A4-0407/97

Resolution on the technological feasibility of trans-European hydraulic networks

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 9 March 1994 on the Commission White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment ((OJ C 91, 28.3.1994, p. 124.)),

- having regard to the recommendations of the report of the personal representatives of the Heads of State and Government (the 'Christophersen Group') of November 1994,

- having regard to its resolution of 16 February 1995 on floods in Europe ((OJ C 56, 6.3.1995, p. 101.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 March 1995 on the drought in southern Europe ((OJ C 89, 10.4.1995, p. 160.)),

- having regard to the conclusions of the unofficial Environment Council of 22 October 1995 on Community water policy,

- having regard to its resolution of 23 October 1996 on the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament on European Community Water Policy ((OJ C 347, 18.11.1996, p. 80.)),

- having regard to the declaration of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Marseille (25 and 26 November 1996) on the local management of water,

- having regard to the STOA reports of:

. December 1996, on the trans-European water transport network in the context of Community water resources policy, and

. May 1997, on the technological feasibility of trans-European hydraulic networks,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy and the opinion on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A4-0407/97),

A. whereas renewable natural water resources available for human activity are distributed unevenly over the territory of the EU, because of the irregular distribution of rainfall and of the natural regulation deposits formed by lakes, glaciers and watercourses; whereas the natural network represented by the European hydrographic basins is, similarly, not such as to permit a full and uniform distribution of water resources across the EU,

B. whereas large areas of the EU are regularly faced, to a greater or lesser extent, with serious crises related to water resource management, with environmentally devastating floods in the basins of central and northern Europe, and structural supply shortages of water for human consumption in certain regions of southern Europe which are afflicted by drought and desertification, often with irreversible consequences,

C. whereas water shortages and floods are not only contingent on geographical and climatic conditions but are also the result of human intervention in the ecosystem such as excessive felling with either inappropriate reafforestation or none at all, monocultures, soil compaction and river channelization,

D. whereas water should not be viewed purely as an economic resource, since it is also a resource which is part of the Union's natural heritage and the most important renewable natural resource, fundamental to sustainable development and regional integration, sufficiently abundant - in theory - to satisfy all the Member States' needs in the field of human activity,

E. whereas the Member States should carry out a full inventory of ground water reserves and make provision to protect underground reserves of drinking water from harmful effects (e.g. by cleaning up old landfill sites and banning or restricting the use of pesticides in protected water collection areas),

F. whereas there are areas of the EU which are geographically isolated from major natural deposits and may therefore be considered to be 'islands' from a hydrological viewpoint,

G. whereas some of these 'hydrological islands' are subject to significant climatic variations; whereas the water resources available for human activity, even if sufficient in total, are liable to spatial variation between one region and another, as well as variation in time from one season or year to another, factors which do not permit conventional long-term resource management,

H. whereas natural deposits, artificial dams already in existence or likely to be constructed in future, and conventional management techniques are and will remain insufficient to offset these variations in water resources, especially given the absence of intrinsic crisis solutions in the case of the 'hydrological islands',

I. whereas, although Community policy has hitherto been centred on the qualitative aspects of this resource, vital as it is for human life and ecosystems, in view of the pollution problems which are continuing to affect surface and underground waters, the EU institutions must now present a joint response centred specifically on the public good and aimed at meeting the acute and urgent needs relating to quantitative water management in basins in the Union which are vulnerable either to flooding or to desertification and drought,

J. whereas the existing canals and local distribution networks in the Union form an artificial hydrological network which, in many regions, is neither sufficient nor suitable for the purposes of uniform and, above all, adequate distribution of water resources at European level,

K. whereas the interconnection of the Union's currently isolated natural and artificial hydrological networks should make it possible to prevent the recurrence of the crises which are at present occurring with alarming regularity and more and more frequently,

L. whereas the Commission should support research projects which aim to identify appropriate reafforestation methods and develop and cultivate certain plants to facilitate better water management,

M. whereas the development of a trans-European network of hydrological infrastructures complementing the existing interconnections between basins would represent a boost to the economy and would be fully compatible with the policies for growth, competitiveness and employment, permitting maximum resource use and investment in labour-intensive activities,

N. whereas the interconnection of the main northern and central European river basins is now a genuine prospect, in the context of an interlinked trans- European hydrological network in which the Commission itself has identified stretches of common interest,

O. whereas it is evident, from such existing examples as the Provence canal, supplying greater Marseille, and the California canal, supplying the entire southern part of the state over a radius of over 700 km, that hydrological infrastructures of this type and extent represent a form of sustainable development and an environment-friendly means of improving the quality of life of the public which may be applied to the EU as a whole,

P. whereas the project for a hydraulic system for diverting resources from the Rhone-Languedoc canal to the southern Pyrenees provides an example of international cooperation in technical, political and administrative terms, as well as being an experiment in the feasibility of the transnational dimension which water management must exemplify if the trans-European hydrological network is to be completed,

