Commission acts against ten Member States for non-compliance with EU water laws

Brussels, 24 July 2003

As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure a high level of protection of the environment and human health, the European Commission has decided to take further legal action against France, United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Greece for non-compliance with EU laws on water quality. The Commission has requested that the following Member States comply with rulings of the Court of Justice with regard to water legislation: France (bathing water), Belgium (drinking water) and Luxembourg (nitrates). Failure to comply with these Court rulings could result in substantial fines being imposed on the Member States. In addition, the Commission has decided to refer the following Member States to the Court of Justice for failing to implement water legislation: Ireland (groundwater), France (drinking water, Brittany), Spain (urban waste water, bathing water, and shellfish water, Galicia) and Greece (urban waste water treatment near Athens). The UK, Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands have all received requests to improve their implementation of EU rules on urban waste water treatment. France has received a request with regard to polluted drinking water in the region of Deux-Sèvres. These requests take the form of final written warnings ("reasoned opinions"). Non-compliance with this legislation may result in polluted rivers, lakes, aquifers and coastal waters, which in turn can present a risk to public health.

Commenting on the decisions, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said: "The Commission's actions indicate that Member States need to do more to safeguard the drinking water of citizens and to protect the water resources on which we all depend. I urge Member States to comply with EU water legislation as soon as possible"

Cases against individual member states

France

On 15 March 2001, the Court of Justice condemned France for failing to meet water quality standards and for failing to carry out monitoring of bathing waters as frequently as the Bathing Water Directive stipulates (Case C-2000/147). Quality problems persist, and the frequency of monitoring has not been brought into line with the Directive. The Commission has, therefore, sent France a first written warning under Article 228 of the Treaty.

The Commission has also decided to refer France to the Court of Justice for breaches (in Brittany) of the quality standards for nitrates that are laid down in the Drinking Water Directive.

Information from the French authorities indicates that, in 2001, 4.4% of the population of this region was supplied with drinking water that exceeded the limit of 50mg/l for nitrates, as stipulated in the Directive. On 8 March 2001, in a separate case, the Court of Justice condemned France because of the high nitrate levels that were found in surface waters in Brittany. These waters were used for the abstraction of drinking water (Case C-1999/266). Whereas the earlier case concerned the pollution of drinking water sources, the current case concerns the quality of the drinking water supplied to consumers.

The Commission has also sent France a final written warning under Article 226 of the Treaty following the investigation of a complaint concerning the region of Deux-Sèvres. In this region, intensive agriculture has increased nitrate and pesticide levels in both untreated water used for abstracting drinking water and water supplied to consumers. The Commission considers that this has led to breaches of the Surface Water Directive and the Drinking Water Directive.

United Kingdom

The Commission has sent the UK a final written warning because its system for designating sensitive and less sensitive areas under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive is inadequate. In particular, the Commission is concerned that designations are not legally binding or made sufficiently clear to the public. The current system used by the UK has relied on ad hoc reports announcing the designation of new areas and the withdrawal of old ones. This system makes it difficult for the public to know which areas are designated at any given time.

Portugal

The Commission has sent Portugal a final written warning in response to a complaint that discharges from milk-processing factories at Angra do Heroísmo in the Azores were 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⁾.

Italy

The Commission has sent Italy a final written warning for failing to designate 11 bodies of water (lakes, rivers, basins etc.) as sensitive under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The areas in question are Lake Garda, Lake Idro, the basin of Sarca-Mincio, the basin of the Oglio, the Adda basin, the Southern Lambro-Olona basin, the Ticino basin , the River Greve, the River Arno (downstream of Florence), the Gulf of Castellammare (Sicily) and the Adriatic Sea (North Basin). These areas are located in Lombardia, Veneto, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sicilia, Emilia Romagna and Friuli. The failure to designate these areas as sensitive means that they do not benefit from a legal requirement that ensures that discharges from large urban centres first undergo stringent waste water treatment.

Netherlands

The Commission has sent the Netherlands a final written warning for failing to reduce sufficiently the pollution caused by discharges of urban waste water in its territory. The Netherlands has opted to comply with a provision of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive regarding minimum percentage reduction levels for certain substances.

