Comparison between water and air quality legal framework in the EU: References to science and the World Health Organisation

Aligned with the EU's zero-pollution strategy, several legislations concerning both environmental and human health have either been updated or are slated for future updates and amendments. Specifically, two proposals and an already implemented directive have a particular focus on reducing pollutants in the domains of water and air quality, essential for human well-being. These initiatives encompass the proposal for revising the directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air in Europe, the already revised Drinking Water Directive, and the recent proposal aiming to amend the EU water legal framework (which includes the Water Framework, Groundwater, and Environmental Quality Standards Directives). In the presentation, the scientific underpinnings of these legislative measures were scrutinized. This involves examining how the EU legislature engages with scientific authorities to establish standards or integrate new parameters for monitoring. After providing a brief overview of these three regulatory instruments and their alignment with the EU Green Deal and Zero Pollution Strategy, the presentation conducted a comparative analysis of the scientific references employed in each, seeking both commonalities and disparities.