Recital (3)

According to the European Environment Agency’s report entitled Europe’s state of water 2024, in 2021 Member States reported that around 90 % of the area of groundwater bodies was in good quantitative status, and around 75 % was in good chemical status, while 40 % of surface water bodies were in good or high ecological status, and 38 % in good chemical status. As outlined in the Commission’s 7th Implementation Report (2024), assessing the third river basin management plans, the reasons for this are manifold. As regards chemical status, some positive trends are masked by historic, widespread contamination by mercury and other ubiquitous, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants or are overshadowed by new, emerging pollution challenges. As regards ecological status, there has been some improvement in certain biological quality elements. However, rivers, lakes and coastal waters in the Union are still subject to significant pressures and, even when effective measures are taken, progress may not be visible over the short term in the monitoring results because nature needs sufficient time to recover.