MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Hazardous PFAS substances in drinking water in Europe and lack of information in Greece – E-000470/2025(ASW)

1. In December 2020, the Commission adopted the recast Drinking Water Directive[1] to be transposed by the Member States into national law and complied with its provisions by January 2023. This directive includes per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances ( PFAS) quality standards and minimum monitoring requirements for drinking water at the point of compliance such as the household tap. Member States are committed to ensuring compliance with these PFAS quality standards by January 2026. Maximum levels for specific PFAS in certain foodstuffs have been established in 2023 by a Commission Regulation[2]. Member States will report all findings of their food controls to the European Food Safety Authority.

2. The Drinking Water Directive provides for Member States to ensure that information on the quality of water supplied is made available to consumers, including the results of PFAS monitoring from January 2026. In case of exceedances, Member States will take appropriate measures to protect human health and ensure that consumers are informed.

3. The Commission’s Zero Pollution Action Plan[3] aims significantly to reduce pollutant levels in the environment by 2050, including PFAS pollution. Various research and innovation projects on PFAS have been funded under the Horizon 2020[4] and Horizon Europe[5] programmes. The ongoing Horizon 2020 project ‘ZeroPM’[6] developed next generation remediation techniques to sustainably remove prioritised substances from water resources and drinking water. A Greek partner is involved in the project. Information on these programmes is publicly available.

• [1] Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast), OJ L 435, 23.12.2020, p. 1-62.
• [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/915/oj/eng
• [3] https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/zero-pollution-action-plan_en
• [4] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-2020_en
• [5] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en
• [6] https://zeropm.eu/