Recital 3

(3)Directive 91/271/EEC sets the legal framework for the collection, treatment and discharge of urban wastewater and the discharge of biodegradable wastewater from certain industrial sectors. Urban wastewater can be formed by different mixtures of domestic wastewater, urban runoff and non-domestic wastewater from other origins. Wastewater from institutions such as offices, schools, kitchens with food preparation which originates predominantly from the human metabolism qualifies as domestic wastewater. The objective of Directive 91/271/EEC is to protect the environment from being adversely affected by insufficiently treated urban wastewater discharges. It has contributed to achieving the objectives established under Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁶ and other relevant Union law. This Directive should continue to pursue the same objective while also contributing to the protection of public health in accordance with the One Health approach, which is aimed at sustainably balancing and optimising the health of people, animals and ecosystems, when for instance urban wastewater is discharged into bathing waters or into water bodies used for the abstraction of drinking water, or when urban wastewater is used as an indicator for parameters relevant for public health. It should also ensure access to sanitation and to key information related to the governance of urban wastewater collection and treatment activities. This Directive should also aim at increasing synergies with climate change adaptation and actions to restore urban ecosystems in particular through integrated urban wastewater management planning, while making optimal use of digitalisation. Finally, this Directive should contribute to the progressive reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from urban wastewater collection and treatment activities, in particular by further reducing nitrogen emissions but also by promoting energy efficiency and production of renewable energies, and thus should contribute to the 2050 objective of Climate Neutrality established under Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁷ . In line with Article 193 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Member States can go beyond the minimum requirements set out in this Directive. Member States could consider for instance applying deadlines or thresholds more stringent than those included in this Directive, reaching energy or climate neutrality more rapidly or imposing additional requirements for, or broadening the spectrum of the application of, their national extended producer responsibility systems.