EU puts water resilience plan on hold as drought grips Spain, Italy

Brussels has shelved a plan to boost the European Union’s resilience against droughts and floods — just as the bloc’s southern regions battle water shortages before it’s even spring. 

In September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a water resilience initiative among the policy priorities for the remainder of her term, but the item has disappeared from the EU executive’s latest calendar, dated February 12. 

“For now I don’t have a specific timing of the water resilience to announce,” said Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz, adding that the timeline is merely “indicative.” 

The Commission previously planned to present the initiative on March 12, together with a broader statement on “climate resilience,” which remains on the calendar. 

The delay comes as large parts of southern Europe are already grappling with severe dry spells. Catalonia declared a drought emergency earlier this month, Sicily announced a “state of natural disaster" last week, and Sardinia’s reservoirs are running low. 

As of late January, 17 percent of EU territory is facing drought conditions, according to the European Drought Observatory. 

As recently as Jan. 24, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius posted a picture alongside Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera on social media network X with the caption: “Gearing up our work for the essential upcoming Water Resilience initiative. It will be of [utmost] importance for the future of Spain as the country is heavily affected by droughts.”

The initiative is not a legislative proposal, but was expected to set out ideas on how to improve water resilience at national, European and international levels and guide the work of the next Commission after June's EU election. 

Besides water scarcity, the plan was also meant to address how to better manage flooding events, such as last year’s devastating floods in Greece. 

Green groups were aghast at the plan’s postponement. 

“Why the European Commission is jeopardizing something as essential as water resilience in the face of a climate emergency is unfathomable,” said Sergiy Moroz, policy manager for water and biodiversity at the European Environmental Bureau. 

Claire Baffert, senior water policy officer at WWF’s European office, said: “I am appalled that the von der Leyen Commission has taken the irresponsible decision to halt the water resilience initiative when intense floods and droughts are already drowning or parching parts of Europe at an immense cost to communities, farmers, our food supply and nature.”

The Commission did not indicate a reason for the plan's disappearance from its calendar.

Parts of the European Green Deal, particularly any policies affecting agriculture, have faced a growing backlash in recent months, with farmers staging protests across the Continent. 

“The primary users of our water resources such as our farmers will be highly highlighted in the communication,” Sinkevičius said last month, as they’re already “struggling” with water scarcity due to climate change and more frequent droughts.