WRITTEN QUESTION E-0322/01

by Luigi Cesaro (PPE-DE) and Generoso Andria (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 February 2001)

Subject: Maríne pollution in the bay of Ogliastro Marína

For some years now the bay of Ogliastro Marína, a beautiful place in the Cilento region of the province of Salerno renowned for its crystal-clear waters, has been suffering from a serious environmental problem: daily discharges of sludge which pollute the water and, worse still, prevent people from bathing in it. This is a disastrous situation which involves serious breaches of Council Directive 76/160/EEC(1) of 8 December 1975 on the quality of bathing water. The lack of concern shown by environmental organisations is highlighted by the fact that the Lega Ambiente (League for the Protection of the Environment) has awarded the neighbouring port of Acciaroli a blue ribbon identifying its water as fully suitable for bathing.

In view of the foregoing:

1. Does the Commission intend to ask the relevant authorities to ensure that the pollution of the bay of Ogliastro Marína is stopped for good?

2. Would the Commission be prepared, if asked to do so, to fund an environmental management project in the area concerned to restore the severely disrupted ecological balance of the bay of Ogliastro Marína?

3. What measures will the Commission take, if it discovers that Community legislation on the environment has been infringed, to ensure that it is implemented correctly?

(1) OJ L 31, 5.2.1976, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2001)

The Commission's powers are limited to those conferred on it by the EC Treaty. In particular, the Commission is responsible for ensuring that Community law is properly applied within all Member States. On the basis of Article 211 (ex-Article 155) of the EC Treaty, in order to ensure the proper functioning and development of the common market, the Commission shall ensure that the provisions of this Treaty and the measures taken by the institutions pursuant thereto are applied. On the basis of Article 226 (ex-Article 169) of

the EC Treaty if the Commission considers that a Member State has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Treaty, it shall deliver a reasoned opinion on the matter after giving the State concerned the opportunity to submit its observations. If the State concerned does not comply with the opinion within the period laid down by the Commission, the latter may bring the matter before the Court of Justice. The Commission has a discretionary power in deciding whether to initiate such a procedure(1).

Under Article 4 of Council Directive 76/160/EEC of 8 December 1975, concerning the quality of bathing water, Member States are obliged to ensure that the quality of bathing water conforms to the limit values set in accordance with Article 3. Under Article 3, Member States set, for all bathing areas or for each individual bathing area, the limit values applicable to bathing water. Under Article 1 bathing area means any place where bathing water is found; bathing water means all running or still fresh waters or parts thereof and sea water, in which bathing is explicitly authorised by the Member State or it is not prohibited and it is traditionally practised by a large number of bathers.

In the light of the above, breaches of the Directive will arise where the waters of specific bathing areas do not comply with the limit values given in the Annex. The quality of bathing waters is annually monitored under certain parameters by the Member States. This information is sent to the Commission, which publishes an annual report on the quality of bathing water.

On the basis of the information given by the Honourable Members, the pollution, caused by the sludge discharge in the Bay of Ogliastro Marína, could be affecting a zone covered by the areas from 40 to 51 and from 81 to 84 as listed on page 174 of the Italian version of the Commission report for the 1999 bathing season. Therefore, the area to which the Honourable Members refer cannot be precisely identified as within the scope of application of the Directive.

In addition, in the last published Commission Report (on the 1999 bathing season) the above-mentioned 16 bathing areas which are potentially concerned in this specific case have limit values complying with those set out in the Directive.

On the basis of the information given by the Honourable Members, due to a lack of grounds of complaint on the application of Community law, no breach of it can be identified at present.

In general, it should be stressed that, in the Communication(2) of 27 September 2000, the Commission announced the European Strategy for Integrated Coastal Zone Management. This document outlines the principles behind good management of the coastal zone and identifies the actions which the Commission has launched or will undertake to promote this approach. It identifies some of the financial instruments available to improve management of the coastal zone, including LIFE III and Interreg. The document indicates that the local and regional authorities have a key role to play in ensuring the good, integrated management of the coastal zone.

Also Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991, concerning urban waste-water treatment(3), could be relevant to the case. Article 4 stipulates that Member States ensure that urban waste water entering collecting systems shall before discharge be subject to secondary treatment or an equivalent treatment at the latest by 31 December 2000 for all discharges from agglomerations of more than 15 000 p. e. (population equivalent). However, the information given by the Honourable Members does not provide any evidence that Directive 91/271/EEC is not correctly applied.

(1) Priorities and criteria governing the Commission's discretionary power are listed in the Fourteenth annual report on monitoring the application of Community law 1996, in OJ C 332, 3.11.1997.

(2) COM(2000) 547 final.

(3) OJ L 135, 30.5.1991.