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(33) The Commission, in its communication of 19 March 2014 on the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, not a commodity!’, invited Member States to ensure access to a minimum water supply for all citizens, in accordance with the WHO recommendations. It also committed to continue to ‘improve access to safe drinking water […] for the whole population through environmental policies’. This is in line with SDG 6 and the associated target to ‘achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all’. To address the aspects of access to water which are related to quality and availability and as part of the reply to the Right2Water initiative, and to contribute to the implementation of Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights that states that ‘everyone has the right to access essential services of good quality, including water’, Member States should tackle the issue of access to water at national level whilst enjoying some discretion as to the exact type of measures to be implemented. This should be done through actions aimed at improving access to water intended for human consumption for all, in particular by setting up outdoor and indoor equipment in public spaces where technically feasible, as well as through actions aimed at promoting the use of tap water, for example by encouraging the free provision of water intended for human consumption in public administrations and public buildings or, for free or for a low service fee, for customers in restaurants, canteens and catering services.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-28 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.