Commissioner Roswalls keynote address at the Water Resilience Forum

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Europe has been at the forefront of water innovation for millennia. 

Of course, we all know about the Romans and the aqueducts.

But did you know that some of the first man-made wells date back to 8500 BC in Cyprus?

Or that the first irrigation systems are believed to have been used in Crete 4000 years ago.

And what may have been the worlds first flushing toilet appeared in the Orkney Islands around 5000 years ago.

The innovation has not stopped since. 

Modern wastewater systems, chlorination, and countless other breakthroughs have transformed our relationship with water and enabled European society to thrive.

Now, we need that innovative spirit more than ever.

Europes waters are neglected, overexploited, and polluted. 

Our water cycle is out of balance – and we are confronted with too much or too little water.

New research suggests that the north and north-west of Europe is getting wetter, while freshwater storage across southern and central Europe is shrinking.

I just read that the primary reservoir for Athens lost nearly half of its water volume in the past four years.

This is not an isolated example. Vast amounts of Europes water reserves are drying up – with devastating consequences.

The cost of inaction has become too expensive to ignore. 

Take flooding.

It used to cost the EU 6 billion euro per year.

But between 2021 and 2024, the average cost rose to 24 billion euros. 

Water pollution alone costs the EU somewhere between 55 billion and 75 billion euros every single year.

This is a problem for our society, for our industry and economy, and for each of us as individuals. 

We must invest and innovate. We must protect and prepare. 

We also need to maximise the opportunities that come with water resilience.

Each euro spent on restoring our freshwater ecosystems and habitats bring estimated returns of up to 26 euro.

So, achieving water resilience is not just an environmental or societal imperative – its a smart investment. 

The European Water Resilience Strategy is a roadmap to help us restore the broken water cycle, build a water-smart economy, and secure clean and affordable water and sanitation for all.

Our water systems badly need investment – so we are working to set up a Water Resilience Investment Accelerator.

This will help to implement pilot cases for a whole range of topics, from natural water retention to AI for leakage detection. 

Europe cannot afford to waste a single drop – we need to modernise infrastructure, reduce leaks, and adopt digital solutions.

We have set an ambitious but realistic aim to enhance water efficiency by 10% by 2030.

This means promoting water reuse in agriculture and industry.

And it means promoting innovation to reduce water demand in energy production and data centres.

Next year, the Commission will adopt a Digitalisation Action Plan for the water sector that will help to manage every drop effectively.

On top of improving efficiency, the economic opportunity here is immense.  

Europes digital water market is on track to double in size, growing to almost 23.5 billion euro by 2033.

This is not a niche area; it is a 169-billion-euro spending opportunity for European tech.

We also know that investing in water is a proven growth driver: every 1 billion euro invested creates 16 000 jobs.

But a modern water system needs a modern work force. So, we are also upskilling workers across the EU.

The Water Academy will be launched next year to support this effort.

We need to maximise skills, drive innovation and unlock opportunities in order to boost resilience and competitiveness – and the Strategy is the blueprint to get us there.

And thanks to the Actions Tracker, citizens and stakeholders can follow its implementation on the Commissions Water Resilience Strategy website.

This is your Strategy, so we need you to be involved and engaged.

And, as the saying goes, ‘what gets measured gets done.

So, implementing this Strategy will take innovation and investment, collaboration and upskilling.

But it also depends on political determination.

Water resilience must become a shared priority across all policies and all sectors.

Thankfully, we are not starting from scratch.

The EU has a strong framework to build on, a thriving water sector, the backing of the European investment bank, and the support of our citizens - 78% of whom want stronger EU action on water.

Many of the solutions are out there waiting to be applied.

Many of them are here, in this Forum.

So please, speak up, and share your ideas and insight – today and in the weeks and months to come.

We want the dialogue to continue throughout my mandate and beyond.

And I am thrilled to announce that we will launch a Water Resilience Stakeholder Platform early next year.

The Platform will glue our efforts, knowledge and resources together.

Ladies and gentlemen,

An ancient philosopher once said that water is the beginning of all things.

It is the lifeblood of our world – fundamental to our ecosystems, our economies, and our societies. 

We urgently need to do more to protect it – because our current path is unsustainable, and the price of inaction is unacceptable. 

But we can turn this problem around.

With collaboration, investment and efficiency.

With our rich history of water innovation.

And with enthusiasm and expertise.

Each of these is clearly on display here today and it fills me with confidence for the future.

So, lets get to work, because there isnt a moment to lose or a drop to waste.

Now, I will give the floor to a partner who has been instrumental in giving the Water Resilience Strategy the political weight it needs, Honourable Member Bajada.

Thank you.