Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive concerning the quality of water intended for human consumption (96/C 100/26)

On 19 July 1995, the Committee of the Regions decided to draw up, under Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, an Own-initiative Opinion on the above-mentioned proposal.

Commission 5 for Land-use Planning, Environment and Energy was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject. The Rapporteur was Mr Tellerup.

At its 9th Plenary Session (meeting of 21 September 1995), the Committee of the Regions adopted the following Opinion.

Background to the proposal

The purpose of the proposed Directive is to simplify, consolidate and update the existing Directive 80/778/EEC relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption.

The intention is to revise the Directive in accordance with progress in science and technology.

At the same time the Directive is to be brought into line with the Treaty on European Union, and specifically with the subsidiarity principle derived from the provision laid down in Treaty Article 3b, whereby any action by the Community shall not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaty. The emphasis is therefore on compliance with essential quality and health parameters, leaving the Member States free to add any supplementary parameters they may consider appropriate.

Under the subsidiarity principle, differences in the natural and socio-economic characteristics of the Union's regions require most decisions about control, analysis and remedial action to be taken at local, regional or national level.

The Directive is to focus on protection of human health, for which the legal basis is Article 130s of the Treaty.

Background

Providing the population with drinking water is an essential element in the powers and concerns of regional and local authorities.

Regional and local authorities are therefore in favour of laying down guidelines concerning the provision of water intended for human consumption. Such guidelines are important when authorities are exercising their powers as environmental authorities and, in some countries, as the bodies responsible for water provision. They also affect the economy of local communities.

Comments

1. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the revision of the Council Directive concerning the quality of water intended for human consumption, the main aim being to bring the Directive into line with the principle of subsidiarity and the precautionary principle as set out in the Treaty on European Union.

The COR therefore approves of the fact that the Directive only stipulates compliance with parameters which are felt to be essential for the protection of consumer health throughout the Community, while allowing for stricter standards and supplementary parameters to be laid down decentrally according to regional and local circumstances.

The COR is also pleased to note that the Directive establishes a more flexible legal framework within which the relevant authorities can introduce improvements to protect public health.

2. The COR agrees that the proposed Directive should be based on Treaty Article 130s as its chief purpose is to protect public health. Beyond that, water intended for human consumption is regarded as a commodity which it should be possible to trade freely across borders.

The COR feels that it is important to ensure that the Directive continues to focus on human health, consumer protection and environmental conservation.

The COR feels that introducing the free-trade clause into the Directive will undermine the principle that the Directive is based on Article 130s.

3. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the flexibility given to Member States to adopt more stringent standards than those proposed together with the facility to add secondary parameters as local circumstances require. The COR considers it is reasonable to require a competent authorities to report on the nature and extent of compliance with more stringent standards or the addition of further parameters. However, the COR considers it unreasonable that such revisions require Commission approval before they can be implemented.

4. The COR feels that it is important that the parameters chosen to guarantee the general quality of water intended for human consumption throughout the Community should be relevant and appropriate.

These parameters must be measured using methods which ensure the same performance in all Member States and are in line with the best available techniques. Annex III should therefore indicate not only performances but also suggest a method, if possible standardized by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), for meeting the performances indicated in table 2.1.

Moreover, the Committee of the Regions considers the methods indicated in paragraph 3 for measuring microbiological parameters not to be in line with the best techniques currently available and not to reflect the work under way at the CEN.

5. The COR welcomes this simplification of the Directive, which is calculated to ensure, for instance, that implementation does not involve unnecessary expenditure, but would warn against important information on water quality being omitted.

The range of parameters in the Directive should thus be extended to require analysis of well-known microbiological parameters under constant review, which are generally reckoned to provide an indication of whether water intended for human consumption contains harmful bacteria.

6. As a basic principle, water with a detectable pesticide content should not be used in the supply of water intended for human consumption.

The COR therefore endorses retention of the existing parametric value for the pesticide content of water intended for human consumption in the proposed Directive, with no exceptions permitted.

The COR would also point out that pesticide degradation products are believed to have the same effect on human health as the pesticides themselves.

