WRITTEN QUESTION E-0168/01

by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Commission

(1 February 2001)

Subject: European Union approval of clean beaches

It was recently reported in the British press that the Europe Commission was considering fining the UK Government, or Blackpool Council, around £65 000 per day for apparently being in breach of the European Commission's Blue Flag safe beaches criteria.

In relation to the above reports:

1. Is the European Commission proposing to fine the UK Government or Blackpool Council or anyone else, around £65 000 per day for being in breach of the European Union guidelines on safe beaches?

2. If so, which committee of the European Commission made this decision?

3. What right of appeal is there for the United Kingdom Government and/or Blackpool Council?

4. How many other British beaches, apart from Blackpool beach, are said by the European Commission not to meet their standards?

5. How many different beaches have been assessed by the European Commission in the entire United Kingdom?

6. How many beaches have been assessed in all other European Union countries? (Please state how many beaches have been assessed for each EU country)

7. On what previous occasions has the European Commission fined or proposed to fine other EU countries for breaches of its beach safety criteria?

8. What are the criteria that a beach must meet in order to qualify for a Blue Flag safety award?

9. How much money has been spent by the European Commission, in each year since 1995, in monitoring the health and safety of beaches throughout the European Union?

10. Can the Commission list any reports which have been published by it on the monitoring of the health and safety of beaches throughout the European Union?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(18 April 2001)

1. Recent press reports concerning the Commission's decision to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice together with a request that the Member State be fined, relate to a decision of the Commission taken in December 2000. This decision was taken to follow up the judgement of the Court of Justice against the United Kingdom in 1993 (Case C-1990/56) for its failure to ensure that nine bathing waters around the Fylde Coast in North West England complied with the mandatory requirements of the Bathing Water Directive, Council Directive 76/160/EEC of 8 December 1975 concerning the quality of bathing water(1). This second round of enforcement action was commenced when the majority of bathing waters in question were still found to fail in the 1996 and 1997 bathing seasons. Two out of the nine bathing waters concerned failed to comply in the 2000 bathing season according to the initial results provided to the Commission by the British authorities.

2. The original court action which resulted in the 1993 judgement was taken under Article 226 (ex Article 169) of the EC Treaty. The decision now to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice for a second time has been taken under Article 228 (ex Article 171) of the EC Treaty. This Article gives the Commission the power to act against any Member State that fails to comply with a judgement of the Court of Justice. It also allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on that Member State. In this case, the Commission has decided to propose to the Court of Justice that the United Kingdom be fined 106 800 per day.

3. The action in question is taken against the Member State and not against regional authorities such as the Blackpool Council. The United Kingdom will now be in a position to defend itself according to the formal procedures of the Court. There is no right of appeal following a judgement of the Court of Justice.

4. A number of other bathing waters in the United Kingdom, apart from those implicated in the judgement in Case C-1990/56, have also been found not to be in compliance with the mandatory requirements of the Bathing Water Directive. As a result, the Commission decided in July 2000 to refer the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. The compliance of bathing waters

varies from year to year, but the results for each bathing season are published annually by the Commission in an annual bathing water report. The latest report was published in May 2000 and related to the results of the 1999 bathing season. The report is also available on the Internet. The section of the report relating to bathing waters in the United Kingdom can be found at: www.europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/report/uk.html.

5. The latest figures available are for the 1999 bathing season. These show that the United Kingdom has identified and assessed 541 bathing areas in coastal zones and 11 bathing areas in freshwater zones in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, plus six in Gibraltar. The national authorities of each Member State and not the Commission carry out the assessment of bathing water quality.

6. The overview table from the Commission Bathing Water Report published in May 2000 shows that for the 1999 bathing season there were a total of 11,435 coastal zones and 4,376 freshwater zones identified as bathing areas and assessed by the national authorities under the Bathing Water Directive.

7. This is the first time that the Commission has proposed to fine a Member State for failure to comply with an earlier judgement of the Court of Justice in the case of a failure to comply with bathing water standards.

8. The Blue Flag Campaign is a project initiated by the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE), based in Copenhagen (Denmark). One of a range of criteria used by this campaign is water quality, based on the guideline values of the Bathing Water Directive. The guideline values are stricter than the mandatory values (or imperative values) set by the Directive. There is no connection between the assessment by FEEE and the Commission, and the issue of beaches complying with the Blue Flag is the sole responsibility of the FEEE. Any questions on the Blue Flag Campaign should therefore be addressed to the FEEE, Scandiagade 13, DK-2450 København (Denmark).

9. The monitoring of the health and safety of beaches in order to check compliance with the requirements of the Bathing Water Directive is the responsibility of each Member State. The costs of monitoring are also met by the Member States. These results are then submitted annually to the Commission and form the basis of the annual bathing water reports.

10. The annual bathing water reports are published by the Commission each year and are now available on the Internet at: www.europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/report.html.

(1) OJ L 31, 5.2.1976.