Recital 34

(34)According to Article 168(1) TFEU, Union action complements national policies and is to be directed towards improving public health and preventing diseases. In order to ensure optimal use of relevant public health data from urban wastewater, urban wastewater surveillance should be set up and used for preventive or early warning purposes, for instance in the detection of specific viruses in urban wastewater as a signal of the emergence of epidemics or pandemics. Member States should establish a dialogue and coordination between competent authorities responsible for public health and competent authorities responsible for urban wastewater management. In the context of that coordination, roles, responsibilities and costs should be clearly allocated among those competent authorities. Member States should develop a list of parameters relevant for public health to be monitored in urban wastewater as well as the frequency and location of the sampling, taking into account the recommendations of, among others, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and of the World Health Organization (WHO) and consider the following health parameters for inclusion in such a list: SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, poliovirus, influenza virus, emerging pathogens and any other public health parameters that may be considered relevant. On the basis of information gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic and experience gained from the implementation of Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/472 ²² , Member States should be required to monitor relevant health parameters in urban wastewater in the event of a health emergency. In order to ensure that harmonised methods are used, Member States should, to the extent possible, use the sampling and analysis methods set out in Recommendation (EU) 2021/472 for the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.