Dimas vets Spanish pledge

Date: 22/12/05

Spain has escaped being fined for the poor quality of its inland beaches, though there are lingering doubts over reports of recent improvements.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in 2003 that the European Commission should fine Spain for substandard beaches every year, starting in 2004.

But the Commission announced on Tuesday (20 December) that standards in 2004 were so high that it had decided to drop all threat of penalties, now or in the future.

But the EU executive added that the apparent improvements may simply be down to Spain taking problem areas off its inventory of beaches covered by the directive or not taking the required number of samples - in which case legal action will have to be launched all over again.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "We will take whatever action is necessary against member states over these unacceptable practices."

On the same day, it emerged that eight member states are being sent a first warning for not taking sufficient care of their dolphins. Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK are accused of not complying with the habitats directive by setting up an adequate surveillance system for whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

The Commission has begun nine other legal challenges against Italy all for breaches of EU waste laws. In six cases Italy is ignoring a previous ECJ ruling and could be fined this time around.

Germany's misbehaviour looks modest by comparison, with only three legal challenges, all at a comparatively early (first round) stage. Berlin is accused of not fully transposing into national law the directive on the deliberate release of genetically modified (GM) organisms and the nitrates directive. It is also alleged to be in breach of the habitats directive through not submitting a complete list of protected nature sites to Brussels.

France has been sent a final warning for not having transposed the same GM legislation.

Spain has escaped a fine for the water quality on some of its beaches. Separately, eight Member States (Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK) were sent a warning by the European Commission on 20 December 2005 for not complying with the Habitats Directive and providing adequate protection for dolphins, whales and porpoises.

European Commission: Press Release: IP/05/1641 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1641&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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