Residents receive response to letter sent to EC in November
The European Commission (EC) has vowed to closely follow the controversial Algarve desalination plant, a project that has sparked environmental concerns and debates about its rising costs.
The commitment came in response to a letter sent on November 12 by the ‘Estrangeiros/Foreigners Algarve’ group, represented by Paolo Funassi, Alisa Scutt, and Richard Culhane. The group raised alarms about the potential ecological impact of the plant and its financial implications.
In its response, addressed by Maria Teresa Fabregas from the EC’s Recovery and Resilience Task Force, the Commission acknowledged the residents’ concerns and reiterated its commitment to monitoring the project.
It explained that the desalination plant is part of the Algarve Water Efficiency Regional Plan, which aims to address worsening water scarcity in the region due to climate change, and also includes measures such as wastewater reuse, improved irrigation technologies, leak detection systems, and water network interventions.
The Commission highlights that the project must comply with EU regulations, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and the EU Water Framework Directive, to ensure no significant harm to environmental objectives.
It also emphasises the importance of integrating any mitigation measures identified during these assessments into the project’s construction, operation, and decommissioning phases.
Additionally, the Commission stresses the need for sustainable water management in Portugal, recommending improvements in governance, leak reduction, wastewater treatment, and nature-based solutions.
The full response from the EC is as follows:
Dear Ms Scutt,
Thank you very much for your email to Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, to which I have been asked to reply. Thank you for sharing information and making contributions on the investment in the desalination plant in the Algarve. We are closely following the developments around this project and appreciate the points you have raised.
Member States prepared their own national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) within the scope set out in Article 3 of the RRF Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021) and in pursuit of the objectives set out in Article 4 (Article 17(1)) of the RRF regulation. The Portuguese plan has been assessed by the European Commission in accordance with Article 19 against several criteria, including (i) whether the plan contributes appropriately to all six pillars referred to in Article 3, and (ii) whether the plan contains measures that effectively contribute to the green transition or to addressing the challenges resulting therefrom. As with all Member State plans, the plan was approved by the Council. As such, in line with the Regulation, the Portuguese RRP includes several measures aiming to address the green transition, such as forest management, energy efficiency in buildings, sustainable mobility and water management.
The desalinator you refer to is one of several elements of the investment Algarve Water Efficiency Regional Plan in the Portuguese RRP. According to the annex to the Council Implementing Decision, the objective of this investment is to respond to the water scarcity in the Algarve, which continues to worsen in the face of climate change. The investment aims to reduce water losses in the urban and agricultural sectors in the Algarve through more efficient irrigation technologies. At the supply level, it also includes the installation of a desalinator. Other elements promote the reuse of treated waste water, boost irrigation technologies, implement remote sensing and consumption control systems as well as leak detection systems and network interventions to reduce water losses.
It is expected that this measure does not do significant harm to environmental objectives within the meaning of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, taking into account the description of the measure and the mitigating steps set out in the recovery and resilience plan in accordance with the DNSH Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01) and the milestones and targets to be fulfilled by Portugal.
In particular, all projects potentially likely to have significant effects on the environment should be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which should be completed in accordance with Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment as well as relevant assessments in the context of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the Community action in the field of water policy, or for short, the EU Water Framework Directive, including the implementation of required mitigation measures, ensuring compliance with the DNSH Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).
Any measures identified in the framework of the EIA and the assessment under Directive 2000/60/EC as necessary to ensure compliance with the DNSH principle should be integrated into the project and strictly complied with at the stages of construction, operation and decommissioning of the infrastructure.
The European Commission has long considered effective and efficient water management crucial for Portugal. In this context, we would like to draw your attention to the recently published country-specific recommendation adopted by the Council on water management (in the context of the European Semester), which addresses some of the key concerns surrounding this important topic. The recommendation emphasises the need to ‘improve water management to strengthen adaptation to the effects of climate change and ensure long-term economic and environmental resilience by implementing a strategy for integrated and sustainable water management, developing its governance structure, promoting investments in wastewater collection and treatment, leakage reduction and water monitoring, while developing nature-based solutions and rehabilitation of water bodies, and improving water efficiency and water reuse.’
Thank you again for your valuable contribution. We will continue to follow this issue closely.
Sincerely yours,
Maria Teresa Fábregas
