During the plenary session (25-28 March 2019) in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the quality of water intended for human consumption on 27th March and vote on 28th. Illustrative shots. Statements by Michel DANTIN (EPP, FR), Rapporteur, Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Peter LIESE (EPP, DE), Rory PALMER (S&D, UK), Czesław HOC (ECR, PL), and Ulrike MÜLLER (ALDE, DE).

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

vote

AVRAMOPOULOS, Dimitris (EL, EC)

DANTIN, Michel (EPP, FR)

LIESE, Peter (EPP, DE)

HOC, Czesław (ECR, PL)

water policy (T)

PALMER, Rory (S&D, UK)

Quality of water intended for human consumption: extracts from the debate (27/03) and from the vote, and illustrative shots

SOUNDBITE (French), Michel DANTIN (EPP, FR), Rapporteur, We need to make sure that all European citizens have access to high quality and affordable water supplies. The schedule is very clear. Despite all the work that has gone into this the European Parliament has been ready to negotiate the text right from October in order to reach an agreement before the end of the term of this Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, I regret that due to the slow progress in council it was not possible to reach inter-institutional agreement before European elections.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, The proposal would improve the situation of about 2 million people in the European Union. The commission proposal on access to water is also an important step towards achieving sustainable development goal six. I warmly welcome the strong support from the Parliament to ensure access for all.

SOUNDBITE (German), Peter LIESE (EPP, DE), Mineral water as you know is bottled and then transported for thousands and thousands of kilometers. Often that of course is a question of fuel consumption. It generates a number of other environmental problems. And as a doctor speaking as a doctor I would say also that it is not necessarily an advantage to drink bottled mineral water. Tap water is perfectly all right. It's good drinking water.

SOUNDBITE (English), Rory PALMER (S&amp;D, UK), What does the EU do? What is the EU for? This is what the EU does and shows that whether you are in London or Berlin or Paris or Strasbourg or Brussels. But when you turn your tap on there is a consistency in the safety and the quality of the drinking water we'll enjoy.

SOUNDBITE (Polish), Czes&#322;aw HOC (ECR, PL), Water must be controlled consistently. Must be of high quality. We need also free water dispensers in public spaces, including restaurants. This is support for sustainable development and water management, which is more sustainable in this way. We should limit consumption of bottled water.

SOUNDBITE (German), Ulrike M&#220;LLER (ALDE, DE), I'm glad we offer a solution to dealing with micro plastics and new hazardous substances in drinking water in the future. We're creating trust in drinking water this way.

Vote on the DANTIN report, the report is adopted.

Illustrative shots on drinking water (8 shots)