Improving European water resilience
Three out of the 30 main actions in the European Water Resilience Strategy, published in June 2025, have been completed to date, the European Commission’s Water Resilience Strategy Actions Tracker shows.
There is a total of 50 actions included in the strategy across five areas of action. The strategy sets the following three core objectives:
- restoring and protecting the water cycle as basis for sustainable water supply;
- building a water-smart economy together with citizens and economic actors in a way that supports EU competitiveness, is attractive to investors, and supports a thriving EU water industry; and
- securing clean and affordable water and sanitation for all at all times, and empowering citizens for water resilience.
One of the completed actions is the creation of the Water Resilience Forum which held its first meeting in December 2025. The forum met to assess progress made in enhancing water resilience and to monitor the strategy’s implementation. It is to be held every two years.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has launched its water programme which includes a commitment to investing €15 billion in water between 2025 and 2027. This financing is needed for major infrastructure including reservoirs, pipelines, and treatment plants along with projects that reduce water losses and control pollution.
The EIB’s Sustainable Water Advisory Facility (SWAF), in cooperation with the Commission, has also been established. The EIB provides technical and financial advice for the water sector through the SWAF.
It is intended to support public and private entities in developing and implementing circular economy investments in the water sector. The SWAF is intended to provide grants “to foster circularity and resilience” in urban and regional water systems.
In July 2025, the Commission launched the Roadmap towards Nature Credits. This is aimed at incentivising private investments into actions that protect and preserve nature, and rewarding those who undertake these actions and invest in them.
Outside of the main actions, the Commission also supported the reallocation of €3.1 billion to water resilience under its mid-term review of cohesion policy, published in March 2026.
The Commission has launched a series of ‘water dialogues’ with member states. This is to accelerate action to achieve the environmental objectives of EU water legislation.
The strategy also recommends the adoption of a ‘water efficiency first’ principle. In an interview with Smart Water Magazine in July 2026, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall said the guidance is being implemented. Commissioner Roswall said this is “concretely helping EU member states with new methods and guidance for setting targets, planning, and measuring”.
“We are making good progress on the actions outlined in the strategy, and several are already completed,” Roswall said.
