Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Proposal for a Council Directive establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy` (98/C 180/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Commission Proposal for a Council Directive establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy () and the amended proposal ();

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 6 May 1997, under the first paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the Regions on the matter;

having regard to the decision of its Bureau on 11 June 1997 to direct Commission 5 'Land-use Planning, Environment and Energy` to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to the Draft Opinion (CdR 171/97 rev.) adopted by Commission 5 on 3 July 1997 (Rapporteur: Mr Tellerup),

adopted the following opinion at its 22nd plenary session on 12 and 13 March 1998 (meeting of 12 March).

1. European water policy

1.1. The COR reaffirms its opinion of 19 September 1996 on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on European Community water policy ().

1.2. In that opinion the COR agreed with the need to achieve sustainable development in water policy so as to provide a secure supply of drinking water and water resources for other needs, to ensure that the quality and quantity of water resources should normally be sufficient to protect and sustain the good ecological state of the aquatic environment, and to manage water so as to prevent or reduce the adverse impact of floods and minimize the impact of droughts, given that environmental protection is particularly vulnerable and hence in need of special attention.

2. The Groundwater Action Programme

2.1. The action programme for integrated groundwater protection and management () points out the need to lay down procedures to regulate the abstraction of fresh water and to monitor the quantity and quality of fresh water.

2.2. The aim of the action programme is to apply integrated planning and sustainable management to the protection and use of groundwater so as to avoid further pollution, maintain the quality of unpolluted groundwater and, if necessary, restore polluted groundwater while at the same time preventing overexploitation of groundwater resources.

2.3. The COR endorses the objectives of the action programme for integrated groundwater protection and management.

3. Framework Directive for Community action in the field of water policy

3.1. Community water policy requires a transparent, effective and coherent legislative framework. The proposed Council Directive provides such a framework for the protection of surface fresh water, estuaries, coastal waters, territorial and other maritime zones and groundwater in the Community.

3.2. The purpose of the Commission proposal for a Framework Directive on water is to prevent further deterioration and to protect and enhance the status of aquatic ecosystems and, with regard to their water needs, terrestrial ecosystems, while at the same time promoting sustainable water consumption based on long-term protection of available water resources, and, in the case of territorial and other maritime zones, incorporating anti-pollution measures laid down in other Community legislation and United Nations maritime conventions. This will help provide water supply of the quality and in the quantity needed for sustainable use of these resources.

The COR endorses the objective of the proposed framework directive, including that of protecting freshwater and coastal waters; the COR would also stress that protection of the open sea from land-based pollution, and the Member States' attendant obligations, is a consideration that must be satisfied and supported in the practical application of the directive.

3.3. The COR agrees on the need for coordinated and integrated management of water resources given the transboundary nature of groundwater deposits and the hydrogeological cycle.

3.4. The COR endorses the overall desire to establish a joint system of planning with regard to water in the Member States.

3.5. The COR endorses the idea of including the quantity of bodies of water in a coordinated system of planning, inasmuch as this will make it possible to achieve the objectives of the present directive.

3.6. The COR also agrees that decisions should be taken as close as possible to the locations where water is used or affected, and that priority be given to drawing up specific programmes of measures adjusted to regional and local conditions.

3.7. The COR calls on the Commission to pay more attention to EU variations in natural and geographical conditions, as this would boost willingness and ability to comply with the Community Framework Directive on water. Greater attention should also be paid to the Member States' individual circumstances concerning legislation and the decentralization of decision-making powers to local and regional authorities.

4. Legal base

4.1. The COR is pleased to see that the subsidiarity principle, as defined in Article 3b of the EU Treaty, has been applied when laying down at Community level the aims and methods set out in the water directive.

4.2. The COR supports the fact that future European policy to protect areas of water is to be based, in accordance with Article 130r, on the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle, as well as the principles that preventive action should be taken, and environmental damage rectified, at source.

4.3. The COR feels that the framework directive in the field of water policy should be introduced under a central procedure based on Article 130s (1) and (2), and that Article 130s(2) should apply in the case of the management of water resources.

4.4. The COR welcomes the inclusion of water resource management as an important parameter in ensuring good water quality.

5. River Basin Districts

5.1. The COR welcomes the proposed designation of river basin districts whereby districts are identified and geographically designated in such a way that all areas of water, including coastal waters, territorial and other maritime zones, fall within the scope of the directive, and that administration of these areas is coordinated with that of adjacent run-off areas. Planning, regulation and international cooperation based on run-off areas is an appropriate course of action in this context.