Q. whereas analysis of the costs of a trans-European hydrological infrastructure suggests that the user would not pay more than 35-65% of existing costs, depending on the extent of public investment; whereas it may be seen as technologically and economically feasible both because of its direct impact on the short-term regulation of supply and in view of the favourable long- term effects for sustainable economic development, living and working conditions and the environment,

1. Calls on the Council and Commission to encourage the interconnection of adjoining water basins within the territory of different Member States where it is shown that resource management could be carried out more efficiently on a joint basis;

2. Considers that this type of hydrological network must be designed and constructed in compliance with the future framework Directive on water and be subject to the principles of the Directive on the assessment of the environmental impact of certain public and private projects;

3. Shares the view that trans-European hydrological networks involving large- scale transfers of water between catchment areas could represent a future solution to the uneven distribution of water resources within the European Union;

4. Calls on the regional and local authorities in the EU which have responsibility or competence in the field of water management to draw up their resource management plans in a transparent fashion, to enable consultation and discussion and facilitate their integration into a future 'trans-European hydrological plan' based on material exchanges via a network of interlinked infrastructures;

5. Recommends the adoption of technical measures to detect and counteract resource losses arising from defective pipes in those Member States which have a negative water balance, as well as widespread exchange of information and research findings concerning rational water management, and the integration of standardized methods for resource measuring, monitoring and forecasting;

6. Calls on the Commission to draw up a framework proposal setting out guidelines for the completion of the interconnection of the water basins in the EU, with a view to regulating water levels in crises of excess or shortage, on the basis of environmental impact assessment and optimization and administration criteria, given the vital importance of this resource for the EU as a whole; this could take the form of activating the trans-European environmental infrastructure networks for water supplies referred to in the Christophersen report of November 1994 and the framework Directive on water resources;

7. Calls on the Commission, furthermore, to examine the possibility of incorporating the desalination of sea water as part of the new water resources;

8. Considers it vital, at the exploratory stage, to assess all ways of making the best use of existing facilities, and to apply the principle that it is better to improve management before investing;

9. Calls on the Commission to carry out individual studies to ensure the technical feasibility of the project at the exploratory stage; considers that an analysis of the feasibility and the technical desirability of such large- scale transfers of water justifies exploratory action at Community level so that the response to potential demand may be available in advance;

10. Points out that at the exploratory stage it will be vital to make a global analysis of:

- the scope, needs, impact and potential of the water resources which these networks might affect;

- the local impact on water management for donor regions, recipient regions and transit regions;

- the physical impact on the aquatic environment of all regions affected;

this global analysis must take all these points into account both during the construction stage and thereafter and

(a) it must be accompanied by specific individual studies into:

- the physical impact of projects on the countryside, natural environment and ecosystems and on human activity;

- the impact of increasing the extraction of water in donor regions in both quantitative and qualitative terms;

- possibilities for reafforestation plans geared to the needs of different regions to accompany the projects;

(b) in the process, detailed and quantified inventories of needs for transferred water throughout the transfer, will have to be drawn up:

- for industrial use,

- for irrigation,

- for drinking water consumption, and their incorporation into existing networks;

11. Calls on the Commission to launch a pilot scheme to test technical and economic feasibility, linking up the existing trans-European hydrological network to a particular 'hydrological island' inside the EU; suggests, by way of example, that it could consider, as a possible project, linking up the Rhone basin, as a classical example of a trans-European waterway, with the isolated hydrological network of the Iberian peninsula, given that this would have no significant effects on the natural regime of the Rhone and would permit improved use of transnational resources and storage capacities;

12. Recommends that this study be carried out using multi-criteria analysis, involving the Joint Research Centre on the basis of the data at its disposal;

13. Calls on the Commission to give priority in future to the quantitative aspects of Community water policy, and to renew the initiatives for interconnection of basins in accordance with the guidelines of the policy, thus helping develop solidarity among users of this resource;

14. Calls on the Commission, in its studies on the technological viability of European hydraulic networks, to take account of the economic aspects of energy production with a view to a long-range policy for the optimum management of water resources and the development of renewable energy sources;

15. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of creating a market in water and the environmental conditions and safeguards under which it might operate;

16. Calls on the Commission to encourage appropriate measures to direct governments' water management policies towards charging real prices for the supply of water in order to cover the full cost of that service and to secure for the organizations responsible - usually municipal - adequate financial resources to guarantee the quantity and quality of supplies;

17. Calls on the Commission, moreover, to give careful consideration to the strategic importance of water resources in the Union's relations with third countries and to examine the prospects for developing trans-European hydraulic networks by way of international treaties;

18. Considers that any interference with a Member State's water without its express permission is completely ruled out;

19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.