Selection of substances for the 4th Watch List under the Water Framework Directive

The 1st Watch List (WL) for substances in surface waters under the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD - Directive 2013/39/EU) was established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/495 in March 2015. The list was first updated in June 2018 by the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/840 and in August 2020 by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1161. The period of continuous monitoring for any WL substance should not exceed four years (Article 8b of the EQSD). Thus, in 2022 the three substances added in 2018, i.e. the insecticide metaflumizone and the antibiotics amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin, should be removed. A maximum total of thirteen substances or groups of substances may be listed in the 4th WL, i.e. one more than the maximum allowed in 2020. The six substances or groups of substances added during the third WL update (EU 2020/1161) should be carried over to the 4th WL to ensure that enough high-quality monitoring data are collected for their risk assessment. Therefore, seven additional substances or groups of substances may be added to establish the 4 th WL. The purpose of this report is to propose candidate substances for the 4th WL, which have been selected based on three pillars of information. The overall selection process, including the rationale for each substance selected, is described. Briefly, after comments received following the Working Group meetings, the seven candidates for the 4th Watch list are two plant protection products (PPP), two antibiotics, one insecticide, one pharmaceutical and its transformation product, and three sunscreen agents.