Water Resilience Strategy announced! A breakthrough in EU water policy?

European water policy is entering a new phase. The Water Resilience Strategy, announced yesterday, aims to reverse negative trends linked to water scarcity, ecosystem degradation, and rising resource costs. Document COM(2025) 280/3 is the first such comprehensive action plan for restoring balance in the EU’s water management. We are the first in Poland to present its key objectives.

Water as a driver of global destabilization

The struggle for access to freshwater resources is no longer a local issue – it is becoming one of the main sources of geopolitical tensions. According to the Water Resilience Strategy, the shrinking of global water resources is deepening conflicts and triggering forced migrations. In 2024 alone, natural disasters – such as floods, droughts, and water pollution – displaced 40 million people. The total financial losses caused by these events exceeded €480 billion.

The forecasts are alarming – if current trends continue, global water demand in 2030 will outstrip available resources by up to 40%. In this context, the European Commission leaves no illusions – water is becoming a strategic resource of fundamental importance for security, social stability, and economic development both in Europe and beyond.

Water resilience strategy – core objectives

The new document outlines three key objectives:

• restoring and protecting the water cycle,
• developing a water economy focused on efficiency and innovation,
• ensuring universal access to safe and affordable water.

To support their implementation, the strategy is built on five common EU-level pillars: effective governance, public and private investments, digitalization and artificial intelligence, support for research and innovation, and security and preparedness.

The strategy emphasizes that investments in sustainable water management are not only necessary but also present an economic opportunity. In 2022, the water sector in Europe generated €111.7 billion in added value and employed 1.6 million people across more than 80,000 companies, most of which are SMEs.

Water Efficiency First

One of the fundamental principles of the strategy is “Water Efficiency First.” In practice, this means prioritizing measures that reduce water consumption and losses – before investing in new abstractions. The Commission notes that in some EU countries, water losses in supply networks exceed 50%. Therefore, member states will be required to define national loss thresholds and prepare plans to reduce them.

The strategy also includes, among others: a revision of tariff systems, promotion of water reuse from municipal wastewater (currently only 2.4% is reused), minimum consumption standards for data centers and industrial cooling systems, and support for circular economy models.

Nature-based infrastructure and sponge cities

A strong focus is placed on nature-based solutions – landscape retention, river restoration, and wetland recovery. The Commission has announced a target to restore at least 25,000 km of rivers to free-flowing condition by 2030. In urban areas, the development of sponge cities – blue-green infrastructure systems that retain rainwater – will be supported.

Parallel actions will focus on improving soil quality and enhancing natural water retention in agriculture. The Commission stresses that water resilience is not possible without healthy soils and sustainable land use.

New technologies and security

The strategy includes the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence for monitoring and managing water resources. The Commission plans to launch a thematic Copernicus water hub, develop smart metering systems, and create an EU-wide hydrological data collection mechanism.

In response to natural and technological threats, the document also outlines measures related to prevention, risk management, and cybersecurity for critical infrastructure.

Water as a public good

The strategy reaffirms that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a human right and a public good. It will support educational programs, public awareness campaigns, and collaborative initiatives with citizens and local authorities.

In the global context, the Commission states that by 2030, at least 70 million people outside the EU should gain access to water thanks to investments under the Global Gateway initiative.

What about drought?

As part of the Water Resilience Strategy, the European Commission has announced the development of drought assessment indicators and technical guidelines for drought management plans. Both tools aim to help member states respond more effectively to hydrological phenomena that increasingly threaten water availability in Europe.

The new indicators will allow better identification of areas particularly vulnerable to water shortages and enable the monitoring of changes over time. They will serve as a foundation for designing effective preventive and adaptive measures, based on common EU standards.

In parallel, the Commission will publish technical guidelines for drought management plans to harmonize approaches used in national and regional strategies. The document will incorporate the latest scientific knowledge, experiences from member states, and the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and river basin management plans.

This is an important step towards strengthening Europe’s resilience to extreme events. Droughts and water scarcity are no longer marginal issues—they have a direct impact on food production, energy, industry, and citizens’ daily lives, comment the strategy’s authors.

The prepared documents are to be published in subsequent stages of the strategy’s implementation and will form part of the dialogue with member states within the review of water management and flood risk management plans for 2025–2027.

Towards 2050

The strategy sets out directions for building a water-resilient Europe by 2050. It also serves as the EU’s contribution to preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference.

– This is not a declarative document. It is an operational roadmap for the next 25 years – say Commission experts. For the first time in history, water has been recognized as a critical resource of strategic importance for the security and cohesion of the European Union.

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