Briefing Infographic April 2016

Water use in the EU Available water resources - 2014 1000 m per capita 3

More than 10 More than 5 and less than 10 More than 1 and less than 5 Less than 1

Fresh water withdrawals % of total resources More than 25%

5-15%

15-25%

Less than 5%

Latest available figures: 2002 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 MT LV AT

FI

PT SK LT EL

IT

BE RO CY BG IE*

NL ES HR SE DE FR

UK

SI LU* HU DK EE PL CZ

*Not including water used for agriculture

1

Data source: FAO-Aquastat

Renewable fresh water resources are defined as the annual average flow of rivers and restocking of aquifers resulting from precipitation. This corresponds to the theoretical yearly amount of water actually available to a country at a given moment. Fresh water withdrawals as a percentage of total renewable water resources give an indication of the pressure on water resources. Water stress is steadily increasing, as a result either of droughts – a temporary decline in water resources due to low rainfall – or situations of water scarcity, where demand exceeds the level of sustainable use. Assessment of the global use of water resources is hampered by the lack of established standards, and conventional measurements may yield diverging results. The European Environment Agency assessment of pricing of water as a cost-recovery tool and a means to promote efficient use of resources concluded there was a lack of harmonised concepts across the EU. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Authors: Dessislava Yougova and Eulalia Claros Members’ Research Service PE 581.983

EPRS

Water use in the EU Evolution of water withdrawal per capita

m3 per inhabitant

1 241

867

FI

745

857

EE

637

719

838

900

910

1200

1 232

1500

557

521

507

453

450

345

180

174

170

163

146

131

127

116

84

282

300

297

410

600

0 LU DK

SK MT HR

CY UK

CZ

LV

SE

PL RO

DE

AT

SI

HU FR

BE NL

ES

LT

BG EL

PT

IT

2012 except: UK - 2011; HR, FR, DE, NL, ES, SE - 2010; BE, BG, CY, RO - 2009;IT - 2008; EL, LT, PT, SK - 2007; FI - 2006; AT, LV, MT - 2002 2002, except: DE - 2001; PT - 1998; AT - 1997; PT - 1995 Data source: FAO-Aquastat

The freshwater cycle

Imports & Desalinated Water

Exports

Water withdrawal

Reuse Water discharges

Seeking an additional measure to relieve water stress, the European Commission launched a public consultation on water reuse in December 2014. Monitoring of freshwater withdrawals, water pricing and water‑related business models were identified as possible contributions to solving the problem. Members’ Research Service

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EPRS

Water use in the EU Water withdrawals by sector % of total withdrawals

Agriculture

Industry

Municipal water

100

80

60

40

20

0

EE FI LT PT CY NL BE EL HU DE ES BG FR PL AT SI RO SE CZ IT LV SK DK UK MT HR LU IE

Data source: FAO-Aquastat

Water footprint - 2008 1000 m3 per capita Less than 2.4 Between 2.4 and 2.6 Between 2.6 and 3 Between 3 and 3.2 More than 3.2

Water withdrawals by sector are presented in this chart as a percentage of total withdrawals for the latest available year, Agriculture as detailed in the map on page 1. Withdrawals of water represent the annuIndustry al quantity of self-supplied water used by each sector. Agriculture includes water used for irrigation, Municipal Water livestock and aquaculture purposes, whilst industrial uses also include the dairy and meat industries and industrial processing of harvested agricultural products. Municipal water withdrawals are primarily for the direct use of the population and are usually calculated as the total water withdrawn by the public distribution network. The ratio between net consumption and the water withdrawn can vary from 5 to 15% in urban areas and from 10 to 50% in rural areas.

