Air & Water Quality update - Sometimes you can trust the experts - Main contents

Last week was an important one in my mandate as Environment Commissioner. We had two events designed to help improve Europeans' quality of life. Practically, that meant promoting, or insisting on, measures to ensure the quality of Europe's air and drinking water.

Neither event waved a magic wand, but with the right support, the right political fortitude, you will see improvements in your environment sooner rather than later.

On Tuesday we held our Air Quality Summit with Ministers from 9 Member States. Details here (LINK http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-18-508_en.htm)

Our message was simple, and one with which the Ministers present understood. Essentially it was this: new measures or our legal process continues. It is a continuation on our path, not a shift. That was the basis of my presentation to the 27 other Commissioners the following day. Essentially, the Commission as a whole agreed to proceed with the final stage of infringements, unless additional credible, timely and effective measures are presented by the nine Member States concerned by Friday (9 February).

Now it is up to our environment experts within the Commission to assess any submissions by Member States. They will do so rapidly, thoroughly and objectively. And they will do so with one overall goal in mind - to make air quality better for you as soon as possible, in line with the European legislation in force.

The interest in the summit was of course huge, and your feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I received messages of support from individuals, from citizens groups, from health and environment NGOs, from political parties, the Ministers and Governments and even from the head of the UN Environment Programme.

Our stance (and your response) would not have been possible without the full support of the Commission, from President Juncker down.

On Thursday, with First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, I outlined our revamped drinking water directive (LINK http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-429_en.htm ) . This proposal had three aspects: better protection, better access and better transparency on your bill.

Some of the media coverage focussed on stories about tap water in restaurants but of course there was a much bigger picture. We are proud to stand by our claim that, with these measures, the drinking water that will flow from your tap, will be of the highest quality of any region in the world. We want the highest scientific standards to detect any dangerous elements instantly and we want quality drinking water to be available to all.

One important aspect that these two events - Air summit and Water press conference - shared, was that even though I was making the public announcement, each time I was flanked by experts from the European Commission - in this case from the Directorate-General for Environment. These professionals are dedicated to ensuring that you can avail of the highest quality air and water. They are the ones who do the analysis, develop the standards, scrutinise the Member States and ultimately, they are the ones who will recommend on our next steps. Rest assured, they do this work with your interests at heart.

Just this week many of them are attending the Eco-Innovation Forum on Air Quality. This forum, in Sofia Bulgaria (5-6 February) is a store front window for the best solutions and technologies to improve air quality. Indeed, clean technologies are widely available to address our air quality challenges. To make a difference, and make that difference fast, it is now up to national governments, regions, cities, industries and individual citizens to use them.

Find out all the details. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoinnovation2018/1st_forum/watch-live.html