Access to water: tackling water poverty and its implications for social policy

Key points

The EESC:

• fully endorses the United Nations resolutions affirming that water is a basic human right and that it is fundamental to the enjoyment of life and all human rights;
• calls on the European Commission and the Member States to apply a human rights-based approach to all water policies, and to address water poverty, thereby also aligning with the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR);
• calls on the Commission to promote a common approach to understanding water poverty at EU level and develop a comprehensive definition of water poverty that allows for a tangible and shared understanding of water poverty, and within which each Member State can develop its own context-dependent definition, in accordance with the European one;
• calls on the Commission to develop common guidelines to monitor access to quality and affordable water and sanitation services (WSS) and their spatial, social and gender disparities at Member State and EU level, as well as to map the state of play and regularly monitor developments;
• proposes that the forthcoming review of the Drinking Water Directive (DWD) should include the guarantee of universal access to WSS, as set out in UN Sustainable Development Goal 6;
• calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide public funding for infrastructure development, with specific regard to resource-poor property owners and socially deprived urban and rural neighbourhoods with prolonged infrastructure renovation needs;
• suggests to introduce a River Basin Council that represents all stakeholders as a body to assist the River Basin Authority and give itself a role as mediator in transboundary conflicts;
• calls on the Commission and Member States to take measures to improve the awareness of EU residents on the value of water, the importance of access to water and sanitation for all.