The press conference held on 4 June 2025 by Executive Vice President Ribera and Commissioner Roswall to present the EU’s Water Resilience Strategy (WRS) should have happened in 2024. President von der Leyen had promised a vital new water strategy as part of the European Green Deal. So after being delayed and deprioritised, it was a relief to see water resilience return as a key focus of her second Commission.
The strategy has been widely welcomed by civil society, progressive businesses, and parts of the farming community. At the national level, the EU’s environment Ministers will assess it in October, as many key actions fall under their responsibilities.
The European Environmental Bureau supports the strategy’s emphasis on restoring Europe’s broken water cycle. Europe's environment, people, and economy all depend on clean, plentiful water. But rivers, lakes, and groundwater aquifers are under growing pressure from pollution and mismanagement. Take PFAS, or "forever chemicals", for example, which are found at unsafe levels in many European waters (EEB briefing on PFAS in fish forthcoming). Other threats include river alterations, disrupted flows, and excessive abstraction.
Rivers, lakes, and groundwater aquifers face growing pressures from not only pollution, but also poor management – both of which are preventable
Europe is warming faster than any other continent. Water is where these impacts hit hardest: more floods, longer droughts. But these are symptoms of a deeper problem – inaction and lack of political will. Strong water laws exist, but are often poorly implemented and enforced.
At the WRS launch, Commissioner Roswall was clear: "I will not propose any new legislation… The legal framework is in place, but we need to focus on implementation."
We fully agree. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) doesn't need rewriting or "simplifying" – it needs enforcement and funding. It already includes key tools: pollution control, abstraction permits, ecological flow standards, cost recovery, and basin-level restoration – all essential to the WRS.
Nature’s central role in water resilience
Water resilience can't be built on depleted rivers and aquifers. While we support the development of an EU-wide method for applying the “water efficiency first” principle, Europe must go further. The EU needs to bring water extraction down to sustainable levels and allocate water to damaged ecosystems as a priority.
Nature is the foundation of resilience. Nature-based solutions – like wetland and floodplain restoration – help retain water and improve climate adaptation. Policymakers should prioritise these over energy-intensive "techno-fixes" like desalination or new dams. The Nature Restoration Regulation, if properly implemented, can significantly enhance water resilience, especially if national Nature Restoration Plans integrate water and climate adaptation goals.
Funding: the missing piece
Yet the WRS somehow lacks dedicated funding – especially for nature-based solutions. The next EU budget must fund key WRS initiatives such as the “Green and Blue Corridor” and “Sponge Facility”. And the long-standing LIFE programme must remain a strong EU funding instrument for vital water and nature projects.
Credible water resilience also demands serious pollution prevention. The EU must uphold the Polluter Pays Principle, reaffirm cost recovery under the WFD, and enforce Extended Producer Responsibility in the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.
New geopolitical and economic pressures – from industrial competitiveness to the energy transition – threaten to undermine EU water laws. As investments rise in hydropower, raw material extraction, and infrastructure, so do risks of weakening key water protections. However, maintaining those legal safeguards is essential. Water resilience must be a core pillar of Europe’s green and just transition. But without funding and political commitment, the WRS risks becoming another unfulfilled promise. EU policymakers must deliver real water resilience by restoring the health of our greatest ally: nature.