The proposed Directive does not include the parametric value for the total pesticide content of water intended for human consumption.

As there are currently no adequate scientific studies on the interactive and cumulative effects of pesticides on human health, the COR recommends retaining the existing parametric value for total pesticide content, the precautionary principle being applicable in such cases.

7. In respect of lead, the Committee of the Regions accepts that from the perspective of human health, in particular that of infants, the proposal to reduce the parametric value for lead is welcome and is rightly given prominence as a key issue. It is acknowledged that the value has been proposed with the aim of achieving lead-free water in the longer term. Lead concentrations at taps vary widely according to local circumstances and the COR welcomes the proposal for 'representative samples` that will reflect the consumers' exposure to lead.

Additionally, the COR also recognizes that a substantial contribution of lead in drinking water originates from householders' plumbing and that wholesale replacement of lead pipework will result in high costs to householders. In the medium term, substantial reductions in lead concentrations can be realized by modifications to water treatment combined with targeted and selective lead pipework replacement.

The COR is concerned that materials utilized to replace lead piping must, without exception, be chosen carefully. Replacement materials for use in contact with drinking water must be selected on the basis of not contributing significantly to lead concentrations.

The COR is also very concerned that, whilst the proposals will deal with the public water-supply distribution system, there is no requirement to enforce the parametric value for lead for water supplied from taps that are the responsibility of others, e.g. householders, schools, hospitals, restaurants, food-preparation premises, etc. In order that ALL lead pipework is replaced as soon as practicable, the COR requests that EU funding be made available to encourage total replacement of lead.

8. Tetrachlorethene and trichlorethene are well-known pollutants originating from industry and are often present in raw water in areas near towns. These substances are thought to be carcinogenic.

The COR therefore recommends that the parametric values be made more stringent.

9. The presence of disinfection by-products in water intended for human consumption is undesirable, but inescapable until alternative methods of disinfection are developed and brought into use.

The COR recommends that the Annex specify a guide value for these substances based on their known toxicological effect. This will help to encourage the development of alternative disinfection methods.

10. The provision of good, healthy drinking water in Europe is an important issue of concern to the general public, and the COR feels that information and advice are crucial in this area.

The COR therefore endorses the Directive's proposal to keep the public better informed about the quality of water intended for human consumption.

Conclusion

In conclusion the COR would express its support for the Commission's proposal for a Council Directive concerning the quality of water intended for human consumption (COM(94) 612 final) with the following comments:

1. The Committee of the Regions recommends that the procedure for setting additional or more stringent standards for the quality of water intended for human consumption should be limited to an obligation to inform the Commission.

2. The COR recommends that the choice of parameters should be such that water intended for human consumption meets the required microbiological quality standard.

3. The COR proposes that the analysis parameters for total pesticide content be retained and that pesticide degradation products also be covered by the Directive.

4. The COR feels that it is of benefit to public health to make the parametric values for lead more stringent, but would also point out that the considerable cost involved in meeting the standard requires some form of Community funding.

5. The COR recommends that emphasis be placed on the precautionary principle when setting the parametric values for trichlorethene and tetrachlorethene.

6. The COR feels that the Directive should act as an incentive for the development and application of alternative disinfection methods.

7. The COR believes that raw water should be taken into account when examining the causes of impaired drinking-water quality.

8. The Committee of the Regions considers that sulphite-reducing clostridia is a useful indicator organism but is considered unreliable as a primary pollution indicator. For this reason WHO does not recommend its use in routine monitoring. Accordingly it is recommended that the parameter be removed from Annex I, part A and inserted in Annex I part C and that the existing parametric value of <1/20 ml is retained.

9. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the revised parametric value for nitrite where chloramination is practised as this will assist in minimizing chloroform and bromodichloromethane production (disinfection by-products).

10. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the proposal for increased transparency in the application of the Directive.

11. In the interests of preventative drinking water protection, the COR considers it necessary to consolidate at a high level of protection all Directives affecting water protection - especially the ground water, surface water and drinking water Directives, together with the Directive on the placing of plant-protection products on the market - and to ensure that they are mutually consistent.

Done at Brussels, 21 September 1995.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC