On the European Water Resilience Strategy

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AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development submits the following to the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety, as the committee responsible:

Amendment 1

Motion for a resolution

Recital A a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Aa. whereas water is the basis of ecosystems and therefore fundamental for agricultural production;

Or. en

Amendment 2

Motion for a resolution

Recital A b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ab. whereas Europe’s water is under significant pressure1a resulting in risks related to efficiency, scarcity, pollution and water events, such as flooding and droughts; whereas the EU urgently needs to improve water resilience, which would have a positive impact on the quality of human health, food production and the environment, including agricultural ecosystems;

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a European Environment Agency, report 07/2024, Europe’s state of water 2024: the need for improved water resilience, 2024.

Or. en

Amendment 3

Motion for a resolution

Recital A c (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ac. whereas freshwater change is one of the processes within the planetary boundaries framework that is critical for maintaining the stability and resilience of ecosystems, which agricultural production depends on; whereas the threshold for the planetary boundary for freshwater change has been transgressed along with the thresholds for climate change, biogeochemical flows of nitrogen and phosphorus, land system change, biosphere integrity and novel entities, all of which are part of an integrated system1a;

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1a Richardson, K., Steffen, W., Lucht, W., Bendsten, J., Cornell, S. et al., ‘Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries’, Science Advances, Vol. 9, Issue 37, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh2458.

Or. en

Amendment 4

Motion for a resolution

Recital A d (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ad. whereas the extent of disturbances to the water cycle is exemplified in the recurrent droughts, major floods and severe forest fires that have gradually become prevalent over recent seasons and are hitting rural areas and agricultural production in particular; whereas climate change is projected to further modify the availability of water resources;

Or. en

Amendment 5

Motion for a resolution

Recital D a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Da. whereas, under Directive (EU) 2024/1203 on the protection of the environment through criminal law1a, the abstraction of surface water or groundwater within the meaning of Directive 2000/60/EC constitutes a criminal offence where such conduct is unlawful and intentional, and causes, or is likely to cause, substantial damage to the ecological status or the ecological potential of surface water bodies or to the quantitative status of groundwater bodies;

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1a OJ L, 2024/1203, 30.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1203/oj.

Or. en

Amendment 6

Motion for a resolution

Recital D b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Db. whereas farmers and farming are increasingly affected by extreme weather caused by climate change, including drought and floods;

Or. en

Amendment 7

Motion for a resolution

Recital E

Motion for resolution

Amendment

E. whereas agriculture is the most significant source of pressure on both surface and groundwater, as a result of water use and pollution from the intensive use of nutrients and pesticides; whereas agriculture is the largest net consumer of water in the EU23;

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23 European Environment Agency, report 07/2024, Europe’s state of water 2024. The need for improved water resilience, 2024.

E. whereas agriculture is the most significant source of pressure on both surface and groundwater, as a result of inefficient water use and pollution from the intensive use of nutrients and pesticides; whereas agriculture is the largest net consumer of water in the EU23, responsible for 59 % of EU water consumption; whereas changes in farming practices together with the application of nature-based solutions can stimulate adaptation, enhance water retention and maintain agricultural productivity;

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23 European Environment Agency, report 07/2024, Europe’s state of water 2024. The need for improved water resilience, 2024.

Or. en

Amendment 8

Motion for a resolution

Recital E a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ea. whereas soil biodiversity and soil organic carbon affect water retention capacity; whereas soil erosion, compaction and certain soil management practices that cause soil degradation lead to a steady decrease in the water retention capacity of soil, which as a consequence exacerbates drought and flood events with direct negative impacts on farming; whereas healthy soil is therefore one of the drivers of water resilience;

Or. en

Amendment 9

Motion for a resolution

Recital E b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Eb. whereas the soil moisture deficit is one of the most adverse factors of plant growth and productivity threatening sustainable crop production; whereas in the second water management cycle, droughts were only considered as a relevant feature for water management in about half of the Member States; whereas the area affected by the soil moisture deficit during the growing season in the EU increased between 2000 and 2019; whereas the soil moisture deficit also worsened in the Fennoscandian region1a and has also been observed in winter in recent years, which could lead to meteorological and agricultural drought in the spring and summer that follow1b;

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1a EEA, 2019, 'Soil moisture dashboard', European Environment Agency, https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/data-viewers/soil-moisture.

1b Kaliská, I., 2025: Začína pôdne sucho. Od novembra chýbajú zrážky. Poľnoinfo, 20 January, https://polnoinfo.sk/zacina-podne-sucho-od-novembra-chybaju-zrazky/?fbclid=IwY2xjawH7HzlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHctUw0yI-jBp6iFTUkagrZo75lCfEZ-MZYgdvjRd1BkgrwT6GwerxIv9eQ_aem_GEf82DgSqqYp_8bWDlOnQA.

Or. en

Amendment 10

Motion for a resolution

Recital E c (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ec. whereas agricultural drought incorporates the balance between soil moisture content, crop type, crop stage, and crop production practice; whereas the condition of agricultural drought of a high water intensive crop in a certain management system could mean suitable conditions for low water intensity crop production activities;

Or. en

Amendment 11

Motion for a resolution

Recital E d (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ed. whereas satisfying higher freshwater demand with finite freshwater resources remains a policy and feasibility dilemma; whereas one of the most common solutions to freshwater demands in agriculture is the application of higher irrigation efficiency; whereas this is beneficial to irrigators and saves water for reallocation to other sectors, including to the environment; whereas substantial scientific evidence has shown that increased irrigation efficiency rarely delivers increased water availability at river basin level1a;

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1a Grafton, R.Q., Williams, J., Perry, C.J., Molle, F., Ringler, C. et al., ‘The paradox of irrigation efficiency’, Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6404, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat9314.

Or. en

Amendment 12

Motion for a resolution

Recital E e (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ee. whereas, due to drought conditions, the continuation of traditional production of high value cash crops may require urgent changes in agricultural practices, including by implementing nature-based solutions; whereas agroforestry could be one such solution1a;

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1a Niková, K., Pivovarníci čelia hrozbe. Na záchránu hlavnej suroviny na výrobu piva vysádzajú stromy, SME, 4 December 2020, https://mytopolcany.sme.sk/c/23419798/pivovarnici-celia-hrozbe-na-zachranu-hlavnej-suroviny-na-vyrobu-piva-sadia-stromy.html.

Or. en

Amendment 13

Motion for a resolution

Recital E f (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ef. whereas pasture-based animal production is also negatively affected by drought; whereas the drought and heat conditions of recent years have shown that agroforestry also has benefits for animal production;

Or. en

Amendment 14

Motion for a resolution

Recital E g (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Eg. whereas the ecological flow is directly impacted by the agricultural model established;

Or. en

Amendment 15

Motion for a resolution

Recital I a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ia. whereas plant protection products, including PFAS pesticides, are a source of increasing pollution for water basins, further deteriorating drinking water and agricultural land, as well as putting pressure on agricultural productivity and human health; whereas the cost of treating PFAS pollution in drinking water alone is estimated at EUR 18 billion a year; whereas recent independent measurement analyses have detected PFAS, including more soluble short-chain PFAS, exceeding the theoretical quality threshold1a;

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1a Aubert, R., Foucart, S., Horel, S., Mandard, S., ‘PFAS: France’s drinking water is massively contaminated by ‘forever chemicals,’ including in Paris’, Le Monde, 24 January 2025, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/01/24/pfas-france-s-drinking-water-is-massively-contaminated-by-forever-chemicals-including-in-paris_6737375_114.html.

Or. en

Amendment 16

Motion for a resolution

Recital I b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ib. whereas the positive impact of organic farming on the prevention of nutrient leaching can be observed1a; whereas the EU has set an ambitious objective of increasing the area under organic farming to 25 % by 2030; whereas the latest data confirm the continuation of a fast and sharp expansion in organic farming in the EU, although with observed annual decreases in a few Member State; whereas there is a lack of support for the development and approval of innovative plant protection and fertilising products needed for a just transition to alternative systems, as well as for conventional farming;

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1a Česonienė, L., Šileikienė, D., Čiteikė, L., Mozgeris, G., Takayoshi, K., The Impact of Organic and Intensive Agricultural Activity on Groundwater and Surface Water Quality, Water, 15, 1240, 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/w15061240.

Or. en

Amendment 17

Motion for a resolution

Recital I c (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ic. whereas high nitrate concentrations in river basins in the EU directly impact public health and drinking water supplies; whereas nitrate pollution originating from intensive agricultural activity left a few hundred thousand people without a drinking water source in 20231a; whereas excessive application of nutrients resulting in run-offs also impacts marine areas, especially the coastal areas1b;

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1a Servimedia, ‘El agua contaminada por macrogranjas duplicó los pueblos afectados en España en 2023’, Vanguardia, 16 January 2025, https://www.lavanguardia.com/sociedad/20250116/10288968/agua-contaminada-macrogranjas-duplico-pueblos-afectados-espana-2023-agenciaslv20250116.html.

1b Jung-Madsen, S., Boutrup, I.K., Fredshavn, J., Hansen, A.S., Nielsen, V.V. et al., 2023. Vandmiljø og Natur 2021. NOVANA. Tilstand og udvikling - faglig sammenfatning. Aarhus Universitet, DCE – Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi, 75 s. - Videnskabelig rapport, http://dce2.au.dk/pub/SR532.pdf.

Or. en

Amendment 18

Motion for a resolution

Recital I d (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Id. whereas demands to cut nitrate pollution have been made through class legal action;

Or. en

Amendment 19

Motion for a resolution

Recital I e (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ie. whereas actions to better monitor and reduce pollution at source from non-domestic discharges should contribute to improving the quality of the sludge produced and ensure its safe use in agriculture;

Or. en

Amendment 20

Motion for a resolution

Recital J a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Ja. whereas there is a lack of comprehensive research on the comparative water relations of different farming systems, cropping systems and crops; whereas this is suboptimal given the importance of water for crop production and the increasing water scarcity;

Or. en

Amendment 21

Motion for a resolution

Recital J b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

Jb. whereas changes in climate conditions and soil moisture threaten specific tree species and the planted forests in which these species are dominant; whereas old-growth forests in analogous climate conditions serve as a reference and provide guidance for reforestation with higher resilience potential for forests managed for wood supply;

Or. en

Amendment 22

Motion for a resolution

Recital L a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

La. whereas compensation from State aid schemes to primary producers for the damage caused by droughts and floods in the EU in recent years has reached hundreds of millions of euro; whereas State aid rules, to a large extent, do not provide an incentive for minimising the risk of drought or flooding through preventive measures;

Or. en

Amendment 23

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 2 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

2a. Calls for the full application of the precautionary principle, the control at source principle and the polluter pays principle; calls for control-at-source measures to be included in agricultural sector legislation, accompanied by the proper implementation and enforcement of EU legislation; highlights that this must be accompanied by the streamlining of funding into the just transition in agriculture;

Or. en

Amendment 24

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 5 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

5a. Calls on the Commission to propose, within the upcoming water resilience strategy, measures and guidance to lay down a path for rules and conditionality under the common agricultural policy post-2027 for both EAGF and EAFRD; calls for similar measures to be proposed for a new State aid framework for agriculture, forestry and rural areas, in order to improve water aspects of agricultural production and its resilience;

Or. en

Amendment 25

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 8

Motion for resolution

Amendment

8. Calls for the transition to a sustainable farming model assisted by the implementation of innovative technological solutions than can help ensure continued productivity while enabling agriculture to reduce pollution and adapt to lower water use;

8. Calls for the transition to a sustainable low input farming model assisted by the implementation of solutions than can help ensure continued productivity while enabling agriculture to reduce pollution and adapt to lower water use;

Or. en

Amendment 26

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 8 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

8a. Calls on the Commission to set up an EU agroforestry platform for water resilient agriculture, delivering vocational centres of excellence for knowledge transfer and training in agroforestry to facilitate its expert application in the EU; stresses that the presence of trees on agricultural land must not constitute a legal barrier to farmers receiving funding for the use of that land under the common agricultural policy; calls further for an action plan for agroecological agricultural practices to be drawn up;

Or. en

Amendment 27

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 9 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

9a. Deplores cases where illegal water abstraction has been legalised; reiterates the importance of water and its sustainable use and reuse, including in agriculture; calls for the application of strong dissuasive measures to protect the ecological and quantitative status of surface and groundwater bodies; calls for technical guidance and training to be developed for enforcement and legal authorities, in order to identify possible gaps and to improve institutional knowledge capacity on the value of the quantitative and qualitative status of water bodies;

Or. en

Amendment 28

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 9 b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

9b. Highlights that increased irrigation efficiency is of wider public interest and should therefore benefit from public funding; proposes the exploration of policy scenarios and rules where beneficiaries of increased irrigation efficiency account for return flows, and where the allocation of permits in agriculture accounts for uncertainties in key water parameters and explicitly embeds conditionality criteria regarding compliance with minimal ecological flow, which should be a core criteria for any activity;

