Preserving water resilience, preventing the weakening of the Water Framework Directive

Joint letter    |    19 February 2026

Last December, the European Commission announced it would review and revise the Water Framework Directive by the second quarter of 2026 under the RESourceEU Action Plan, in order to promote ‘access to critical raw materials in the EU’.

In this letter environmental NGOs are urging the Commission to refrain from reopening or amending the Water Framework Directive.

The revision will almost certainly result in its weakening, whereas the focus should be on accelerating its implementation and enforcement, as indicated in the Water Resilience Strategy, announced last year.