Forever chemicals and single-use plastics: What the EU’s new rules mean for Cyprus

By Antonia Christou

As Cyprus handed back the rotating presidency of the EU Council on June 30, one of its more consequential environmental marks is also one of its least publicised. In February 2026, under the Cypriot presidency, the Council signed off on a long-stalled directive that, for the first time, brings a whole group of PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals”, under EU pollution limits for surface water and, for groundwater, regulates them at all; the European Parliament confirmed...