Commission refers Spain to the Court of Justice a second time over bathing waters

Brussels, 23 May 2001

The European Commission has decided to refer Spain to the European Court of Justice for a second time, in order to enforce a judgement already given by the Court in 1998. The case concerns the non-respect of the Bathing Waters Directive with regard to inland bathing waters around Spain. The Commission also decided to request the Court to impose a fine of € 45,600 per day on Spain, should the case not be settled before the judgement of the Court. Commenting on the decision, Margot Wallström, Environment Commissioner, said: "Citizens everywhere in Europe have a right to clean bathing water - and that includes Spain. I hope that Spain will act swiftly to ensure that this important directive is complied with as soon as possible. The aim of our action is to ensure compliance rather than to obtain a second judgement of the Court".

The Bathing Water Quality Directive⁽¹⁾ is important for public health. It aims to ensure that bathing waters meet minimum quality criteria by establishing a set of Community standards - some binding, others (more stringent) guide values - for a range of key parameters (such as faecal bacteria present) and by requiring Member States to carry out regular water quality monitoring. The legal deadline for complying with the standards expired in 1985 and Spain was, therefore, obliged to comply by the day of its accession, in 1986.

The European Court of Justice decided in February 1998⁽²⁾ that Spain had not ensured that the quality of its inshore bathing waters complied with the requirements of the Bathing Water Quality Directive. Following the judgement, the Commission assessed whether the Spanish authorities had ensured compliance with the judgement of the Court. The results of the 1998 and 1999 bathing season indicated that the quality of Spain's inland waters was still unsatisfactory. A Reasoned Opinion (second warning letter) was, therefore, sent to Spain in July 2000 (see IP/00/871).

The Spanish authorities have recently taken more concrete measures including financial commitments of € 63 million with a view to ensuring compliance, which is now expected to be achieved by 2003. These measures are considered as a positive step towards the solution of the problem. Nevertheless, at present only 79.2% of inland bathing waters comply with the binding values set out in the Directive. Therefore it has been decided to invoke a second round of enforcement action under Article 228 of the EC Treaty.

The Commission's decision today is taken in the light of the Commission's policy of ensuring a stricter and more timely follow up of judgements delivered by the Court of Justice.

It refers Spain to the Court of Justice for a second time and at the same time requests that daily fines of € 45,600 be levied against Spain for its continued failure to ensure full compliance with the judgement of the Court. The penalty would apply to each day of non-compliance with the second judgement of the Court, once it is rendered, unless compliance is achieved by then.

Background

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 fines on the Member State concerned.

^{(1) Council Directive 76/160/EEC concerning the quality of bathing water}

^{(2) Case C-96/092}