According to the European Court of Auditors (ECA), the EU agricultural policy cannot guarantee that farmers use water sustainably. Farmers are granted exemptions to pump groundwater far too often.
Moreover, the agricultural policy encourages more rather than more efficient water use, the Court of Auditors states in a study on water use in agriculture.
The Court of Auditors' report mainly focuses on water use by agriculture. Their findings, conclusions, and recommendations may play a role in new EU policies, not only in agriculture but also in health or biodiversity.
Farmers are major freshwater consumers: a quarter of all water withdrawals in the EU occur in agriculture. Agricultural activities affect both water quality (e.g., contamination from fertilizers or pesticides) and quantity.
"Water is a limited resource, and the future of agriculture largely depends on how efficiently and sustainably farmers use it," said Joëlle Elvinger of the European Court of Auditors. "So far, however, EU policy has not sufficiently helped to limit agriculture's impact on water reserves."
According to the ECA report, EU countries grant agriculture too many and too extensive exemptions for irrigation and watering, even in regions experiencing water stress. At the same time, national authorities rarely take action against illegal water use, the report concludes. EU countries are obliged to apply the "polluter pays" principle, even when agriculture pollutes drainage water that then requires treatment.
Many EU governments still do not fully charge agricultural water service costs, as is done in other sectors. The auditors point out that farmers are often not billed for the actual amount of water they use.