Brussels, 13 January 2004
The European Commission is taking legal action against Greece, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Ireland for non-compliance with EU laws on water quality. The Commission has sent final written warnings to Greece and the Netherlands urging them to comply with rulings of the Court of Justice with regard to dangerous substances discharged to water. It has also sent a final written warning to Belgium requesting it to comply with a Court ruling on drinking water. Failure to comply with these Court rulings could result in substantial fines being imposed on these Member States. In addition, the Commission has decided to refer Portugal and France to the Court of Justice for failing to implement water legislation. Spain has been sent a request urging it to prevent further pollution of a beach at Motilla in Valencia. Ireland has received a request urging it to extend its designation and protection of waters used for shellfish culture. Germany has received a request urging it to improve its implementation of EU nitrate rules. These requests take the form of final written warnings. Non-compliance with this legislation can result in rivers, lakes and coastal waters being polluted, which in turn can present a risk to public health.
Commenting on the decisions, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said: "I urge Member States to improve their compliance with EU water legislation. This will help ensure the necessary safeguards for the environment and human health."
Cases against individual member states
The Commission has decided to refer France to the Court of Justice for failing to provide sufficient information on how the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is implemented. This relates in particular to the a lack of information on sensitive areas.
On 10 May 2001, the Court of Justice ruled against the Netherlands on account of its failure to adopt and communicate pollution-reduction programmes for 99 dangerous substances (as foreseen by the Dangerous Substances in Water Directive) in the Scheldt river basin. It had also failed to fix deadlines for their implementation of these programmes (Case C-152/98). In December 2002 the Commission sent the Netherlands a final written warning for not complying with the judgement. The Netherlands has since communicated its pollution reduction programme, but for it to be valid, a programme must have a binding effect and must be published. The Netherlands's programme fails on both counts. The Commission has therefore sent the Netherlands an additional final written warning addressing these shortcomings.
The Commission has decided to refer Portugal to the Court of Justice with regard to discharges from milk-processing factories at Angra do Heroísmo in the Azores, which are contributing to marine water pollution. The Commission's information indicates that Portugal is not respecting the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive or the Framework Waste Directive(1). According to the Portuguese authorities, new pollution-abatement installations will start functioning during the second half of 2004.
The Commission has sent Spain a final written warning for contravening the Urban Waste Water Directive and the Bathing Water Directive at Sueca, in the region of Valencia. A failure to adequately upgrade wastewater treatment operations in the area has led to water pollution of the beach at Motilla. The Spanish authorities have indicated that construction work is underway for the treatment of urban waste water.
The Commission has sent Ireland a final written warning for contravening the Shellfish Directive by designating and protecting too few shellfish waters. Although there are several hundred commercial shellfish operations around the Irish coast, Ireland has designated only 14 shellfish waters under the Directive. There is also evidence of a decline in water quality in a number of places as a result of coastal development and a lack of effective waste water treatment.
On 16 January 2003, the Court of Justice ruled that Belgium had failed to notify the national legislation needed to implement the EU's 1998 Drinking Water Directive (Case C-2002/122). The necessary legislation is still lacking for the Walloon Region. The Commission has, therefore, sent Belgium a final written warning. Failure by Belgium to adopt the necessary legislation could result in substantial fines being imposed.
The Commission has sent Germany a final written warning because of shortcomings in its national legislation to implement the Nitrates Directive. The national legislation in question, the "Düngeverordnung", allows manure to be spread on grassland up to a limit of 210 kilograms of nitrogen every year, whereas the Directive sets a limit of 170 kilograms. In addition, the legislation fails to address adequately the risks of spreading fertilizer on steeply sloping ground. The German authorities have indicated that a new "Düngeverordnung" is in preparation. This will reduce the limit from 210 to 170 kilograms, and will also contain additional safeguards with regard to steeply sloping ground. However, the new legislation has not yet been adopted.
On 25 May 2000, the Court of Justice ruled against Greece because it had failed to adopt and communicate pollution-reduction programmes for 99 dangerous substances under the Dangerous Substances in Water Directive (Case C-384/97). Since then, the Greek authorities have prepared, in close collaboration with the Commission services, a comprehensive national pollution-reduction programme for the substances concerned.
However, the legislation necessary to establish this has not been enacted or communicated to the Commission. The internal procedures for the formal adoption of the national pollution-reduction programme have been going on for more than a year. The Commission has, therefore, sent Greece a final written warning. Failure to comply with the Court ruling could result in substantial fines being imposed on Greece.
Background
The Drinking Water Directive(2) establishes quality standards for drinking water and is a key instrument for safeguarding public health. These standards apply to a range of substances, properties and organisms (called parameters). The Directive is particularly strict with regard to microbiological parameters, given the public health implications.
The Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive(3) addresses nutrient-based, bacterial and viral pollution caused by urban waste water. Urban waste water that discharges excessive levels of nutrients (in particular, phosphorous and nitrogen) into rivers and seas causes "eutrophication." This occurs when there is a sharp increase of photosynthetic organisms - including algae - in the water. This leads to a lowering of oxygen levels (as microbiological organisms degrade the dead algae and other organic material) and to other negative ecological effects. The end result is an imbalance in the organisms present in water and a reduction in water quality. This can drastically change the ecosystem of a lake or sea. It may even lead to the death of large numbers of fish. By introducing potentially harmful bacteria and viruses, the discharges also pose human health risks in waters that are used for bathing or shellfish culture.
The Directive requires that urban centres meet minimum waste water collection and treatment standards within deadlines fixed by the Directive. Two deadlines expired at the end of 1998 and 2000. Another is due to expire in 2005. These deadlines are fixed according to the sensitivity of the receiving waters and to the size of the affected urban population. The Directive required Member States to have identified sensitive areas by 31 December 1993, and to have met strict standards for the discharging of waste water directly into sensitive areas or their catchment areas. This should have been achieved by 31 December 1998 (the same applies to the extraction of the nutrients that contribute to eutrophication). The Directive also imposes other requirements, including those relating to waste water of certain agro-food industries, the monitoring of wastewater discharges and sludge.
The Bathing Water Quality Directive(4) is also important for safeguarding public health. It aims to ensure that bathing waters meet minimum quality criteria by establishing a set of binding and strict EU standards for a range of key parameters (including indicators of the presence of faecal bacteria).
The Directive also requires that Member States carry out regular water quality monitoring and send annual reports to the Commission, detailing bathing water quality. The legal deadline for complying with these standards was 1985. Details of member states performance can be found in the annual report on bathing water quality (http://europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/report.html)
The Nitrates Directive(5) aims to prevent the introduction into surface waters and ground waters of excessive levels of nitrates due to the presence of excessive amounts of agricultural fertilisers and agricultural waste. Excessive nitrate levels cause undesirable ecological changes in water and contribute to the proliferation of harmful blooms of algae. They can also adversely affect public health. The Directive required Member States to carry out monitoring of surface waters and ground water, to identify nitrate-polluted waters and to designate vulnerable zones (zones of intensive agriculture that include nitrate-polluted waters) by December 1993.
The Shellfish Water Directive(6) requires Member States to designate waters that need protecting or improving in order to support shellfish. It also requires, among other things, that mandatory quality standards be achieved in the designated waters. It requires Member States to do regular sampling and to establish pollution reduction programmes.
The Dangerous Substances Directive(7) is one of the earliest pieces of EU environmental legislation. It creates a framework for dealing with water pollution caused by an extensive list of dangerous substances. Under this framework, Member States are required to adopt pollution-reduction programmes that involve binding water quality objectives, a monitoring network and a system of authorisations for discharges. The European Court of Justice has made rulings in cases concerning Spain, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Italy for failure to adopt pollution reduction programmes for 99 dangerous substances. Amongst these 99 substances are well-known pollutants like arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and several organic tin compounds. The Court has also confirmed the need for pollution-reduction programmes to be specific, comprehensive and co-ordinated and to include statutory environmental quality objectives.
Legal Process
Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.
If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.
In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the Member State concerned, the Commission may decide to address a "Reasoned Opinion" (final written warning) to the Member State. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law and calls upon the Member State to comply within a specified period, usually two months.
If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the Court of Justice.
Article 228 of the Treaty gives the Commission power to act against a Member State that does not comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice. The article also allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.
For current statistics on infringements in general see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions
(1) Directive 75/442/EEC on waste as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC
(2) Directive 80/778/EEC on the quality of water intended for human consumption
(3) Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment
(4) Directive 76/160/EEC concerning the quality of bathing water
(5) Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources
(6) Directive 79/923/EEC on the quality required of shellfish waters
(7) Council Directive 76/464/EEC on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community