The Directive requires that it be demonstrated that that the minimum percentage of reduction of total phosphorus entering all urban wastewater treatment plants in the Netherlands is at least 75% and that the minimum for nitrogen is also at least 75%. The Commission is not satisfied that the required percentage reduction for nitrogen has been met. The Commission is also dissatisfied with the calculation method used by the Netherlands for assessing compliance with these requirements.

Spain

The Commission has decided to refer Spain to the Court of Justice for contravening the Urban Waste Water Directive, the Bathing Water Directive, and the Shellfish Water Directive at several beaches in Ría de Vigo in Galicia, notably at «Videira», «Niño do Corvo» and «Canabal», in the municipality of Moaña. Results of monitoring show very high levels of faecal coliforms, an indicator of pollution due to sewage. This is linked to a failure to adequately upgrade wastewater treatment operations in the area.

Ireland

The Commission has decided to refer Ireland to the Court of Justice for failing to comply with the Groundwater Directive. This follows the investigation of three complaints concerning failure to properly investigate and authorise groundwater discharges. The complaints relate to a landfill site at Avoca, County Wicklow, an animal burial ground in Ballinrobe, County Mayo, and a hotel at Creakan Lower, New Ross, County Wexford. The investigation showed that no groundwater authorisation had been given for the animal burial ground that the wastewater disposal at Creakan Lower had been operational for several years without authorisation and that the Irish Environmental Protection Agency had failed to properly ensure groundwater protection at Avoca. Ireland also interprets the Directive too restrictively, failing to provide for groundwater investigation and authorisation in all the circumstances required by the Directive.

Belgium

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 first written warning under Article 228 of the Treaty.

Luxembourg

The Commission has decided to send Luxembourg a final written warning under Article 228 in connection with the Nitrates Directive. This follows an investigation that began in 1997. Dissatisfied with the fact that Luxembourg had not complied with the Nitrates Directive, the Commission referred the case to the Court of Justice in 2000 (Case C-2000/266). The Commission's concerns centred on Luxembourg's failure to comply with the Directive on the content and monitoring of action programmes. In particular, Luxembourg failed to maintain a balance between meeting crop requirements and the availability of nitrates from different sources, as foreseen by the Directive. Notably, the Luxembourg legislation seems to be related only to organic fertilizers and there are no provision on chemical fertilizers. Other problems, such as water monitoring were also identified. In particular, sampling stations for ground waters only cover drinking water catchment areas, and several rivers are not well monitored. On 8 March 2001, taking account of these inadequacies, the Court of Justice ruled against Luxembourg. The necessary corrective measures have still not been taken.

Greece

The Commission has decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice on account of the inadequate measures that it has taken for treating Athens's urban waste water. The city will eventually be serviced by a major new treatment plant at Psittalia (capable of treating the waste water of five million people). However, the stricter treatment requirements foreseen to protect the receiving waters in the Gulf of Saronikos, which is a sensitive area, have still not been put in place - even though the deadline under the Waste Water Treatment Directive expired back in December 1998.

Background

The Surface Water Directive⁽²⁾ aims to protect and improve the quality of surface waters used for the abstraction of drinking water. It sets standards and requires Member States to draw up a global and coherent plan of action for all waters, with a special focus on poor-quality ones. This was designed to promote a reduction of pollution within 12 years of the entry into force of the Directive.

The Drinking Water Directive⁽³⁾ 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⁽⁴⁾ 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⁽⁵⁾ 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 Groundwater Directive⁽⁶⁾ requires Member States to apply a system of investigation and authorisation to waste disposal and other activities in order to ensure that groundwater is not polluted by dangerous substances.

The Nitrates Directive⁽⁷⁾ 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⁽⁸⁾ 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.

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 Community law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (or 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" (or 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 Community 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 75/440/EEC concerning the quality required of surface waters intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States}

^{(3)Directive 80/778/EEC on the quality of water intended for human consumption}

^{(4)Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment}

^{(5)Directive 76/160/EEC concerning the quality of bathing water}

^{(6)Directive 80/68/EEC on the protection of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances}

^{(7)Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources}

^{(8)Directive 79/923/EEC on the quality required of shellfish waters}