New EU infringement proceedings against Italy: Drinking Water Directive under scrutiny

Brussels – The new version of the European Drinking Water Directive, adopted in 2020, has been incorrectly and incompletely transposed by the Italian government. For this reason,  the European Commission announced today (29 April) that it has launched new infringement proceedings against Italy and has given the government led by Giorgia Meloni two months to submit its observations on the alleged infringement. 

Following an initial version adopted in 1998, the directive was updated six years ago with the aim of ensuring cleaner tap water through updated quality standards and a greater focus on so-called emerging pollutants, i.e. substances that are potentially harmful but not yet fully regulated (for example, microplastics and endocrine disruptors that interfere with the normal development of the hormonal system). The new rules form part of the broader framework set out by the European Union Strategy on Water Resilience, according to which—as the Commission emphasises in an official statement commenting on the proceedings initiated against Rome—”the full implementation of EU water quality standards is essential to protect human health and the environment.” 

“The Member States,” the European Commission explains, “were required to transpose the directive into national law and to comply with its provisions by 12 January 2023.” Italy has indeed transposed the text, but according to the Berlaymont Building, the rules adopted by our country still contain “several shortcomings.” Among the most significant, the Commission cites an insufficient risk assessment in domestic water distribution systems (the introduction of specific checks on internal building pipework is precisely one of the main new features of the revised directive), the lack of an obligation to adequately inform the most vulnerable people on how to access drinking water and the absence of guideline values for managing the presence of harmful residues released by pesticides in drinking water (so-called metabolites). More generally, the European Commission notes that Italy’s transposition of the directive is characterised by a tendency to “postpone some of the established obligations” and to “make excessive use of derogations from certain requirements,” which were intended to be temporary and limited. 

The infringement proceedings launched today are the second that Italy has faced in four months regarding EU water policies. In January, Palazzo Chigi had received another letter of formal notice due to the incorrect transposition of the Water Framework Directive, concerning the protection and management of rivers, lakes and other water bodies. In that case, Giorgia Meloni’s government was accused of failing to update and periodically review water abstraction licences and of failing to record such abstractions regularly, thereby creating a risk of overexploitation of water resources. 

At this stage, the Italian government will have two months to respond to the Commission’s allegations. If Rome’s arguments are deemed insufficient, Brussels may proceed to the next stage of the infringement procedure by issuing a reasoned opinion calling on the Member State to put an end to the infringement within a specified timeframe. If it is still not satisfied, the Berlaymont Building may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU.