In a statement, the EU executive demanded that Portugal, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands transpose a directive that updates the water quality criteria so that it is considered potable.

Specifically, the European directive, which should have been transposed into national legislation by 12 January 2023, calls for measures to be taken to reduce the presence of micro-plastics and to prevent leaks, since on average 30% of drinking water from pipes is lost during distribution.

In the case of Portugal, the Government “failed to correctly transpose several points of the directive”, namely the risk assessment on water that is potable and distributed, as well as “the role of the competent authorities”.

The European Commission has also demanded that Portugal and Romania comply with EU rules on eco-design and energy on product labels.

The demand is based on the failure of member states to comply with rules on product labelling, namely whether they meet minimum energy use requirements and whether designs meet environmentally friendly criteria.

These rules aim to provide more information so that consumers can make decisions, the European Commission explained.