5.2. The COR would point out that river basin districts should be administered with due consideration for the problems which can arise downstream when large rivers are controlled, and that the concept of river basin districts should be managed in such a way that, in addition to quality-based objectives, attention is focused on quantity-based objectives in order to prevent problems arising from either flooding or drought.

6. Authorities

6.1. Member States may designate existing national or international bodies as competent authorities to carry out the tasks involved with the river basin districts, while ensuring that the delegated bodies have the powers and authority needed to meet the obligations imposed by this directive.

6.2. The COR notes with satisfaction that Member States are able to organize the administration of river basin districts with respect for national traditions. This is an example of how the subsidiarity principle can be respected in the management process, allowing the Member States considerable freedom to organize and manage their activities in the field of water at local and regional level.

7. Environmental objectives

7.1. The directive sets an overall policy objective whereby Member States are to be able to meet the requirement for good surface and groundwater status by the year 2010.

The regions and local authorities wish to play their part in achieving this goal.

7.2. The COR is concerned that 'good` status is only broadly defined in the directive, as it considers that the objective or achieving 'good` status water quality is fundamental to the directive and must, therefore, be considered by Member States prior to agreement of the proposed directive.

7.3. The COR notes that derogations are permitted for water bodies where the achievement of good status would be 'prohibitively expensive`. However, the COR recommends a more specific definition of such a key term if uniform implementation of the directive's environmental objectives is to be achieved.

7.4. The COR would stress that a deterioration of water quality is not acceptable. This also holds good for cases - to be found in many parts of the Community - where quality is better than the objectives set.

7.5. The action programme for integrated groundwater protection and management aims to avoid further pollution, maintain the quality of unpolluted groundwater and, if necessary, restore polluted groundwater while at the same time preventing overexploitation of groundwater resources.

The COR endorses this aim and feels in this case that the environmental objective for groundwater should be to maintain the chemical balance with at least drinking water quality, which means that no pollutants may be present in levels in excess of natural background levels.

In addition, the COR recommends that the directive include as an objective a requirement to work towards this status for all groundwater, regardless of the fact that, for some groundwater resources, it will be impossible to achieve either high or good chemical status by 2010 given the length of the recharging process for groundwater.

7.6. The COR considers that it is the action undertaken to achieve a given status in surface and groundwater which is legally binding, rather than the results alone. Hence the directive's provisions are complied with if the specified measures are implemented, whether or not these measures ultimately achieve the objective.

8. Mapping

8.1. Analyses of the characteristics of river basin districts will form a good basis for mapping and protection initiatives. Reviews of the environmental impact of human activity and the registration of protected areas will, in combination with the aforementioned analyses, provide a good basis for the management of river basin districts, making it possible to coordinate this with other interests and schemes.

The COR would point out that the deadlines for completion of these tasks laid down in the Framework Directive are so short when seen in relation to the technical regulations that this may make it impossible to implement the Framework Directive completely and uniformly throughout the Community.

9. Designation of areas

9.1. The designation of areas is also a way of ensuring respect for the subsidiarity principle. The COR welcomes the proposed coordination of area designations since the number of designated areas is already unmanageable.

9.2. Within individual river basin districts, those resources which are to be used for the abstraction of drinking water, either now or in the future, are to be identified. This will ensure that the water within these areas meets the requirements of the Drinking Water Directive.

The COR supports this strategy, but would emphasize the importance of not allowing such a strategy to result in a deterioration in overall protection outside the identified areas.

10. Monitoring and reporting

10.1. The COR endorses the intention to streamline monitoring to avoid conflicting or overlapping requirements and to consolidate these requirements within the Framework Directive on water. The COR also supports the view that some form of coordination with regard to individual river basins is needed.

10.2. A large part of the Framework Directive concerns collection of data on the state of the environment to serve as a basis for decision making within the individual river basins.

The COR recommends that the monitoring requirements be rationalized as far as possible, and that the existing reporting requirements be revised so as to reduce the scale and frequency of reports. The reporting requirements should be restricted to information that is essential for further planning. Superfluous information should not be collected. Moreover, the directive should provide the option to carry out an assessment of monitoring requirements within the respective river basin districts.

10.3. The proposed directive stipulates that all river basin management plans and all draft river basin management plans shall be sent to the Commission.

The COR feels that, for the purposes of monitoring implementation, it is sufficient to send all actual river basin management plans to the Commission.

