WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1894/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Integrated groundwater protection and management
Date: 1997-06-04
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EC Directive, European Environment Agency, action programme, application of EU law, atmospheric pollutant, chemical salt, environmental protection, groundwater, pollution control measures

22. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 21/113

Will the Commission ensure that amendments which only involve alterations at the level of implementation are
adopted by means of a committee procedure, with the participation of the Scientific Committee for Food, after
prior consultations with the different socio-economic groups represented on the Scientific Committee for Food?

(1)  OJ C 76, 11.3.1997, p. 34.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1889/97 and E-1890/97
given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(26 June 1997)

In accordance with Directive 89/107/EEC, the framework directive on food additives, the list of additives the use
of which is authorized to the exclusion of all others and the list of foodstuffs to which these additives may be
added,  the  conditions  under  which  they  may  be  added  and  where  appropriate,  a  limit  on  the  technological
purpose  of  their  use  must  be  adopted  by  the  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  accordance  with  the  co-decision
procedure laid down by Article 189b of the EC Treaty.

In its recent green paper on the general principles of food law in the European Union (1), the Commission has
explicitly drawn attention to the difficulties in updating the rules on additives to take account of technical and
scientific progress, and has invited comments from all interested parties on this question. These comments will
be considered in the light of the institutional and intergovernmental discussions in progress and may lead the
Commission to bring forward proposals to simplify the relevant procedures.

(1)  COM(97) 176.

(98/C 21/224)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1894/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(4 June 1997)

Subject: Integrated groundwater protection and management

The  Commission  (cid:145)Proposal  for  a  European  Parliament  and  Council  Decision  on  an  action  programme  for
integrated groundwater protection and management(cid:146) (COM(96) 0315 final › 96/0181 COD) (1)

sets out an action programme comprising four main lines of action: planning and management of groundwater
protection, creating a regulatory framework for fresh water abstraction, development of instruments for control
of  groundwater  pollution  from  diffuse  sources  and  development  of  instruments  for  control  of  point  source
emissions and discharges.

Where groundwater pollution from diffuse sources is concerned, will the Commission pay particular attention to
cleaning up soil contaminated by long-standing or accidental pollution, bearing in mind that a Community frame
of reference is needed concerning responsibilities and the financing of the measures?

Will the Commission turn its attention to the fact that many Member States have failed to announce measures to
transpose Directive 91/676/EEC (2) on nitrates? Will it also impose official controls on the substances contained
in recycled sewage sludge and consider the advisability of imposing more stringent limit values on atmospheric
emissions of substances which contribute to acidification?

(1)  OJ C 355, 25.11.1996, p. 1.
(2)  OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1.