Sign in to save articles.
The week in brief · Week 42 · 12–18 October
After a summer of severe drought across much of Europe, this week was about institutions catching up. The European Commission launched an advisory accelerator for water resilience projects, the UK convened a new flood and drought taskforce, and Hungary replaced the head of its national water directorate with an explicit brief to keep water in the landscape. Meanwhile a new satellite study showed that groundwater, the buffer of last resort, is being depleted faster than expected in one of the world's most stressed river basins.
On 14 October the European Commission presented its Water Resilience Investment Accelerator, a flagship action under its Water Resilience Strategy (European Commission, 2026). The scheme offers free advisory support to 20 pilot projects in three areas: water efficiency and smart water solutions, nature-based solutions, and clean water. It runs under InvestEU, is funded by the LIFE programme and is delivered through Green Assist, an advisory service already working with close to 100 public and private beneficiaries. Start-ups, SMEs, farmers and local authorities get particular attention. Applications use a three-page template and close at the end of October.
The Commission itself sets out the scale of the problem: implementing existing EU water legislation requires roughly €23 billion a year more than is currently invested, or about 0.1% of EU GDP. Twenty advisory mandates will not close that gap, but the stated aim is to make projects more bankable and more attractive to investors, and to give visibility to financing models that work.