Or. en

Amendment 29

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 9 c (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

9c. Emphasises that inefficient and obsolete irrigation systems further increase the pressure on surface and groundwater abstraction; considers that the modernisation and restoration of existing installations without net increase in water use should be preferred to the construction of new installations;

Or. en

Amendment 30

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 11 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

11a. Emphasises the positive impact of integrated pest management on water quality and calls for a gradual decrease of pesticide use, contributing to the zero pollution ambition;

Or. en

Amendment 31

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 11 b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

11b. Calls on the Commission to propose an integrated nutrient management action plan without delay to effectively address nutrient loss, nutrient pollution and inefficiencies in the nutrient cycle; suggests that with respect to critical raw materials such as phosphorus, a minimum combined reuse and recycling rate should be set at EU level in order to ensure the proper and safe recovery of phosphorus from organic sources and to incentivise investments in its recovery;

Or. en

Amendment 32

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 11 c (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

11c. Highlights that novel products, fertilising products, biostimulants, soil improvers and plant protection products aiming for higher environmental sustainability, including in relation to water and circularity, may face unfair competition and trading practices; calls for enhanced guidance and assistance to improve EU market access for EU candidate products; calls for cooperation with farmers to be facilitated for field trial purposes, including via the agricultural European Innovation Partnership, in order to improve the process of registration for sustainable products and CE certification and to promote knowledge transfer on alternative approaches, resulting in more tools being made available for farmers;

Or. en

Amendment 33

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 12

Motion for resolution

Amendment

12. Calls on the Commission to establish comprehensive EU-wide quality standards for PFAS totals in groundwater and surface water;

12. Calls on the Commission to urgently address pollution from PFAS, including more soluble short-chain PFAS, and to establish comprehensive EU-wide quality standards for PFAS totals in groundwater and surface water, as well as to phase out their production for use in agriculture;

Or. en

Amendment 34

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 13 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

13a. Expects the water resilience strategy to set out a proposal on biopesticides and on the sustainable use of pesticides;

Or. en

Amendment 35

Paragraph 13 b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

13b. Reiterates the importance of regular soil monitoring to support and inform any actions aimed at improving its properties, also with a view to improving its water retention capacity;

Or. en

Amendment 36

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 20 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

20a. Notes that carefully designed forest management measures can improve watershed health, regulate water flow and reduce drought stress; highlights that the loss of forest intactness leads to declines or changes in key environmental services, including watershed regulation; notes that intact ecosystems are more capable of overcoming environmental stressors ; calls for old-growth and primary forests, as defined in the country where they are located, to be mapped as a matter of urgency;

Or. en

Amendment 37

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 20 b (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

20b. Calls for carbon farming activities to contribute to water resilience; calls for adequate, independent and science-based guidance for farmers in order to harness the synergies between various co-benefits of the schemes, promoting ecosystem services and the role of wetlands, agroforestry systems and close-to-nature forestry;

Or. en

Amendment 38

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 21

Motion for resolution

Amendment

21. Emphasises that the EWRS should ensure adequate funding from public and private sources in order to support resilient water infrastructure, sustainable water management, data collection, research, nature-based solutions and the uptake of water-efficient technologies, as well as to uphold nature restoration and biodiversity;

21. Emphasises that the EWRS should close the funding gap and ensure adequate funding from public and private sources in order to support resilient water infrastructure, sustainable water management, the retention of water in agricultural ecosystems, data collection, research, nature-based solutions and the uptake of water-efficient technologies, as well as to uphold nature restoration and biodiversity;

Or. en

Amendment 39

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 22 a (new)

Motion for resolution

Amendment

22a. Calls for targeted funding via the agricultural European Innovation Partnership for field trials on the water relations of different cropping systems, in particular low input systems such as agroecological, regenerative, organic and agroforestry systems, and conventional systems, assessing factors including agronomic water use, soil moisture, pollution, and leaching into groundwaters and surface waters, as well as the resistance of farming systems to current or future drought scenarios;

Or. en

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur for the opinion declares that he received input from the following entities or persons in the preparation of the draft opinion:

Entity and/or person

Edelman Public Relations Worldwide

European Federation of National Associations of Water Services (EurEau)

European Environmental Bureau (EEB)

The Nature Conservancy

Wetlands International Europe

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur for opinion in his capacity as rapporteur for opinion.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur for opinion in his capacity as rapporteur for opinion declares that he has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament’s Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.