There has been underspending on water security for a long time, the EU water resilience commissioner said on Friday as she urged member states to use EU funds more efficiently for water management or leakages.

Jessika Roswall focused on water resilience, noting that along with circular economy, they are “absolute priorities” and noted that “investing in water is investing in our economic security”.

“The cost of doing nothing is too high,” she told a press conference held as part of Cyprus’ presidency of the Council of the EU.

“This is why we urged the member states to make full use of the EU cohesion funds, which we have made more flexible to invest in exactly water resilience,” Roswall said, adding that there is a new fund of €15 billion from the European Investment Bank available for funding water resilience projects. She also said that it is equally important to boost private finance and push for innovative solutions in the water sector.

Responding to a journalist’s question about addressing water leakages, Roswall said that this is an issue for many EU member states, noting that some of them suffer more than 50 per cent loses. She added it was an issue with which EU funded projects could help deal.

Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou, said that Cyprus is conducting a study to monitor water loss due to leaks, thanks to EU’s support. 

Panayiotou, who chaired the informal council’s sessions, said that the discussions focused on “how to turn shared ambition into concrete action”.

She added that the discussion “helped prepare the ground for future work towards an integrated framework for climate resilience and set the scene for adequate financing”.

Panayiotou also spoke about the Circular Economy Act, saying that it “reflects a strategic shift” as “a competitiveness, security and resilience agenda”.

“By creating a true single market for secondary raw materials, reducing dependence on imports and strengthening Europe’s industrial base, we are investing in long-term resilience.”

On wildfires, Roswall pointed to a wildfire management strategy due to be launched later this spring.

“We want to put the wildfire resilience high on the political agenda and also improve what we do with tools that we have on the ground,” she said.

Panayiotou announced that there is an undergoing process for a regional EU hub for wildfires in Cyprus and the country will host a series of actions and initiatives in April.