The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will take on new scientific tasks under the EU’s updated water protection legislation, which will strengthen the protection of Europe’s water resources from harmful effects of chemicals.
Helsinki, 11 May 2026 – The updated EU water protection framework strengthens the protection of Europe’s waters – including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater – by amending the Water Framework Directive, the Environmental Quality Standards Directive and the Groundwater Directive. It also introduces new scientific tasks for ECHA.
ECHA will provide the technical and scientific basis to support the European Commission in decision‑making on water pollutants. The Agency will prepare scientific reports for:
- identifying priority substances for surface water and groundwater pollutant lists, including the development and updating of related (environmental) quality standards;
- identifying substances to be included on watchlists for surface water and groundwater; and
- where necessary, proposing harmonised environmental quality standards for river basin specific pollutants and harmonised threshold values for regional groundwater pollutants.
It will report to the European Commission (Commission) on potential updates to the main pollutant lists and associated water quality standards every six years, in line with the EU water management cycle. The Agency will also report on watchlist substances every three years, drawing on monitoring data collected by Member States.
The Commission will use ECHA’s scientific reports as the technical and scientific basis for preparing legislative proposals to update priority substance lists and watchlists under EU water legislation. Through these tasks, ECHA will work closely with the Commission and Member States to help reduce surface water and groundwater pollution and support the achievement of good chemical status across EU waters.
Close cooperation between ECHA and the European Environment Agency (EEA) will be essential for the effective implementation of the updated framework, building on existing collaboration and supporting transparent communication with stakeholders.
Background
The revised EU water protection framework, covering the Water Framework Directive, the Environmental Quality Standards Directive and the Groundwater Directive, was adopted in March 2026 and entered into force on 11 May 2026. The amendments strengthen the protection of surface water and groundwater from chemical pollution and reinforce the scientific basis for EU water legislation.
Further information
- ECHA’s tasks under Water protection directives
- New law strengthening water protection in EU enters into force – European Commission
- Water Framework Directive – European Commission
- https://echa.europa.eu/it/
