Brussels, 15 July 2026 – The European Commission today published the results of its evaluation of the Nitrates Directive. The report reaffirms the Directive’s critical role in tackling nitrogen pollution from agriculture and protecting Europe’s water but highlights need for better implementation, reports the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).  

The evaluation, which is the first full assessment of the Nitrates Directive since its adoption and has lasted nearly three years, concludes that the Directive remains necessary, relevant and effective. It sets the EU on course to bring Europe’s rivers, lakes, groundwater and coastal waters back to good health through the full implementation and enforcement of the Nitrates Directive. 

The message from the Commission is clear, the Nitrates Directive is a flexible yet effective tool in curbing nitrate pollution from agricultural sources, allowing Member States to adapt measures to local conditions, but reminds that this flexibility comes with a responsibility on Member States to impose and enforce the necessary measures.  

The conclusions come against a backdrop of growing evidence that nitrate pollution in water is imposing increasingly steep costs on ecosystems, human health, public budgets, and the wider economy. The EEB welcomes the confirmation that the Nitrates Directive is a key tool for reducing and preventing agricultural pollution at source and must be fully implemented.  

Sara Johansson, Policy Manager for Water, EEB, said: 

“National courts and the latest scientific evidence have confirmed the dangers of nitrate pollution  from agriculture choking EU rivers and poisoning drinking water. This report confirms that with  proper implementation the Nitrates Directive is the most cost-effective way to reverse the damage  and provide relief to EU waters.” 

Pressing the need for implementation and enforcement 

By aiming to reduce and prevent water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, the Nitrates Directive remains one of Europe’s most important environmental laws, which helps deliver the goals of the Water Framework Directive, Drinking Water Directive and Habitats Directive as well as the objectives of the Water Resilience Strategy.  

The evaluation comes against the backdrop of persistent and worrying implementation failures across Europe. More than a third of groundwater bodies, rivers, lakes and coastal waters are negatively affected by agricultural pollution. The cost of this mess already exceeds €22 billion per year, or €60 million per day.  

While the Commission hails the Directive’s manure limit as a pivotal benchmark in curbing the negative environmental impacts of intensive animal rearing, this is contradicted by recent and further proposed policy changes by the Commission to relax those same rules, which decreases pressure on EU countries to de-intensify animal rearing systems risk increasing nitrate pollution, something the EEB has criticised.  

The solutions already exist 

The Nitrates Directive has provided EU countries with the tools to tackle agricultural water pollution for 35 years. The priority now must be implementing and enforcing them to help restore Europe’s waters, says the EEB.

As Member States prepare the next cycle of implementation plans to achieve objectives under the Water Framework Objective, this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to speed up efforts to promote farming practices that work with nature and that respects ecological limits. The evaluation report confirms this is a good investment: the benefits of reducing agricultural pollution of water – which include safe drinking water and resilient food production – are 3-7 times higher than the costs to implement the Nitrates Directive. 

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

• The Nitrates Directive aims to reduce and prevent nitrate pollution of water from agricultural sources. It requires Member States to monitor water quality, identify areas that drain into water that are polluted, or at risk of pollution, from agriculture and to draw up action programmes for those areas. 

• The Directive offers Member States strong flexibility when designing measures, taking account of national and regional specificities, such as soil types and climatic conditions, as long as the water protection objectives are met. 

• The RENURE act, adopted in February 2026, allow Member States to authorise the application of certain fertiliser products recovered from manure above the manure limit set in the Nitrates Directive. This represents a near 50% increase in the amount of nitrogen from manure that can be applied on fields. 
• In the Fertiliser Action Plan, and re-confirmed in the Livestock Strategy, the Commission announced its intention to expand the RENURE act to also allow the application of digested manure above the limite set in the Nitrates Directive, something that the EEB together with farmers, environmental and civil society organisations have criticised.