(4)In 2019, the Commission performed an evaluation of Directive 91/271/EEC under the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (the ‘evaluation’). It became apparent from that exercise that certain provisions of that Directive needed to be updated. Three important sources of pollution not fully addressed under that Directive from urban wastewater that could be avoided were identified, namely storm water overflows and polluted discharges of urban runoff, potentially malfunctioning individual systems, that is to say systems treating domestic wastewater that does not enter collecting systems, and small agglomerations that are currently not completely covered by Directive 91/271/EEC. Those three sources of pollution put significant pressure on surface water bodies in the Union. Moreover, the report of the evaluation also highlighted the need to improve the transparency and governance of urban wastewater activities, to seize the opportunity offered by the urban wastewater treatment sector to use its potential for renewable energy development and make tangible steps towards energy neutrality as a contribution to climate neutrality, and to harmonise urban wastewater surveillance of health parameters, such as the COVID-19 virus and its variants, as a means of supporting public health action.