{"id":119744,"date":"2026-02-26T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=119744"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:09:13","slug":"why-competitiveness-is-becoming-a-cover-for-pollute-as-usual-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/commission-water-law-roundtable\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission water law roundtable in Stockholm risks becoming a mining industry get-together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels, 26 February 2026<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0A roundtable on\u00a0Europe\u2019s flagship water law, the Water Framework Directive (WFD), is scheduled for\u00a02 March in Stockholm\u00a0and\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0chaired by Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall, the EU\u2019s first Commissioner with Water in her title.\u00a0The invite list, as currently understood, is dominated by Sweden\u2019s mining and steel interests, while civil society participation\u00a0is\u00a0severely\u00a0limited, raising concerns about who gets to have a say about water laws.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This matters because changes to the WFD are not abstract. They translate into what people can drink, where children can swim, whether rivers and wetlands can filter pollution, and how expensive it becomes to treat water for households and communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This meeting comes as the EU\u2019s raw materials agenda increasingly treats environmental rules as a bottleneck to \u201cstrategic\u201d extraction and processing, and as the Commission has already announced its intention to \u201crevise\u201d the WFD in 2026, explicitly “to promote access to raw materials in the EU”. At a decisive moment for Europe\u2019s water law, the European Environmental Bureau warns that allowing mining and metals interests to dominate the discussion risks diluting water protections for people and nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Europe\u2019s water law is weakened in response to pressure from high-polluting sectors, it would mark a turning point in EU environmental policy and raise serious questions about governance and transparency. Decisions of this magnitude must be based on evidence and the public interest, with meaningful participation from civil society and the communities that depend on clean water.<\/span><\/p>\n

This media briefing sets out why the Stockholm roundtable risks\u00a0narrowing the debate at a decisive moment for\u00a0Europe\u2019s water protections,\u00a0what is at stake for clean water and public health, and what the Commission must do to restore trust and uphold its responsibility to protect people and the environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is at stake: clean water, public health, resilience<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0WFD\u00a0exists to prevent pollution, stop deterioration, and protect rivers, lakes,\u00a0groundwater\u00a0and wetlands \u2013 the source of water for people,\u00a0nature\u00a0and all economic activities. It shapes the quality of drinking water, the health of ecosystems, and the resilience of communities facing droughts, floods, and contamination.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The scale of the problem is already stark.\u00a0<\/span>Only 39.5 percent of EU surface waters are in good ecological status.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0That points to an implementation and delivery gap, not a case for lowering standards.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also a real economic cost to failure.\u00a0<\/span>Not achieving good status for surface waters is estimated to forgo around \u20ac51.1 billion a year in benefits.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Turning water safeguards into a negotiable constraint for mining projects risks entrenching that failure and pushing more costs onto citizens and public budgets for clean-up and health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Extractive operations can severely pollute water through metal contamination, including mercury, and can reshape entire waterways.\u00a0In practice, \u201cweakening the WFD\u201d means lowering environmental requirements for high impact sectors. That leads to more pollution and degradation, and the consequences are carried by drinking water suppliers, local authorities, communities, and everyone who depends on healthy rivers and groundwater.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sara Johansson, Senior Policy Officer for Water at the EEB, said:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u201cSacrificing our water for the mining sector would be a reckless move: not only will this allow for more pollution in our drinking water and degradation of our rivers, lakes and groundwater, it will also set a dangerous precedent to\u00a0reward laggards and punish frontrunners that have invested in water treatment.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mining\u00a0sector\u00a0in the driver\u2019s seat<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As\u00a0mining\u00a0interests push\u00a0to weaken Europe\u2019s flagship water law in the name of faster permitting\u00a0and less\u00a0oversight, the Stockholm roundtable risks giving that pressure disproportionate weight.\u00a0It will bring together mining, metals, and steel industry actors and their associations, including\u00a0Svemin\u00a0and\u00a0Jernkontoret, alongside major companies such as LKAB, Boliden, and SSAB.\u00a0Swedish public agencies are also expected to attend, while\u00a0civil society voices appear sidelined, with participation reduced to\u00a0only\u00a0observatory role\u00a0and major civil society\u00a0organisations\u00a0excluded.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Holding this discussion\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0future direction of the EU\u2019s water\u00a0law\u00a0behind closed doors in Stockholm, with a narrow set of heavy industry voices, fuels doubts about transparency and balance. If the Commission wants a credible EU level conversation about\u00a0the\u00a0water law, it should be open to scrutiny\u00a0and\u00a0base\u00a0the debate on evidence, reflect\u00a0EU wide public interest,\u00a0and\u00a0be\u00a0accessible to a wider set of stakeholders, including those who rely on clean water and those who bear the risks\u00a0and much of the costs\u00a0when safeguards are\u00a0weakened.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Civil society has already\u00a0<\/span>warned against accelerating permitting for mining and processing<\/span><\/a>\u00a0while sidestepping proper environmental assessment, land use planning, and nature protection.\u00a0Water protection, as well as other health and nature laws,\u00a0is\u00a0increasingly\u00a0<\/span>pushed to the side<\/span><\/a>\u00a0when speed becomes the overriding priority.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Diego Marin, Senior Policy Officer for Raw Materials and Resource Justice at the EEB, said:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u201cIf mining and steel are in the driving seat on\u00a0weakening\u00a0Europe\u2019s water law, the rest of society will be dragged along for the ride. That is not balanced consultation. It is agenda-setting behind closed doors.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The\u00a0<\/span><\/b>European Environmental Bureau (<\/span><\/b>EEB<\/span><\/b>)<\/span><\/b>\u00a0urges the European Commission to:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n