Public funding will play a major role in financing the substantial investments needed to implement the water resilience strategy. Nevertheless, a significant role has also to be played by regulation. Alongside targets for an efficient water service management, tariff and quality regulation should also include proper incentives, on one side, to prioritise investments for environmental sustainability and resilience against the climate change, possibly privileging nature-based solutions, and, on the other side, to foster circular economy practices, in particular encouraging water reuse.
The Forum was organised in a hybrid format on 4 December 2025, from 9.00 to 16.30, at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Rue du Musée / Museumstraat 9, 1000 Brussels.
Economist. Director of the Environment Division (Water, Waste, and District Heating sectors) at ARERA and, on an interim basis, of the Directorate for Environmental Tariffs and Charges (included in the Environment Division).
He was appointed Director for regulation of the Integrated Water Service in 2013, and later – once the Regulatory Institution extended its powers – he was asked to manage the new sectoral regulations for waste management and district heating (as of December 2018).
His main professional activity includes the design and management of tariff methodologies, of technical and contractual quality standards, as well as of reforms concerning concession agreements and tender procedures.
He is author of several publications on the regulation of public utility services.
President Water Europe & Director-General of De Watergroep
Hans Goossens
Speaker
Hans Goossens (Belgium, PhD Chemistry) is Director-General of De Watergroep (Home | De Watergroep) since Jan 1, 2017. He is leading Belgium’s largest public water company through a major transformation, setting up new structures and alliances to build climate resilient water services. A strong believer of innovation and co-operation, Hans has been a board member of Water Europe (Home – Water Europe) since 2017, and serving as its President since June 2022. Before joining the water sector, he has been working in the global fertilizer industry for almost 25 years. He held various management positions for Norsk Hydro and Yara International in Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, France, and Italy within R&D, Production, Business Development, Marketing & Sales and General Management. Throughout his professional journey, Hans became passionate about sustainable development of business and society, in particular in relation to the global water challenge.
Executive Director of Aqua Publica Europea
Milo Fiasconaro
Speaker
Milo Fiasconaro has served as the Executive Director of Aqua Publica Europea – the European Association of Public Water Operators – since 2012. In this role, he has contributed to numerous water-related policy-making processes and promoted initiatives to strengthen the European public water sector. Before joining Aqua Publica Europea, he worked with public authorities on the implementation of European policies. He has extensive experience in EU policies, especially in the areas of innovation and environmental policies. He holds an MA by Research in Human Geography from Durham University (UK) and a degree in Political Science from the University of Florece (Italy). In addition to Italian, his mother tongue, he fluently speaks English, French and Spanish.
Secretary General of EurEau
Oliver Loebel
Speaker
Oliver Loebel has been secretary general of EurEau, European federation of national associations of water services since 2016. The federation and its 38 member organisations work at all levels to protect our water resources for today’s and for future generations.
Prior to this, Oliver spent eight years as managing director with PU Europe. Before this, he worked as director for sector policy at the European SME association UEAPME and represented the building services industry at European level through CEETB. Between 1994 and 1997, Oliver worked with the European Commission, developing support measures for Europe’s small businesses.
Oliver received his university degree in Economics at the Berlin School of Economics (Germany) and an MBA in International Business at École des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris, France).
Senior Water Economist at European Investment Bank
Vania Paccagnan
Speaker
Vania has almost 20 year experience as a water economist and policy analyst. She is currently senior water economist at EIB, where she assesses the financial, economic, technical and environmental viability of investment projects and programmes in all countries where the bank operates.
Prior to joining EIB, Vania has worked as Global Policy Water Manager at CDP, responsible for leading the intersection of CDP’s work on policy and water, with the goal of tackling water security, by developing and implementing a program of engagement with policymakers and stakeholders globally.
She also worked several years as an independent consultant for UNDP and principal economist at the English Environment Agency, advising and researching on water tariff reforms, water resources management and economic analysis of National Adaptation Plans.
Agenda EFRWS25
Discover below the agenda of the 4th European Forum on the Regulation of Water Services
The 4th European Forum on the Regulation of Water Services under the theme Regulating for resilience: securing Europe’s water future in a changing world.
The funding of a resilient water future (tariffs, circular‑economy incentives & water reuse), performance benchmarking through WAREG’s 13 Common KPIs, and embedding producer responsibility (e.g., PFAS, microplastics) in wastewater investment will all be at the centre of discussion.
EFRWS25 will took place on December 4, 2025 at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels and online.