11. Water charges

11.1. The COR would point out that the proposed rules for water prices that cover real costs should be thoroughly recast, so that:

- regional and/or municipal water transport systems in the Member States are not jeopardized;

- the introduction of water prices that reflect real costs does not burden agriculture and industry with unrepresentative, unjustified additional costs; and

- exemptions from higher water prices to cover real costs can be granted for reasons other than those set out in Article 12, for example in order to prevent local or regional structural disadvantages.

The COR supports the principle of full cost recovery for water use and protection. However, steps should be taken to ensure that charges collected on environmental grounds are ploughed back into water protection measures.

11.2. The COR recommends that the 'polluter pays` principle should continue to hold in the case of known polluters and quantifiable pollution, as the 'polluter pays` principle implies that the costs involved in preventing pollution must be borne by the polluter. It also means that preventive measures and action on environmental damage are to be taken at the source of the pollution.

12. Programmes of measures

12.1. The COR welcomes the fact that the basic measures require that all relevant Community legislation be implemented.

The COR also endorses the thrust of the basic strategy, namely to reduce water pollution caused by pollutant substances, and recommends that all discharges into a water zone be taken into account.

12.2. The COR also welcomes the introduction of provisions laying down a system of authorizations for water abstraction, a requirement for prior authorization for all activities having a potentially adverse impact on the status of water, and a prohibition on the direct discharge into groundwater of pollutant substances.

12.3. The COR recommends that programmes of measures for river basin districts also cover land use in rural areas, including measures to promote compatible agricultural production.

13. The combined approach

13.1. As far as emission limit controls and environmental quality objectives in water policy are concerned, the COR has already expressed its support for a combined approach.

Emission limit controls should be laid down on the basis of the best technology available. Doing so will ensure, first and foremost, uniform requirements governing the use of water throughout the EU, based on the state of technology irrespective of current water quality. In addition, it may be necessary to set high-level quality objectives as regards water resources. The COR feels that the strictest criterion should apply with regard to discharges into bodies of water. Arguments about cost-effectiveness must not be used as a motive for relaxing emission standards and allowing bodies of water in good condition to be filled with dangerous substances.

13.2. The COR endorses an approach whereby the Framework Directive on water lays down criteria for choosing parametric values for 30 dangerous substances rather than laying down the parametric values themselves. However, the COR would highlight the importance of supporting countries and regions in the task of setting parametric values.

13.3. The COR would point out the need for an adequate definition of the combined approach and how it is to be applied. The COR also considers that it is urgently necessary to give concrete form to the annexes of the directive. Since this is a political task, it should be undertaken by the Council and Parliament and not left to a Committee procedure.

13.4. The COR recommends that the criteria used in setting environmental quality standards be defined in the directive.

13.5. The COR calls for the inclusion in Annex VIII point 9 of the degradation products of the pollutants mentioned.

13.6. The COR recommends that the environmental quality standards laid down in the specific directives arising out of the Dangerous Substances Directive be updated as soon as possible as they no longer correspond to the present situation.

14. Other policy areas

14.1. In order to promote the objective of sustainable protection and management of water, the COR suggests that water policy be further integrated into the common agricultural policy and regional policy.

15. Transparency

15.1. The COR agrees that all Community provisions and those arising out of Member States' legislation on water should be consolidated in integrated programmes. This will help to ensure openness, transparency and accountability when implementing measures, and obviate the need for further initiatives at Community or other levels.

15.2. The COR agrees that the general public should have a right to know the results of environmental monitoring and that these should be available in an intelligible form.

16. Cooperation between the Commission and the regions

16.1. A committee is to be set up to assist the Commission in the technical implementation of the directive. In view of the fact that local and regional authorities in particular depend on coherent regulation of water matters, the COR proposes that local and regional authorities be represented on this committee.

16.2. A forum is also to be set up for the exchange of experience. For the same reasons, the COR feels it is natural for local and regional authorities to be represented on this forum.

17. Other Directives

17.1. The COR agrees with the need to coordinate previous water regulations, including a draft directive on ecological quality, into a global water directive. The COR feels it is important to apply a common concept in the area of water.

The COR approves of the incorporation of the Dangerous Substances Directive (76/464/EEC) into the framework directive.

17.2. The COR considers that the proposed draft directive should be more of a piece with other Directives on water policy. The proposal in question should therefore not set technical requirements lower than those currently required.

Brussels, 12 March 1998.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

() COM(97) 49 final - 97/0067 SYN.

() COM(97) 614 final - 97/0067 SYN - OJ C 184, 17.6.1997, p. 20 and OJ C 16, 20.1.1998, p. 14.

() OJ C 34, 3.12.1997, p. 30.

() OJ C 355, 25.11.1996, p. 1.