Background

FoodDrinkEurope publishes Water Report: calls for stronger EU action on water resilience

Published: 01/07/2025

FoodDrinkEurope has today published its latest Water Report, which calls on EU policymakers to strengthen water resilience in Europe and safeguard EU food and drink production.

Water is essential to the food and drink industry – Europe’s largest manufacturing industry – from sourcing agricultural inputs to ensuring food safety; water plays a critical role in our food chain. Yet ageing infrastructure, fragmented rules, limited funding, and unclear regulations are slowing progress on water reuse, circularity, and resilience.

Although the sector uses just 1.8% of Europe’s non-agricultural water, it is critically exposed to both quantity and quality issues, underscoring that smaller water users can face outsized risks from supply issues, such as drought or contamination.

The report outlines five key policy recommendations for EU policymakers to take to shore up water resilience for food and drink production: (1) strengthen water legislation implementation (2) clarify and harmonise water reuse rules (3) support collaborative water stewardship (4) modernise infrastructure and funding (5) and improve access to reliable, localised water data.

“Water is the lifeblood of our food chain. If we want to ensure future-proof food and drink production in Europe, we need action on water resilience now. That means clear rules, smarter investment, and a strategy that turns water risk into water resilience,” said FoodDrinkEurope Director General Dirk Jacobs.

This report presents FoodDrinkEurope’s contribution to the implementation of the European Commission’s Water Resilience Strategy, published on 4 June 2025. It highlights the food and drink sector’s unique exposure to water risks, outlines barriers to progress, and sets out practical, actionable policy recommendations for true water resilience in Europe.