The European Drinking Water Industrial Alliance (EDW) calls on European policy-makers to ensure that the same safety and hygiene standards apply to materials and products in contact with drinking water in all EU countries as part of the revision of the EU Drinking Water Directive.

Currently, every EU Member State has its own policy on materials and products in contact with drinking water (e.g. water pipes, taps, water heaters etc.) which may result in different levels of protection of human health. Not only does this impact consumers but it also penalises companies, especially SMEs, who face difficulties in exporting their products to other EU countries.

“The industry asks for legally binding harmonised EU-wide rules on the safety of drinking water applications. We want to accelerate investment in innovative products but the lack of harmonised rules hampers our efforts. The measures proposed by the European Commission today should be significantly strengthened to create a genuine single market for the drinking water applications. For instance, these measures would not cover a significant number of products in contact with drinking water that do not fall under the scope of the Construction Products Regulation. We call on policy-makers to close this loophole in the harmonisation process”, said Mr. Volker Meyer, Chairman of the EDW.

EDW will work with the European institutions and all interested stakeholders to find a solution that will ensure a high level of safety of drinking water in all EU countries and higher level of harmonisation for the industry.

Contact information: Luca Ibelli, +32-2-676.74.73, info@europeandrinkingwater.eu

Brussels, 1 February 2018.