What is the EU doing to tackle its growing water scarcity?
This summer's record heat has left 38 percent of Europe's land in drought. Overuse, mismanagement, and pollution have harmed lakes and rivers and worsened Europe’s water stress, prompting the EU to treat water scarcity as a major emergency. Water is under stress when we use 20 percent of renewable freshwater resources, and severely stressed at 40 per cent, according to the European Environmental Agency (EEA)’s Water Exploitation Index Plus (WEI+).
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The EU launched the Water Resilience Strategy in June 2025 to make the EU water-resilient. It protects the water cycle, promotes a water-smart economy, and ensures access to clean, affordable water.
“Water is no longer just an environmental investment. It is an investment in people’s wellbeing, Europe’s food security, public health, economic competitiveness and resilience. And if Europe underinvests in water today, it will not be institutions that feel the consequences first, it will be ordinary people”
- Thomas Bajada, MEP of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and rapporteur of the Water Resilience Strategy in the European Parliament.
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Europe wastes 23 percent of treated water because of poor management of public supply networks, which reduces supply. “Across the Union, we are still losing enormous volumes of treated drinking water through ageing pipes before it even reaches people’s taps”, Bajada warned.
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The “water efficiency first" principle targets a water-smart economy that minimises water waste before turning to new sources, such as desalination. The EU targets a 10 percent increase in water efficiency by 2030 through water reuse in agriculture, industry, and public water supply. It limits water needs for clean industrial and digital sectors through smart planning, reduces leakage and water losses in public water supply, and strengthens water controls.
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“While large cities generally have drought preparedness plans and prioritise drinking water supply, smaller municipalities and households relying on private wells are often more vulnerable to water scarcity conditions. In some countries, a significant share of the population depends on private water sources, which are less regulated and more susceptible to water scarcity”, the EEA told Euronews.
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