The resolution passed by 294 for / 245 against / 28 abstentions, carried by 49 votes. EPP, ECR, ESN and PfE voted overwhelmingly in favour; S&D, Greens/EFA, and The Left voted against; Renew and NI divided, with most opposing. The result is a Parliament political position — carrying no direct legal effect on its own — but signals to the Commission that a majority wants implementation of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) slowed pending fresh scrutiny of costs and pharmaceutical-supply risks.
The resolution, as amended, calls for a new Commission impact assessment by end-2026 covering the costs of quaternary treatment, the allocation of responsibility under the polluter-pays principle, and medicine availability and affordability. Most significantly, it calls for a temporary suspension of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) provisions and quaternary treatment financial obligations until that assessment is complete — a position rejected by the centre-left and green groups, who backed the existing implementation timeline and saw the EPR as the correct financing model. The amendment votes divided opinion along a consistent right-versus-left-and-centre-left line throughout the session. EPP, PfE, ECR and ESN formed a stable majority for every adopted amendment; S&D, Greens/EFA, The Left and most of Renew voted against each. The one rejected amendment (Am 9) would have narrowed the resolution's environmental language by removing the reference to implementation deadlines and micropollutants — it fell by just 8 votes, with the EPP and PfE backing it but unable to overcome combined opposition from S&D, Renew, Greens/EFA and The Left. All other contested amendments carried, the tightest by just 6 votes (Am 10). The resolution represents the Parliament's formal political position and may press the Commission to reconsider the UWWTD implementation timeline or bring forward a revised impact assessment, though it does not bind the Commission to act.