MEPs soften stance in talks on planned new water law

Date: 01/06/2000

By Renée Cordes

THE European Parliament appears to be backing away from its previous demands for a strict timetable to be set for eliminating discharges of hazardous substances into water.

The move has prompted criticism from environmental groups which fear that the emerging compromise would defeat the purpose of the proposed legislation.

MEPs originally insisted that the draft framework on water quality should contain a legally binding commitment to phase out the release of hazardous substances into the aquatic environment by 2020. They argued that this would be in line with international commitments already made by the Union in the 1998 OSPAR accord.

But the Parliament has now watered down its demands in a new proposal tabled at the start of conciliation talks with EU governments aimed at brokering a compromise on the plan. MEPs are now calling for member states to end releases of hazardous substances only if these substances are included in a priority list to be agreed later. The assembly says that ideally, this phase-out would take place 20 years after the list is approved.

The Parliament's latest proposal is designed to overcome opposition to its approach from the European Commission and member states, both of which argue that the pledges contained in the OSPAR accord are an aspirational goal rather than a binding target. Pressure for tougher Union-wide water quality rules has intensified since the cyanide disaster earlier this year which polluted large sections of the Danube river basin.

Although the Parliament's latest proposal still contains a reference to legally binding targets, environmental groups fear this would be rendered meaningless if the 2020 timetable were abandoned in favour of a priority list. They also argue that the assembly's latest compromise would still allow the discharge of dangerous substances into ground water, since it only refers to surface water.

"At the end of the day we may have strong enforcement of the directive but a lot of exemptions," said an advisor to the European Environmental Bureau. "If that happens, we are not very likely to do more than we have already done with the old dangerous substances directive. This is not a precautionary approach."

The proposed water framework directive, which was drafted by the Commission in 1997, seeks to harmonise standards across the Union and to protect and enhance the quality and quantity of aquatic ecosystems.

Pressure is mounting to agree a compromise on the framework promptly as the quantity of water being used across the bloc is rising rapidly, especially on farms. A recent report drawn up by the European Environment Agency found that the amount of irrigated farmland in southern Europe had jumped by nearly a fifth over the past 15 years.

The European Parliament appears to be backing away from its previous demands for a strict timetable to be set for eliminating discharges of hazardous substances into water.