Luxembourg facing pressure from Wallström over threat of nitrates contamination in water supplies

Date: 24/10/02

LUXEMBOURG is being taken to task by the European Commission for failing to stem the tide of nitrates flowing from farms to faucets in the EU's smallest member state.

Last week the Commission sent a 'letter of formal notice' requesting information from Luxembourg on what exactly it is doing to deal with the issue.

It follows a judgement made by the European Court of Justice in March 2001 which, in accordance with a 1991 Commission directive on nitrates, called for tougher measures to be adopted by Luxembourg.

'The nitrates directive is paramount in safeguarding the quality of the Community's water resources,' Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said last week.

'I urge Luxembourg to address the shortcomings in its implementation that led to the ruling of the Court of Justice.'

Within the European Union, Luxembourg is one of four countries with the highest livestock density - the others are Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands - and the highest surplus of nitrogen per hectare of cultivated soil.

The nitrates directive aims to avoid the contamination of surface and ground waters with excessive levels of nitrates owing to the presence of agricultural fertilisers and waste.

The idea is to prevent such high nitrate levels in drinking water and to restrict the harmful plant and plankton growth in threatened waters, including a host of small rivers, the Maas and Rhine Rivers and, ultimately, the North Sea.

The directive also requires member states to designate 'vulnerable zones', such as agricultural zones that include nitrate-polluted waters or could contain such waters were action not taken, and develop 'action programmes' to protect them.

Luxembourg, however, is not alone in flouting the directive. Several other cases in many member states have been decided or are currently pending before the European Court of Justice.

According to a Commission official, there are 23 ongoing legal cases, seven of which are currently before the Court.

These are in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Austria and the UK.

At the moment there are no cases in Denmark, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and France.

'But this is not to say that France, for example, is a no-pollution role model,' the official said, only that it is sticking to the rules set out in the Commission directive.

Luxembourg is being taken to task by the European Commission for failing to stem the tide of nitrates flowing from farms to faucets in the EU's smallest Member State.