting up an EU joint monitoring facility, to be used by Member States on a voluntary basis.

The Commission is also tasked to assess, within 3 years of the entry into force of the directive, the feasibility of requiring producers that place products containing any of the substances listed in Annexes I to the Groundwater and Environmental Quality Standards Directives on the EU market to contribute to the costs of monitoring programmes (through an extended producer responsibility mechanism, proposed by Parliament). Parliament also secured the inclusion of provisions on access to justice into the text.

Based on Council proposals, a definition of deterioration of status of a water body is introduced into the Water Framework Directive, together with two new exemptions to the principle of non-deterioration. Temporary deterioration caused by a new project or a modification to an existing project, and deterioration by relocating water or sediment without causing a net increase in pollution, would not be considered a breach of the directive provided certain conditions are met.

The agreed directive includes provisions to ensure that in cases of exceptional circumstances (extreme floods, prolonged droughts) or significant pollution incidents which could affect water bodies in other Member States, affected Member States and the Commission are informed without delay, and that the necessary cooperation is established.

The co-legislators agreed to set the deadline for transposing the directive into national law to 21 December 2027. Member States will have until 22 December 2039 to comply with the standards for the newly introduced substances for both surface waters and groundwater (with a possibility for deadline extension for one further cycle, i.e. to 2045).

Parliament adopted its position at first reading on 24 April 2024. The Council adopted its negotiating mandate on 19 June 2024. Four trilogue rounds were held.

References:

• European Parliament, Deal on reducing pollution in EU groundwater and surface waters, press release, 23 September 2025
• EP legislative observatory, Procedure file on Surface water and groundwater pollutants, 2022/0344(COD)
• European Commission, Proposal for a directive amending Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, Directive 2006/118/EC on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration and Directive 2008/105/EC on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy, COM(2022) 540
• European Commission, State of the Union 2021: Letter of intent, 15 September 2021
• European Commission, Commission work programme 2022. Making Europe stronger together, 19 October 2021
• European Commission, Inception impact assessment on Integrated water management – revised lists of surface and groundwater pollutants, 23 October 2020
• European Commission, Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All. EU Action Plan: 'Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil', COM(2021) 400
• European Parliament, Resolution of 17 December 2020 on the implementation of the EU water legislation, 2020/2613(RSP)
• European Economic and Social Committee, Opinion, Integrated water management – revised lists of surface and groundwater pollutants, NAT/878

Further reading:

• European Parliament, EPRS, Pollutants in EU waters: Update of chemical substances listed for control, Briefing, December 2024
• European Parliament, EPRS, Revising the standards for surface water and groundwater pollutants, Initial appraisal of the Commission impact assessment, March 2023

Author: Vivienne Halleux, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu