This white paper is designed to provide an overview of the evolving regulations as laid out in the proposed new EU drinking water standards. It offers a summary of the standards and targeted analytes covered under the 2020 EU provisional revisions to Directive 98/83/EC, in addition to giving a summary of the Watch List for future regulated compounds. Moreover, it explains the significance of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Standards as well as best practices in achieving laboratory accreditation. It is an educational primer for the global environmental community to have a better understanding of the direction of drinking water regulations in the European Union.