Household water footprint Distribution by consumption sector Food, drinks and tobacco Clothing and footwear Housing, fuel and power Household goods and services Health and education Transport and communications Recreation and culture Restaurants and hotels Other goods and services

Data source: Global resources Use and Pollution

The concept of water footprint refers to water used to produce the goods and services required to satisfy the country’s final demand, regardless of the country where this water was actually used. It is presented by consumption category and includes the water used directly by households. Members’ Research Service

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EPRS

Water use in the EU Water footprints of selected agricultural products

Turkey meat Eggs

FI:1.57

EE:2.95

DK:1.47

Bovine meat Apples Potatoes Wheat bread

BE:1.72

SE:1.48 NL:1.24

PL:2.16

LT:3.08 SK:2.17

LV:4.5 IE:1.30

DE:1.48

UK:1.36

AT:1.5

FR:1.56

CZ:2.24

HU:7.15

RO:3.57 PT:3.32

BG:5.37

LU:1.84 ES:2.66

IT:1.95

SI:2.01

HR:4.02 MT:2.72

EL:3.34 CY:6.16

Data source: National water footprint accounts

The chart compares the relative water footprints of a selection of agricultural products. The size of the country boxes is proportional to the selection’s average water footprint, which is specified in m3 per tonne, for each country. All figures are from Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011), National water footprint accounts: The green, blue and grey water footprint of production and consumption, Value of Water Research Report Series No 50, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands.

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EPRS

Water use in the EU Municipal waste water m3/inhabitant

Less than 50

Between 50 and 100

Romania: 19

Cyprus: Portugal: 26 22

Greece: 51

France: 57

Slovenia: 61

Italy: 65

Spain: 68

Bulgaria: 63 More than 100

Slovakia: 103

Netherlands: 112

Poland: 36

Belgium: 112

Ireland: 118

Lithuania: Sweden: Malta: 43 47 46

Germany: 63

Latvia: 63

Luxembourg: 74

Denmark: 89

Czech Republic: 119

Estonia: 144

Croatia: 49

United Kingdom: 63

Austria: 225

Data sources: FAO-Aquastat

The chart shows the amount of treated municipal wastewater per capita of the resident population in each Member State. For Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Malta and Slovakia, municipal wastewater produced is shown. Figures are for the latest year available (BE:2002, LU:2003, CY:2005, AT:2006, DE,IT:2007, FR:2008, BG, CZ, EE, LV, LT, MT, PT, SK:2009, DE, IE, NL,SI,SE:2010, HR, PL, RO, UK:2011); population as of 1 January 2013.

The EU’s Water Framework Directive, states that ‘water is not a commercial product … but rather a heritage that must be protected’. Nevertheless, in addition to the lack of standard instruments in water accounting, risks linked to changes in river basin morphology and excessive water withdrawals, to the presence of medicines in waste water, pollution from diffuse sources and loss of aquatic bio-diversity remain unacceptably high.

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Water use in the EU

EPRS

Value added generated by individual workers in the water management sector - 2013

(collection, treatment, supply and sewerage)

Value added per employee (€ thousand)

Water (left axis)

€ thousand

Total economy (right axis) Total economy (right hand axis)

Water (left hand axis)

€ thousand

200

100

180

84

160

83 82

140

70

120

59 49

29

36

23 22

40 20

11

14

15

31 26

26

60 50

80 60

60

477

35

80 70

67

65

63 64

100

90

90

90

40

36

30

28

20

17

10

0

EU

00

IE and PL (total economy): 2012 - EU average

Data source: Eurostat

Value added – the difference between output and intermediate consumption – measures the contribution to GDP of an activity. The charts show the value added contributed per employee in enterprises working in water supply and treatment activities, including sewage, compared with the value added per employee  in the total business economy, excluding financial services.

Notes Country codes: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR), Cyprus (CY), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (EL), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Malta (MT), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU28). Extraction date: Data extracted in April 2016. This is an updated version of a document published in May 2015. Disclaimer and Copyright. The content of this document is the sole responsibility of the authors and any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. It is addressed to the Members and staff of the EP for their parliamentary work. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. © European Union, 2016. [email protected] – http://www.eprs.ep.parl.union.eu (intranet) – http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank (internet) – http://epthinktank.eu (blog)

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