Across Europe and around the world, water is becoming a defining issue of our time. Droughts, pollution, overuse and ageing infrastructure are placing our societies under mounting pressure. Yet despite the evidence, water still does not receive the strategic attention it so urgently needs.

The European Economic and Social Committee was the first EU institution to identify this gap, and responded with a call for an EU Blue Deal. Water is not simply an environmental concern. It is a cross-cutting issue that affects the economy, public health, agriculture, energy and long-term security. If water fails, all other systems will follow.

Since the launch of the EU Blue Deal, we have seen some encouraging movement. The European Commission is now preparing a water resilience strategy, and for the first time in history, we have a Commissioner for water policy. These are steps in the right direction, but the scale of the challenge demands much more.

Across the EU, vast volumes of water are still lost every day due to leaky and outdated networks. Many Member States lack the investments needed to modernise their infrastructure, and several key economic sectors – including many industries, agriculture and the energy sector – remain unprepared for a future defined by scarcity and volatility.

This is why we are calling for a Blue Transition Fund. It would serve as a unified financing mechanism to support the full range of water-related needs, upgrading infrastructure and ensuring access to water for all, deploying new technologies, boosting innovation, reskilling workers and helping regions and industries adapt. Water resilience must be a shared European priority, backed by serious, long-term investments, starting with the next multiannual EU budget.

Effective coordination is essential. No Member State can face this alone. Water crosses borders, and so too must our policies. We need stronger collaboration between the national, regional and EU levels, informed by civil society and based on clear, common objectives. Moreover, we urge the Commission to ensure that water considerations are integrated into all EU policies in a coherent manner. This view is also shared by the European Parliament, who, echoing our EU Blue Deal recommendations, calls on the EU to mainstream the water dimension into EU internal and external policies to ensure long-term water resilience, sustainability and security.

The EESC is also contributing to global discussions on the topic. Ahead of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, we are working to highlight the interdependence between freshwater and marine ecosystems. These must no longer be addressed in isolation. The science is clear, and our governance models must catch up. We will also contribute to the 2026 UN Water Conference, where we expect the EU to lead with its new vision for water resilience, and with the strong involvement of employers, workers and civil society to ensure the success of the strategy on the ground.

Water is the foundation of everything we value: life, stability and prosperity. To ignore it is to gamble with the future. Europe must lead, and it must lead now.

Oliver Röpke

EESC President